Digital Safety Representative (South Asia)

The Organization and Role

About Access Now

Access Now defends and extends the digital rights of people and communities at risk. As a grassroots-to-global organization, we partner with local actors to bring a human rights agenda to the use, development, and governance of digital technologies, and to intervene where technologies adversely impact our human rights. By combining direct technical support, strategic advocacy, grassroots grantmaking, and convenings such as RightsCon, we fight for human rights in the digital age.

About this role

The Digital Safety Representative is responsible for providing digital safety advice and rapid response to civil society groups with prime focus in the South Asian region. around the globe as part of Access Now’s 24/7 Digital Security Helpline. This role will be part of Access Now’s Digital Security Helpline’s global presence, while representing a real-time, regional presence for time zones around the world.

This role is expected to maintain together with the assigned regional Digital Security Helpline Manager a regional intermediary and beneficiary relationship program. We are looking for an individual with strong cultural understanding and experience across the South Asian region as well as strong understanding of legal framework across the South Asian region, specifically information and communications technology related.

The Digital Safety Representative reports through the assigned regional Digital Security Helpline Manager.

What you will do

Provide detailed technical advice and service to human rights defenders around the world through the following:

• Perform emergency response on digital related incidents primarily via written communications, and other as-needed communication channels.
• Collaborate with other Digital Security Helpline teams in performing risk assessments on Digital Security Helpline beneficiaries and give structured advice and recommendations as required verbally or/and in written format.
• Documents case history and maintain chain of evidence according to established Helpline standards.
• Support efforts to improve the documentation used by the Digital Security Helpline.
• Collaborate with other Digital Security Helpline teams in performing investigations and digital forensic analysis as required.
• Provide digital safety capacity building activities to Digital Security Helpline beneficiaries particularly in South Asia
• Participate in conferences and events as needed, including giving presentations, speaking in public and participating in panels.
• Perform outreach to local organizations, activists and journalists to expand the Helpline’s work and network.
• Maintain good communication with the rest of the Helpline team about cases, threats and trends.
• Incorporate trauma-informed response on their communications and handling of Digital Security Helpline beneficiaries
• Work on rotating schedules that might include working on weekends and holidays.
• On-demand collaboration with other arms (outside Helpline) by providing them relevant knowledge on technical issues and local threat landscapes.
• Other tasks and projects asked of you by the regional Digital Security Helpline Manager.

Skills, education, and mindset you will bring

• Relevant educational degree or equivalent lived and/or professional experience
• Experience in developing or supporting developments of digital safety programs for end users and small to medium sized civil society organizations
• Strong foundational knowledge in information and communications security including threats and vulnerabilities as well as tools, technologies and strategies
• Proficiency in collaborative work productivity tools like Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, and open source alternatives
• Bilingual fluency in English and at least in one of the following South Asian languages: Hindi, Bengali, and Urdu. Proficiency in other relevant South Asia languages and dialects preferred.
• Well adapted in remote working condition and able to set priorities and manage time effectively
• Willingness to work under an increased risk profile due to certainties of hostile environment for human rights defenders in the region of focus for this role

The following would be a big plus:

• Prior experience working in supporting women and/or queer communities, civil society and human rights defender organization in South Asian region
• Proficiency in user safety administration of well known social networking platforms including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter/X, Tiktok and others
• Proficiency in user administration of open source software and technologies
• Experience in end user and organizational training using adult learning models using both on-site and remote methods
• Experience working in incident response or customer support escalation teams and crisis management situations
• Familiarity in gender role analysis, trauma-informed response, holistic security concepts, including legal, physical and psychological aspects of security.
• Excellent self-organization and teamwork skills that are best put to test in high stress emergency environments
• Knowledge of existing learning and funding resources geared towards civil society and high risk communities
• Knowledge of existing civil society networks and trustworthy people for beneficiary vetting

The Details

Location and Work Schedule

This is a full-time position, with preference for someone who resides in South Asia. The successful candidate must possess the right to work in the location in which they will be based. At this time most Access Now Team Members are working through hybrid office arrangements, combining remote at-home work with intermittent use of offices and/or co-working spaces.

Expected work schedule for this role is 8 hours per day, five times in a given work week, not exceeding 40 hours per week. Due to the incident response nature of the Digital Security Helpline services, a start time of 5:30 AM in your local time is required 3 or 4 months in a year.

Remuneration

Access Now offers competitive compensation and benefits packages that align competitively with locations and regions around the world. Location-specific example of initial placement within the salary range for this role:

• ₹163,200.00 INR gross monthly

Benefits for this specific role are tied to the location, and will vary. Regardless of location, all Team Members benefit from a strong global culture aligned around:

• Work-life balance…including a generous paid time-off program between 36 and 40 days annually
• Access to supplemental health care insurance policies
• Professional development and growth opportunities
• Extensive workplace flexibility
• Organizational resilience and support for all team members, including paid family leave and employee assistance programs
• Connection to a diverse, global team of passionate, principled professionals
• Opportunities to recharge (including one month of paid refresher leave after 4 years)