The Land Portal Foundation is seeking a dynamic and highly motivated Data Curator (intermediate level) to join our Data Team. She/he will work remotely and support Land Portal’s data aggregation and curation activities, as well as the update of various contents on our website.
The successful candidate will also be welcomed into a small, dedicated and disbursed team of international professionals that make up the Land Portal. The Land Portal is an inclusive space and we encourage applications from women, and candidates from the Global South.
About us
The Land Portal Foundation is a non-profit organization based in the Netherlands, dedicated to supporting the efforts of the rural poor to gain equitable access to land by addressing the fragmentation of information resources on land. We believe that access to information is critical to achieving good land governance and securing land rights for vulnerable people. Our mission is to build a land governance information ecosystem that supports better-informed decision and policy making at national and international levels. We believe that within a functioning and inclusive information ecosystem, both information and the diversity of perspectives become more visible and accessible to a much wider audience. Ultimately, this greatly increases the chances that information will reach target audiences in ways that contribute to securing people's land rights.
Job Description
The Data Curator will have two main areas of responsibility:
1. Contribute to update statistical, bibliographic, project and spatial data relevant for land governance. This includes:
- Selecting datasets for ingestion;
- Together with the Knowledge Engineer, adapting the datasets according to Land Portal’s data structures for statistical, bibliographic, project and spatial data;
- Curating datasets according to open data standards and following Land Portal’s guidelines;
- Communicating with data providers to clarify issues, incl. on metadata accuracy, and fill any information gaps;
- Providing any information required by the Knowledge Engineer to proceed with ingestion of datasets;
- Checking the quality of the ingested data, correcting errors and filling any information gaps directly in Drupal, Land Portal’s content management system;
- Documenting the process of updating existing datasets or aggregating new ones;
- Proposing and testing ideas that can improve the visualization and accessibility of the various types of data on the website;
2. Update various contents of the Land Portal’s website. This includes:
- In coordination with the communications team, selecting, uploading and curating publications, blogs, news, events, organizational profiles etc;
- Uploading country and thematic portfolios, including the sourcing of images upon demand.
Qualifications and skills
The successful candidate will be selected against the following:
Required:
- University Education (Masters level or higher, or equivalent) in Land Governance, Economics, Land Administration, Development Studies or any other relevant fields;
- At least 2 years of proven experience with data analysis (qualitative and quantitative data);
- Proven experience working with .csv files and/or Excel spreadsheets
- Knowledge of land governance related issues and land data;
- Ability to understand different data architectures and match data fields;
- Ability to document the curation steps;
- Fluency in English;
- Superior attention to detail;
- Good drafting, communicating and presenting abilities;
- Experience working as part of an international, remote team;
- Strong capacity to work autonomously and respect tight deadlines.
Desirable, as a plus:
- Knowledge about data and metadata standards;
- Experience with web content management system, particularly Drupal;
- Knowledge about open data, semantic web, linked data, controlled vocabularies and data sharing technologies;
- Experience working with Jira for project management;
- Knowledge of other languages besides English
Personal and Professional Attributes
- Inclusive and effective communication skills and techniques with an ability to respectfully engage with, and communicate concepts to others;
- High standard of ethics and integrity which inspires trust and confidence;
- Enthusiasm and diligence;
- Commitment to ongoing personal and professional development which drives best practice;
- Strong diplomacy and collaborative skills which enable effective engagement within a high functioning, cohesive team;
- Ability to employ sound judgement and decision making amongst competing demands;
- Ability to show initiative in planning and developing new ideas and approaches, and to implement and communicate change effectively;
- Problem-solving attitude;
- Ability to meet strict deadlines.
Reporting
The Data Curator will report to the Knowledge Network Coordinator. The official language for this position is English.
Position
This position is home-based and will be staffed on a part-time consultancy basis: up to 8 days/month. The consultancy fee will depend on experience and seniority. The consultancy starts with an agreement for one year (including a probationary period for the first three months) and has the option of prolongation for another year.
How to apply?
Please send your curriculum vitae (CV) and a cover letter explaining your interests and qualifications (addressed to Laura Meggiolaro, Land Portal’s Managing Director) no later than 24 November 2023 midnight CET.
Email your application to jobs@landportal.info.
Please write “Data Curator – Job Application” as the subject of the email.