Programme Officer, Sweden

Context

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance – International IDEA – is an Inter-Governmental Organization that supports sustainable democracy worldwide. Its objective is to strengthen democratic institutions and processes. The Institute acts as a catalyst for democracy building by providing global comparative knowledge resources and tools, policy proposals and supporting democratic reforms in response to specific national requests, specifically in electoral processes, constitution building processes, political participation and representation, democracy and climate change, and democracy and digitalization.

Responding to increasing challenges to democracy and a shrinking democratic space around the world, including in more established democracies, International IDEA’s Democracy Assessment team through its Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Initiative (established in 2016 as part of International IDEA’s Global Programmes) seeks to contribute to the global debate on democracy and inform the development and implementation of strategies and policies that build, advance, and safeguard democracy worldwide.

The GSoD Initiative been organized around three primary knowledge products: (1) International IDEA’s flagship Global State of Democracy Report, (2) an annually-updated data set on democratic quality called the GSoD Indices, and (3) a monthly-updated data project tracking democracy and human rights across 173 countries called the Democracy Tracker.

The Democracy Assessment team at International IDEA is now recruiting a Programme Officer with strong research, analysis and writing skills to support these three knowledge products, and further contribute to the GSoD Initiative.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Conducts research and analysis and writes country profiles/case studies, and country, regional and global updates for inclusion in the Democracy Tracker. This research will focus on 1-2 regions, including Africa and the Middle East, and is to be based on a wide range of sources, including the GSoD Indices, media and expert reports, and interviews with regional IDEA experts and other regional resources.
• Conducts research and analysis and writes the Africa and Western Asia/Middle East sections of the Global State of Democracy report;
• Maintains the datasets on which the Democracy Tracker relies and creates new datasets;
• Builds, grows and maintains collegial and collaborative working relationships with assigned regional offices and other teams within Global Programmes in ways that support and facilitate the most updated and high-quality country and regional updates as possible;
• Acts as a primary point person for Democracy Tracker communications work;
• Assists the Project Coordinator with all Democracy Tracker-related Communications work and liaising with the Institute’s Communications team;
• Conducts representational and outreach activities on GSoD Initiative analysis and data (speeches, presentations, workshops) for internal and external audiences.
• Contributes to strategic planning for the Democracy Assessment team as a whole as well as to individual projects, including helping to define objectives and outputs.

General Profile

• Conducts research and analysis and writes country profiles/case studies, and country, regional and global updates for inclusion in the Democracy Tracker. This research will focus on 1-2 regions, including Africa and the Middle East, and is to be based on a wide range of sources, including the GSoD Indices, media and expert reports, and interviews with regional IDEA experts and other regional resources.
• Conducts research and analysis and writes the Africa and Western Asia/Middle East sections of the Global State of Democracy report;
• Maintains the datasets on which the Democracy Tracker relies and creates new datasets;
• Builds, grows and maintains collegial and collaborative working relationships with assigned regional offices and other teams within Global Programmes in ways that support and facilitate the most updated and high-quality country and regional updates as possible;
• Acts as a primary point person for Democracy Tracker communications work;
• Assists the Project Coordinator with all Democracy Tracker-related Communications work and liaising with the Institute’s Communications team;
• Conducts representational and outreach activities on GSoD Initiative analysis and data (speeches, presentations, workshops) for internal and external audiences.
• Contributes to strategic planning for the Democracy Assessment team as a whole as well as to individual projects, including helping to define objectives and outputs.

Reporting line

• Head of Programme, Democracy Assessment

Education and Experience

• University degree or higher in Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science or related field is required;
• Demonstrable experience conducting qualitative and quantitative comparative research, data collection and analysis;
• A minimum of five (5) years professional experience, preferably within the context of an international organization or NGO working in the field of democracy or human rights;
• Experience developing and implementing projects in the field of democracy assistance;
• Experience in the fields of democracy analysis and assessment in the Africa and Middle Eastern regions;
• Field experience is an added advantage;
• Experience in supporting or leading communications work, including publicity (via mainstream and social media) and promotion;
• Fluency in written and oral English and Arabic is required.

Terms of Contract:

• International Post
• Two (2) year fixed term appointment
• Shortlisted candidates can expect to be contacted by early February 2024.
• Remuneration – EUR 4 728 NET per month + benefits

Applying for this position:

• Applications should be submitted no later than 23:59 (CET) 22 December 2023.
• Please note that all applications must be made in English.

Selection Process:

• Evaluation of qualified candidates will include a written test assessment and up to two (2) interviews.
• Candidates selected to proceed to the next stage of the process will be contacted once all applications have been carefully reviewed.
• All candidates will be notified on the status of their application via email once the process has been finalized

International IDEA is an equal opportunity employer which seeks to further diversify its staff in terms of gender, culture and nationality