Consultant: External monitoring of the translation process – Ushahidi’s Kenyan 2017 general elections monitoring
The mission of Translators without Borders is to provide people access to vital knowledge in their language through translation, training of translators, best use of technology, and building translation capacity in underserved languages.
Contract length: up to 4 days (32hrs) of full time work between August 4th-15th, 2017
Location: Nairobi, Kenya (approximately 50% home-based and 50% onsite)
Application Deadline: asap
To apply: send CV and email with brief background of relevant experience and daily rate in USD to [email protected], specifying the vacancy title in the subject line.
Translators without Borders (TWB) envisions a world where knowledge knows no language barriers. The US-based nonprofit provides people access to vital knowledge in their language by connecting non-profit organizations with a professional community of translators, building local language translation capacity, and raising awareness of language barriers. Originally founded in 1993 in France (as Traducteurs sans Frontières), TWB translates millions of words of life-saving and life-changing information a year.
Background
In August of 2017, TWB will be partnering with Ushahidi to monitor the Kenyan presidential election process. A rapid response team of translators from TWB will be mobilized to provide on-call translation support for incoming messages in 11 languages (Swahili, Sheng, Kikuyu, Luo, Luhya, Kamba, Meru, Kisii, Maa, Kalenjin, and Embu). TWB’s role will be to ensure translations are provided in English as quickly and accurately as possible.
The Role
TWB is seeking a consultant to conduct an external real time monitoring of the process in order to help determine the effectiveness of this approach. For this specific activity, we are looking for a consultant to focus on (1) monitoring the behind-the-scenes translation process, with an emphasis on documenting and measuring the quantity, speed, and accuracy of our translations as well as documenting and assessing the workflow and ways of working themselves and (2) present findings and recommendations for improvement.
The consultant will not be expected to develop a monitoring framework as this has already been done by TWB, the focus is on gathering data, observing and reporting only.
Indicators to Measure:
- Quantity of translations (disaggregated by source language, date, time, and location)
- Speed of translations (disaggregated by source language, date, time, and location)
- Quality of translations (disaggregated by source language, date, time, and location)
- Strengths and challenges of the workflow put in place and the tools available
Deliverables:
- 4-6pg report with findings and recommendations for an internal audience.
- Spreadsheet documenting average or sampled metrics for speed, quantity, and accuracy of translations.
- Photos and videos documenting the translation process.
- Video footage of interviews from translators and partners highlighting the impact of providing translations in the election monitoring process.
Qualifications and experience
- Experience in monitoring and evaluation or project management.
- Proven capacity to produce clear, concise, readable English documents and make technical content accessible for a non-specialist audience.
- Team player, able to collaborate with and address feedback from others.
- Flexibility to work in a high-stress, fast-paced environment during potentially tumultuous events.
- A self-starter with the adaptability to work independently and meet deadlines
- Intermediate or advanced photography or videography experience is a plus. Understand basic principles of composition, filming, sound, etc. Able to use a smartphone to capture high-quality footage.
- Translation experience or ability to speak any of the source languages fluently is a plus.
Availability
- Available for up to 4 days between August 4th-15th
- ½ day of pre-evaluation planning with TWB’s MEAL Manager via Skype or similar
- 1.5 day (spread out over more a few days) of observation and data collection throughout the election monitoring dates. Exact dates and times of observation will be determined based on availability and in consultation with the MEAL Manager.
- 1 day of observation and data collection on the day of the election (8 August, 2017). Exact time TBD. This could include some out of standard office hours and run into the night.
- 1day of post-election write-up (spread over more than one day to allow taking into account of TWB’s feedback).
Core values
Translators without Borders employees and volunteers are people who believe passionately about the value of this work and take personal responsibility for achieving the mission. Translators without Borders’ mission and organizational spirit embody the core values established in its strategic framework:
Excellence: As the leading voice for communicating humanitarian information in the right language, Translators without Borders is a leader in the translation industry and in the non-profit sector.
Integrity: Translators without Borders believes that every person, whether it’s the people who we serve, our volunteers or our staff, has value, deserves respect and has inherent dignity.
Empowerment: Translators without Borders believes in using language to empower people around the world to control their own development and destiny.
Innovation: Translators without Borders recognizes and celebrates the power of innovation to address humanitarian and crisis issues around the world.
Sustainability: Translators without Borders recognizes that meeting our mission necessitates establishment and maintenance of a solid financial and organizational infrastructure.
Tolerance: Our staff and volunteers are highly knowledgeable and skilled; value each other, our partner and our recipients; create a supportive work environment; and, conduct themselves professionally at all times.
For more information and to volunteer or donate, please visit: http://www.translatorswithoutborders.org or follow on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/TranslatorsWB.**
How to apply:
To apply: send CV and email with brief background of relevant experience and daily rate in USD to [email protected], specifying the vacancy title in the subject line.
More Information
- Job City Nairobi
