We are hiring: IT Coordinator for journalistic collaborations (part-time, 0.5 FTE)

Do you want to help international teams of journalists work together in a safe and efficient digital environment? Then come work with Arena for Journalism in Europe!

We are looking for a tech support profile for the Collaborative Desk project, combining expertise in IT and secure tech environments, project development and user support. The Collaborative Desk works at the intersection of the maintainers of technical infrastructure and journalistic cross-border collaborations, translating the needs of the journalists into a technical set-up and vice versa.

Cross-border teams have unique challenges: team members work in different countries, in different newsrooms, in different organisations, or on a freelance basis. Good coordination is therefore key to a successful collaborative project.

The aim of the Arena Collaborative Desk is to facilitate a crucial aspect of this collaboration: A digital workspace that is secure and easily accessible, as well as guidance in using it.

Arena hosts its own digital infrastructure with an open-source environment. Tools include file sharing and editing based on Nextcloud, Matrix and other chat and video tools for secure communication, as well as knowledge sharing and project management tools.

 We are looking for someone who:

  • Is proficient with these tools: Nextcloud, Keycloak, secure chat messengers (Matrix, Signal)
  • Has experience with providing IT assistance to users.
  • Is committed to working in an open-source environment.
  • Has privacy awareness and understanding of data protection concepts, particularly in relation to the use of third-party services, and the question of who has access to which information.
  • Is familiar with basic IT security practices and concepts.
  • Has a strong collaborative mind-set and experience working closely with others, while also able to handle tasks independently and reliably.
  • Is based in a European country.
  • It is a considerable advantage if you have:
    • Experience working with journalist and media, preferably with cross-border collaborations and the issues faced by journalists in that context.
    • Knowledge of the European media environment.
  • It is an added value if you have:
    • Experience with digital security tools and knowledge of digital security strategies, as well as familiarity with operational security, risk management and threat analysis.

Your responsibilities will be:

  • To support the development of the Collaborative Desk.
  • To manage the daily requests from our audience and the users and teams of the Collaborative Desk.
  • To provide technical support to the users and teams and to help them solve problems.
  • To assist in taking stock of new teams’ needs, team structure, security level assessment, etc.
  • To design training material and tutorials/how-to’s in a non-technical language.
  • To organise and conduct training and mentoring to users and cross-border teams on the use of the Collaborative Desk environment in collaboration with Arena Academy colleagues.
  • Maintenance of the tools and contact to system administrators in the Arena tech team and external partners.
  • To work with teams and journalists to develop their digital security skills.
  • To develop the IT knowledge within the Arena tech team and across the whole organisation.

Who are we?

Arena for Journalism in Europe supports cross-border and collaborative journalism. We believe that collaborative journalism is crucial to knowledge sharing, critical thinking and political life in European societies. We build European networks, create cross-border meeting spaces, and spread the tools and experiences of collaborative projects.

Arena is based in the Netherlands, but team members work remotely from across Europe. We meet several times a year, collaborate and look out for each other within the team. Our working language is English.

Conditions

The role is a 50% part-time position with flexible and remote working conditions. We offer a contract on a freelance-basis until the end of the year with the intention of an extension. We expect approximately 20 travel days per year. The remuneration level is €58-64k annually FTE, depending on experience.

Arena for Journalism in Europe is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage applications that can make the organisation a better reflection of society.

We encourage you to apply early as we will be interviewing on a rolling basis. Please submit your application to media@journalismarena.eu before midnight on Sunday 7th of April.