The Carpentries is looking for the Regional Coordinator – Southern Africa

The Carpentries is an open global community teaching the skills and perspectives to turn data into knowledge. We build capacity in essential data and computational skills for conducting efficient, open, and reproducible research. Through our mission, we are committed to “training and fostering an active, inclusive, diverse community of learners and instructors who promote and model the importance of software and data in research.” We believe in a world where more people have the computational skills and perspectives to work with data to address their questions in science, scholarship, and society. We aim to build that world by scaling evidence-based teaching, creating inclusive environments, and building communities of practice based on open principles.

We seek an engaged and collaborative individual who shares this vision for a full-time position as The Carpentries Regional Coordinator – Southern Africa. This position will be based in South Africa (preferably in Pretoria, Johannesburg, or Potchefstroom) and will lead growth of The Carpentries community across the African continent, with a focus on Southern Africa.

In this role, you’ll help The Carpentries support our volunteer instructor community and member organizations to increase our collective impact on researchers across the continent. In Africa, we have trained almost 200 instructors and have run nearly 100 workshops in 10 countries in the last 5 years. The interest in workshops and instructor training is growing rapidly.

You will lead our community engagement efforts to develop and support The Carpentries community in Southern Africa, creating pathways for participation and increased communication. You will lead recruitment of new instructors and institutional members, drive The Carpentries’ awareness efforts in Southern Africa, mentor instructors, and coordinate workshops within the region. You may also assist with workshop coordination in other regions of the continent, with support from The Carpentries Workshops and Logistics Manager. You will build and strengthen local communities through engagement with user groups such as R-Ladies and Python Africa. You will join a global team of Regional Coordinators who manage workshop logistics, assist in communicating with hosts and instructors, respond to general workshop inquiries, and support growth of their regional communities. You will be supported by The Carpentries Workshop and Logistics Manager and will also work closely with The Carpentries Community Engagement Lead.

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate for this position is proficient in communication and organisational skills, is confident in working independently, takes initiative, collaborates well in a community environment, and has a keen eye for detail. Enthusiasm for the idea of teaching people to program is also essential. The successful candidate will get to meet and work with a global network of dedicated volunteer instructors. Additionally they will be involved in helping organizations find funding to coordinate workshops and pursue grant opportunities.

Required:

  • Undergraduate degree or at least 2 years in a higher education environment
  • Demonstrated leadership experience in professional or volunteer settings
  • Proven experience in organizing, planning, or administering groups or events
  • Understanding of the need for digital skill building in Africa
  • Some evidence of community building efforts
  • Excellent communication and time management skills
  • Strong administration skills and attention to detail
  • Customer-service orientation
  • Ability to work with minimal supervision
  • Able to work virtually with a distributed team
  • Passion for sharing digital research skills

Preferred:

  • Experience with The Carpentries
  • Understanding of nonprofits and their communication needs
  • Experience working with a volunteer community
  • Experience teaching technical workshops
  • Project management skills
  • Familiarity with one or more of the following: Git, GitHub, R, Python, SQL, The Unix Shell
  • Some experience with the research process

This is a remote position and will be paid by our 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor, Community Initiatives. Compensation will be ZAR 300,000 – 350,000, commensurate with experience. Work space and internet access will be provided by the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) at NWU Potchefstroom Campus if you are local to that site. Access through other partner institutes may be available. You will be working with The Carpentries as an independent contractor and will not be employed through NWU or SADiLaR.

The Carpentries is dedicated to providing a welcoming and supportive environment for all people, regardless of background or identity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, citizenship, nationality, ethnic or social origin, pregnancy, familial status, veteran status, religion or belief, age, education, or socio-economic status. We encourage all qualified individuals to apply.

About The Carpentries

We’re a team of eleven staff and independent contractors, with a nine person Executive Council. We’re a fiscally sponsored project of the 501(c)3 Community Initiatives. We have a large community of instructors and contributors, and a much larger community of users. We use evidence-based teaching practices to teach the core skills for effective computational and data work, and we promote reproducible research and open science/open source widely.

To Apply

Please submit a cover letter and resume or CV to jobs@carpentries.org.

Application review will begin 19 May UTC 06:00. This position will remain open until filled.