We’re hiring: Join MTI as our new AI+Africa Lead for the NLP-CoP

The MERL Tech Initiative (MTI) is looking for a part-time (60%) AI+Africa Lead for our Natural Language Processing Community of Practice (NLP-CoP). 

If you are interested in the intersection of emerging AI, MERL, data governance, and the social sector in African countries and have strong regional networks across African civil society, MERL, ICT4D, Digital Development, AI, data governance, and/or related professional communities – keep reading! 

About the position

The NLP-CoP is a global, transdisciplinary community of 1200+ members that is exploring, learning, and collaborating on the safe and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) for monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) in development, humanitarian, human rights, peace building, and philanthropy work.

The AI+Africa Working Group (one of the NLP-CoP’s sub-working groups) is exploring NLP and emerging AI in African contexts and we’re looking for an AI+Africa Lead to create space, structure and momentum for working group members to work, learn together and connect with each other and with other networks working on AI development and governance in Africa. 

Our ideal candidate for this position is someone who is passionate about training, learning and supporting transdisciplinary communities to grow their knowledge, collaborate, and apply learning to their practical and strategic work; who is highly curious about the intersection of emerging AI, MERL, data governance, and the social sector across the African continent; and who would like to join a team driving forward the field of ethical, responsible use of AI in international development, humanitarian and human rights-related work and the use of AI for MERL. For this position, we’re looking to hire someone who is based in an African country, has 5-7 years of experience in a similar role or doing similar work, and who excels in writing, communications and engagement.

Some of the activities you can expect in the day-to-day of this position include:

• Conducting research to better understand current AI+MERL efforts and opportunities for collaboration;
• Staying on top of emerging trends, challenges, tools and topics related to AI+MERL in Africa; 
• Connecting with AI+Africa Working Group members and planning and organizing engaging virtual and in-person training, capacity strengthening, and learning events related to MERL+AI based on members’ interests;
• Writing and/or working with AI+Africa Working Group Members to write blog posts and thought pieces;
• Engaging with other networks and communities of practice to cross-pollinate learning around AI+MERL in Africa
• Collaborating with MTI team members and the overall NLP-CoP Community Manager.

And more!

Learn more and apply

In the Job Description, we share a complete overview of the position, including the main activities expected for the role, information about compensation and more details regarding skills and experience we’re looking for. 

The deadline for applications is midnight ET, Sunday February 16, 2025. Applicants are expected to send a cover letter to hello@merltech.org indicating their interest in the position and why they feel they would be our top choice, as well as attach or link to their CV, provide 2 relevant writing samples, and share 1-2 documents or links that show examples of relevant work.