Assistant Director, Francophone Africa, Digital Forensic Research Lab

The DFRLab is expanding its work in Francophone Africa and is hiring an Assistant Director specializing in project management and strategic communications to counter disinformation across Africa, with a primary focus on Francophone West Africa. This position will play an essential role in growing the DFRLab’s capacity across the region, building on its ongoing work documenting disinformation and other elements of the regional information environment, and providing training for local partners. The Assistant Director, Francophone Africa, will focus on building the counter-disinformation capacity of regional partners across media, civil society, and democratic institutions. This position requires French language fluency.

The Assistant Director, Francophone Africa, will coordinate and deliver trainings on understanding disinformation and communications-oriented responses to these threats in order to foster digital and information resilience across the Continent. The Assistant Director will also build and manage a network of local and regional partners and maintain awareness of the information environment and evolving trends relating to disinformation and information manipulation. They will work with the DFRLab’s internationally distributed staff and broader Atlantic Council expert community and will coordinate with local partners to achieve project goals.

We are currently hiring for an immediate start. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until a candidate has been selected for this position. The DFRLab is deeply committed to diversity. We strongly encourage people from any region, women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, new parents, single parents, people with disabilities, veterans, and people of various educational backgrounds to apply.

Job Responsibilities

• Manage deadlines and execute project tasks across the DFRLab’s Francophone Africa programming;
• Build and manage a community committed to better understanding the role of online disinformation in Francophone Africa, with predominant focus on the West Africa region;  
• Adapt curricula for and conduct local trainings on open-source investigative techniques and narrative responses to disinformation for local partners;
• Deliver trainings related to strategic communications and communication campaigning;
• Act as a liaison for local media, civil society organizations, public institutions, and research partners;
• Maintain ongoing awareness of the information environment and evolving disinformation trends in Francophone Africa and across the broader Continent, as much as possible;
• Work with the team to identify regional research avenues and contribute to regional research, as needed; and
• Conduct briefings for government, news outlets, and civil society on relevant research and trends, as appropriate.

• Professional fluency in both English and French;
• Strong writing skills in both languages;
• Experience running trainings; 
• Experience with strategic communications;
• Professional experience interacting with civil society groups and/or government officials; 
• Public-speaking competency;  
• Excellent organizational, time management, and project management skills, including identifying, balancing, and rapidly shifting priorities, as needed;
• Knowledge of the regional political landscape, especially as it relates to disinformation and information manipulation;
• Must be a detail-oriented self-starter with the ability to work independently on project outputs;
• General familiarity with open source research methodologies, journalism, or analytical research; and
• Proven interest in the overlap between international relations, human rights, communications, technology trends, social media, and online information environments.

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience with open-source research methodologies;
• General familiarity with data analysis software.

Recruitment Process + Application Instructions

The recruitment process will entail two progressive interview rounds with DFRLab staff, along with a written exercise in English and French and follow-up conversation for those advanced to the final round. The first interview will be with members of the DFRLab team who have relevant substantive expertise, while the second will be with staff who would manage or directly coordinate with the candidate.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until a candidate has been selected for this position. All documents uploaded as part of the application should be named in the following format: "SURNAME-First Name-Resume" and "SURNAME-First Name-CL".