Digital Rights Expert

Location: Islamabad, Pakistan

Duration: Full-time (100% Level of Effort) – 12 Months

Reports To: Executive Director / Director Programs (the position will work in close coordination with Head of Research and Learning and M&E Manager)

Last Date of Application- 10th September 2025

Start Date: Immediately

Remuneration: PKR 350,000 – 400,000

About the Organization

Accountability Lab (AL) is a nonprofit think-and-do tank dedicated to enhancing governance through the empowerment of active citizens, responsible leaders, and accountable institutions, thereby fostering social and economic change. The Lab focuses on empowering youth, civil society organizations, and government institutions through a diverse range of interventions centered on human resource development, innovation, technology adoption, and citizen-centric policymaking, all aimed at enhancing accountability and promoting inclusive governance

Purpose of the Position

Digital Rights Expert will serve as the technical anchor on democratic innovation, civic participation in the digital age, and civil society strengthening program. The role will focus on guiding the project team, partners, and civil society organizations (CSOs) to implement impactful, locally adapted strategies for advancing digital democracy and strengthening civic infrastructure. Beyond this project-specific role, the expert will also actively contribute to the Accountability Lab Pakistan’s broader digital democracy and inclusion portfolio. The role will support the project team in outreach and partnerships, support capacity building, knowledge generation, regional learning, and the development of inclusive advocacy strategies while ensuring technical coherence and innovation across the project's components.

This role is central to ensuring that sub-grantees are not only financially supported but also strategically guided to contribute meaningfully to democratic strengthening through digital engagement and civic innovation.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership

• Provide overarching technical input to the project’s strategy on digital democracy, civic engagement, participatory governance, and digital innovation.

• Guide the design and delivery of project components to ensure alignment with respective trends, stakeholder needs, and democratic priorities across the regions. Identify cross-cutting opportunities to strengthen civic infrastructure and democratic engagement through digital platforms and innovations.

Evidence, Learning and Research

• Provide active input and technical support to the Evidence and Learning Lead in the design, rollout, and analysis of regional needs assessments.

• Actively participate in the development of digital and institutional needs assessment tools to ensure they are aligned with the diverse capacities, contexts, and thematic priorities of local CSOs. • Actively participate in the development of indicators, data collection frameworks, question sets for digital democracy assessments, analysis and development of reports and other research outputs.

• Offer regional insight on emerging digital democracy trends and stakeholder capacities to inform the design and adaptation of assessment tools.

• Support the interpretation of assessment findings and assist in translating data into actionable strategies for CSO capacity-building and project adaptation.

Capacity Building of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)

• Lead the design and delivery of targeted virtual trainings, mentoring sessions, and learning engagements for CSOs across the region.

• Develop tools, frameworks, and guides to help CSOs increase their effectiveness in digital organizing, participatory governance, institutional development, and constituency engagement. • Facilitate peer learning and experience exchange among grantees on innovations in digital civic engagement.

• Attend and facilitate the regional convenings (virtual and in-person) to share key findings of the project with various stakeholders

Coordination with Program Officers (CPOs)

• Act as a technical and strategic advisor to POs , ensuring consistency in quality, coherence in program implementation, and responsiveness to specific contexts.

• Support POs in mapping relevant CSOs, democratic stakeholders, and civic tech actors within their areas.

• Provide ongoing virtual support to POs in facilitating learning events, partner convenings, and stakeholder consultations.

Stakeholder Mapping and Engagement

• Lead the regional mapping of key stakeholders engaged in digital democracy, civic participation, social innovation, and institutional reform along with POs.

• Build and maintain partnerships with Civil Society Organization (CSOs), universities, think tanks, private sector actors, and tech communities relevant to the project’s objectives. • Support the identification of thematic synergies and mutual collaboration opportunities among grantees and partners.

Advocacy and Knowledge Support

• Provide strategic inputs into advocacy strategies focused on strengthening democratic processes through digital innovation.

• Collaborate with the Communications and Reporting Manager and the Evidence and Learning Lead to develop evidence-based content for advocacy, storytelling, and public engagement campaigns.

• Contribute technical knowledge to briefs, reports, case studies, and other knowledge products derived from project implementation.

Monitoring, Learning, and Adaptive Implementation

• Contribute to technical monitoring and evaluation processes, supporting the integration of learning into project design and implementation.

• Identify and document scalable and contextually relevant approaches that support digital democracy and institutional resilience among civil society actors.

• Participate in strategic reviews and learning sessions with the wider project team and donors.

Qualifications and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in Public Policy, Political Science, Development Studies, Governance, Digital Innovation, or a related field.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of experience in democratic development, digital rights, civic innovation and civil society strengthening.

• Demonstrated experience in implementing or advising on digital engagement strategies, civic tech interventions, or inclusive governance programs.

• Experience in working with or advising CSOs

Skills and Competencies:

• Strong understanding of democratic systems, CSO ecosystems, digital rights, and local/regional civic challenges.

• Proven facilitation, mentorship, and training design skills, especially in virtual environments. • Excellent coordination and communication, and networking abilities to work across regions and stakeholder groups.

• Strong writing, reporting, and presentation skills in English.

• Capacity to work independently and collaboratively in multicultural and distributed teams.

Apply By:

Application Process:

• Eligible applicants are invited to submit their CVs and Cover Letter to jobs.pk@accountabilitylab.org by September 5, 2025. The deadline will be strictly observed. •

• The cover letter must introduce the applicant, her/his background as it relates to the above qualifications, a statement of the applicant’s motivation in applying for this position, and the first possible starting date should the applicant be selected.

• The shortlisted candidates will be contacted within two weeks after the closing date for an interview.