Jobs at the Open Knowledge Foundation
Why work for us?
The Open Knowledge Foundation is a multi-award winning community-based, not-for-profit organisation. The Foundation now has projects and partnerships throughout the world and is especially active in Europe. We build tools and communities to create, use and share open knowledge – content and data that everyone can use, share and build on. We believe that by creating an open knowledge commons and developing tools and communities around this we can make a significant contribution to improving governance, research and the economy.
We’re changing the world by promoting a global shift towards more open ways of working in government, arts, sciences and much more. We don’t just talk about ideas, we deliver extraordinary software, events and publications.
Our community stretches around the world. The Foundation’s operations are centered on London, Cambridge and Berlin. We have formally established chapters in Germany, Austria, Belgium and Switzerland and affiliated local groups in many more countries. We have a board of directors, an advisory board and a great team. Everything and more is explained in our FAQ.
As part of the Open Knowledge Foundation you’ll meet incredible people, work on cutting edge projects and learn new things every day. Read on for open positions.
Current Opportunities
Here are the open roles at the present time. Please note that applications received after the closing date may not be acknowledged or considered.
Python developers – CKAN/Services team
If you’re a Python web-developer who’d like to help build exciting open data projects then we’d love to hear from you. We are looking for one person full-time, and two six-month appointments to work on an existing project.
Role Description
The Open Knowledge Foundation is recruiting senior Python web developers, primarily to work on CKAN, our open source, open data catalogue. There will also be further responsibilities to develop data visualisation and other data-driven services.
CKAN is an open source web-based software project written in Python. It allows users to submit, search for and find open data. As well as powering datahub.io, CKAN is the catalogue behind the UK government’s data.gov.uk website. It also powers over 30 other data catalogues around the world. If you are an outstanding Python web developer, with a keen interest in open data, and enjoy working on open-source products, we’d love to hear from you.
You’d be involved in:
- customising CKAN for different governments and organisations;
- helping develop new features for CKAN;
- supporting existing software deployments;
- working on other Python programming projects in the OKFN.
Requirements
Essential:
- Web app development experience in Python;
- PostgreSQL;
- Linux (Ubuntu/Redhat);
- Git;
- Enthusiasm about open data and open knowledge.
Bonus points for any of these (not essential though):
- Solr;
- Knowledge of the CKAN codebase and extensions;
- Project management/consultancy experience;
- Semantic web/RDF;
- jQuery and CSS;
- S3 and EC2;
- Experience with Agile methods;
- Knowledge of the geo-spatial community.
How to apply
If you’d like to apply, please email jobs@okfn.org with the subject line ‘Python Developer – CKAN/Services’ and a copy of your CV by 30 April and we’ll take it from there. We are flexible on employee versus contractor but we normally contract. Being based in and around London would be a plus but we are happy to consider applications from elsewhere.
Workshop and Project Coordinator – School of Data
About School of Data
School of Data ( http://schoolofdata.org/ ) works to empower civil society organizations, journalists and citizens with the skills they need to use data effectively in their efforts to create fairer and more sustainable societies.
Audience
School of Data focuses on supporting and working with:
- Data-oriented staff at NGOs & NGOs (as a whole)
- Potential or actual data-journalists
- “data geeks who care”
Fundamentally, we care most about people who use data “for good”. While we work globally, we have a particular focus at the present on Latin America and Africa.
About the role
Duties are negotiable, but projected to include tasks such as:
- Representing the School of Data Project and its various projects and activities at events around the world
- Working with and supporting our local partners
- Taking charge of the communications and outreach
- Organising and facilitating events, workshops and training
- Soliciting for guest tutorials and blog posts for the school of data blog
- Writing posts and copy for the website
- Building the School of Data network around the world, starting in Latin America and Africa
- Developing processes and systems to help support local School of Data Initiatives, including handbooks and governance structures
- Doing unexpected stuff spontaneously!
This role sits within the Knowledge unit of the the Open Knowledge Foundation.
Person specification
We are looking for someone self-driven, organised and a good communicator. This person should be comfortable running a number of projects at the same time, speaking at events and travelling – sometimes at short notice. We need a gregarious, tech-translator, who can empathise with the needs of NGOs, journalists and engaged citizens and translate the tech to human in order to allow them to start learning.
Experience in working in data-driven projects is essential, and topics such as government spending, procurement, extractive industries etc would be especially welcome.
Candidates with a background in online community management, facilitation or campaigning will be looked upon favourably. Grant-writing, project management and contract-handling experience will be valued.
Location
We will consider applicants based anywhere in the world; however a mild preference is given to those close to one of our hubs in London, Berlin or Cambridge.
Pay & closing date
The rate is negotiable based on experience. This full-time position is available immediately. The closing date for applications is 15th May 2013.
How to apply
To apply please send a cover letter highlighting relevant experience, your CV and a 30-second video explaining your interest in the role to jobs@okfn.org.
Speculative Applications
Vacancies are continually arising and we will happily accept speculative applications on a rolling basis. Examples of the type of roles we often hire for and how to apply can be found on our wiki. Please note that we may not always acknowledge speculative applications. If you would be interested in working with us, please get in touch! Email jobs@okfn.org with “Speculative” and the type of job you would like in the subject line (eg. “Speculative – data wrangler”). We’re always keen to hear from great people but are especially keen to meet data wranglers, developers, and project managers who have experience in agile, fast-growing organisations. We’ll keep your applications on file and get in touch with you when we next have a role which matches you, so we might not reply to your email for a while.
