Netherlands: Developer

Sep 13, 2021 | Bellingcat
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Bellingcat is an independent collective of international researchers, investigators and citizen journalists using open source and social media investigations to probe conflict, corruption, crimes, misinformation, disinformation, extremist groups and much, much more. We have received multiple awards for our research and publications that shine a light on wrongdoing. Our community (which includes staff, contributors and volunteers around the world) works in a unique field where technology, forensic research, journalism and the advancement of justice and accountability come together. Do you want to join this exciting adventure? Who you are You are enthusiastic about working for an international nonprofit organisation that uses publicly available data and open source analysis to investigate a variety of topics that are in the public interest and which advance transparency. Who we are looking for The Bellingcat Investigative Tech team is looking for a full-stack developer with an interest in data and data visualisation to help us develop tools for digital investigators. You will work closely with developers and journalists on the Investigative Tech Team to build web-based software that helps researchers at Bellingcat and partner organisations store, query and understand social media data. You will also work with Bellingcat’s IT and devops engineer to ensure that our software is secure and robust. Experience with front-end development using modern Javascript frameworks and data-heavy back-end development is a must. Experience with web scraping and data analysis is beneficial, but not a requirement — there will also be on-the-job opportunities to grow and strengthen these and related skills.  Depending on your preferences, this position can potentially either be a full time or a part-time role (three days per week). Responsibilities 

  • Work with the Bellingcat Investigative Tech team to help ongoing development of tools; social media archiving and analysis is currently one focus area but the team covers a variety of aspects relating to digital investigations
  • Collaborate with media or tech partners on projects related to open source investigations, initially on a project related to online counterfactual communities
  • Support the team on tasks that are relevant for the growth of Bellingcat as an organisation (this might also include tasks like contributing to technical sections of proposal writing, preparing and offering workshops etc.)
 Qualifications & Skills 
  • Proficient in front-end web development, including a modern Javascript framework such as Vue (preferred), React, or Angular
  • Proficient in development of simple but performant and secure web back-ends with Python or Node
  • Proficient working with relational databases (especially Postgres and SQLite) and non-relational databases, as well as the wisdom to know when one or the other is a better fit for data storage and access
  • Comfortable working on a small team with diverse technical backgrounds where the next task may be uncertain
  • Interested in the very practical research work conducted by Bellingcat, which is different from traditional journalistic or academic research but at the intersection of several very different fields
  • Beneficial but not necessary: experience with web scraping, data wrangling, data analysis, or machine learning
  • Beneficial but not necessary: experience with web infrastructure and devops
  • English proficiency
 Bellingcat aims to hire a full-time staff member for one of the positions and a part-time staff member for the other position (three days per week). Please indicate in your application whether you have a preference. You can choose between working from Bellingcat’s office in the Netherlands or working remotely as long as you are able to participate in meetings that take place according to EU time zones. Occasional traveling to team meetings or workshops is required.  The initial contract for both positions will be for one year, with a possibility to extend the contract (depending on performance and available project funding). The salary range for both positions is 58-60k Euros (gross annual based on 40 hours/week) depending on experience.  Bellingcat is committed to a diverse working environment. Our team is international, from a wide range of backgrounds and we always welcome and appreciate new perspectives and life experiences. All qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to race, colour, origin, religion, age, gender or sexual orientation. Your formal education is less important to us than your previous experience in the field.  Please apply by 10 October 2021 to jobs@bellingcat.com and refer to and describe previous software development or data science projects in your applications. Only short-listed candidates will be approached and invited for the next selection round in October. Due to the expected high volume of responses it will unfortunately not be possible to respond to all applicants or to provide individual feedback.

Bellingcat is an independent collective of international researchers, investigators and citizen journalists using open source and social media investigations to probe conflict, corruption, crimes, misinformation, disinformation, extremist groups and much, much more. We have received multiple awards for our research and publications that shine a light on wrongdoing. Our community (which includes staff, contributors and volunteers around the world) works in a unique field where technology, forensic research, journalism and the advancement of justice and accountability come together. Do you want to join this exciting adventure?

Who you are

You are enthusiastic about working for an international nonprofit organisation that uses publicly available data and open source analysis to investigate a variety of topics that are in the public interest and which advance transparency.

Who we are looking for

The Bellingcat Investigative Tech team is looking for a full-stack developer with an interest in data and data visualisation to help us develop tools for digital investigators. You will work closely with developers and journalists on the Investigative Tech Team to build web-based software that helps researchers at Bellingcat and partner organisations store, query and understand social media data. You will also work with Bellingcat’s IT and devops engineer to ensure that our software is secure and robust. Experience with front-end development using modern Javascript frameworks and data-heavy back-end development is a must. Experience with web scraping and data analysis is beneficial, but not a requirement — there will also be on-the-job opportunities to grow and strengthen these and related skills. 

Depending on your preferences, this position can potentially either be a full time or a part-time role (three days per week).

Responsibilities

  • Work with the Bellingcat Investigative Tech team to help ongoing development of tools; social media archiving and analysis is currently one focus area but the team covers a variety of aspects relating to digital investigations
  • Collaborate with media or tech partners on projects related to open source investigations, initially on a project related to online counterfactual communities
  • Support the team on tasks that are relevant for the growth of Bellingcat as an organisation (this might also include tasks like contributing to technical sections of proposal writing, preparing and offering workshops etc.)

Qualifications & Skills

  • Proficient in front-end web development, including a modern Javascript framework such as Vue (preferred), React, or Angular
  • Proficient in development of simple but performant and secure web back-ends with Python or Node
  • Proficient working with relational databases (especially Postgres and SQLite) and non-relational databases, as well as the wisdom to know when one or the other is a better fit for data storage and access
  • Comfortable working on a small team with diverse technical backgrounds where the next task may be uncertain
  • Interested in the very practical research work conducted by Bellingcat, which is different from traditional journalistic or academic research but at the intersection of several very different fields
  • Beneficial but not necessary: experience with web scraping, data wrangling, data analysis, or machine learning
  • Beneficial but not necessary: experience with web infrastructure and devops
  • English proficiency

Bellingcat aims to hire a full-time staff member for one of the positions and a part-time staff member for the other position (three days per week). Please indicate in your application whether you have a preference.

You can choose between working from Bellingcat’s office in the Netherlands or working remotely as long as you are able to participate in meetings that take place according to EU time zones. Occasional traveling to team meetings or workshops is required. 

The initial contract for both positions will be for one year, with a possibility to extend the contract (depending on performance and available project funding).

The salary range for both positions is 58-60k Euros (gross annual based on 40 hours/week) depending on experience. 

Bellingcat is committed to a diverse working environment. Our team is international, from a wide range of backgrounds and we always welcome and appreciate new perspectives and life experiences. All qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to race, colour, origin, religion, age, gender or sexual orientation. Your formal education is less important to us than your previous experience in the field. 

Please apply by 10 October 2021 to jobs@bellingcat.com and refer to and describe previous software development or data science projects in your applications. Only short-listed candidates will be approached and invited for the next selection round in October. Due to the expected high volume of responses it will unfortunately not be possible to respond to all applicants or to provide individual feedback.