Community Manager (Open government data) Full-time

Background

Public bodies around the world are opening up official data for the public to reuse – from national initiatives like data.gov or data.gov.uk to regional and local initiatives like ParisData or Offene Daten Berlin.

This data is being used by civic developers, citizens, journalists, NGOs and entrepreneurs to provide value to society through new applications and services.

The Open Knowledge Foundation is working to help realise the potential of open government data on a number of fronts.

On the one hand it is working to secure the release of more data from public bodies – and to encourage public bodies to be more responsive to the needs of external reusers.

On the other hand it is working to catalyse innovative uses of public data – through events like OKFestival, competitions like the Open Data Challenge, and initiatives like Stadt Land Code.
Community Manager Role

The Open Knowledge Foundation is looking to recruit a Community Manager to work on a variety of its open government data projects and activities. In particular this will include:

- Coordinating open government data competitions – including raising sponsorship, identifying partners and dissemination activities.
- Building consensus around standards and best practises for data publishers – including drafting material for data publishers to be included in the Open Data Handbook.
- Working with others at the Foundation to strengthen and expand the network of stakeholders around the OKFN – including data publishers, NGOs and SMEs.
- Representing the OKFN’s open government data activities at events and meetings – including presenting on behalf of the OKFN, running sessions and coordinating activities
- Organising open government data events – which might include anything from informal meetups to official meetings, developer sprints to conference panels.
- Coordinating online activities related to open government data – and engaging with key stakeholders via mailing lists and social media.

Person Description

We are looking for someone highly articulate, enthusiastic and energetic who is willing to travel. While familiarity with email, blogs and Twitter is desirable, no specific technical knowledge is required. Being able to learn quickly, converse intelligently and evangelise convincingly are much more important than any detailed background knowledge about open knowledge and open data policies.

The ideal candidate should be:

- A self-starter – capable of working independently and coordinating with colleagues remotely.
- Highly organised – capable of managing their own projects and initiatives (possibly several at the same time), as well as coordinating with and chasing up others where relevant.
- Comfortable with public speaking, coordinating group activities and communicating on behalf of the OKFN in various public fora (including emails, on the web and at events).
- Technically literate – comfortable with using (or learning to use) a variety of web based platforms and services (e.g. Google Docs, WordPress, Dropbox).

Experience of publishing or using public data – whether as a civil servant, an entrepreneur or a developer – is welcomed but not required. Any experience of working with or wrangling data (e.g. in Excel or other software packages) is also a plus.

This role reports to the Head of the Research unit of the OKFN, which delivers large grant-funded projects such as EC FP7 work.
Location

We will consider applicants based anywhere in the world, however if you are closer to one of our clusters in London, Cambridge or Berlin, that is preferred.
How to apply

To apply please send a cover letter highlighting relevant experience, your CV and a 30 second video saying why you think open government data is important, to jobs@okfn.org with the subject line “Community manager (Open government data)” by 21st November 2012. Further information