Germany: Copywriter English

Looking for: Copywriter English

Assignment title: Revise and edit DRI publications

Form of employment: Short-term consultancy

Contract Period: Until 31 December 2019

Start Date: As soon as possible

Deadline: 5 September 2019, 12:00 PM local time (Beirut, Lebanon)

Background

Democracy Reporting International (DRI) is a non-partisan, independent, not-for-profit organisation registered in Berlin. DRI promotes political participation of citizens, accountability of state bodies and the development of democratic institutions world-wide.

In the framework of its projects “Setting an Agenda for Decentralisation – Phase II”, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, and “Resilience in Local Governance” (Reslog), funded by the Swedish Agency for International Development (Sida) and implemented by SKL International, DRI is working with Lebanese civil society organisations and public officials to promote decentralisation and a public debate on local governance in line with good governance principles. In support of this process, DRI has produced two Briefing Papers and is re-issuing a national capacity assessment[1] which it intends to discuss at a larger scale involving Lebanese policymakers and municipal officials.

Objective of this assignment

DRI wishes to hire an External Reviewer to revise and edit its publications to fit DRI’s publication standards. The subjects of the publications are:

• Public-Private Partnerships (PPP):Assessment of the 2017 PPP Law (state of play, current practices and debates, notable areas of improvement), its implications for local authorities in Lebanon, strategic recommendations to better adapt PPP to the work of local authorities and promote its implementation for public service delivery, also with respect to the 2014 Administrative Decentralisation Bill. The document is around 7,500 words.
• Public Procurement and Financial Management in Local Authorities: Assessment of the legal framework (state of play, current practices and debates, notable areas of improvement), strategic recommendations to improve public procurement in local authorities, also with respect to the 2014 Administrative Decentralisation Bill. The document is around 6,000 words.
• Institutional capacity assessment of municipal federations in Lebanon: The study analyses the institutional capacities of 86% of Lebanon’s municipal federations in core areas like general administration, financial management, strategic planning, human resources and citizen participation. The document is around 20,000 words.

The copyright of the deliverables is the exclusive property of DRI.

Your duties and responsibilities

Under the supervision of DRI’s Country Representative, the selected candidate will revise and edit the BPs to fit DRI’s publication standards, as per the following guidelines:

• Review, copy-edit and proof-read the manuscripts in the original language (British English)
• The writing should be crisp and concise and follow a think tank style. The reviewer may restructure and re-shuffle the text as agreed with DRI.
• The word count should be reduced as much as possible as agreed with DRI.
• Suggest snappy titles and provide a list of abbreviations.
• The reviewer must be available, in person or remotely, for regular meetings with DRI to discuss substantial changes.

The candidate shall ensure the finalised publications comply with the following requirements: to ensure that the text complies with the following essential requirements:

• Clarity and accessibility;
• Neutrality of tone and style, following DRI’s Style Guide;
• Linguistic correctness and proper syntax (British English);
• Consistency in the use of terms and names/spelling of official documents and bodies;
• Correct terminology, grammar, punctuation and referencing;
• Correct spelling;
• Gender-sensitive language

Qualifications we require:

• Degree in Journalism, Social Science, Political Science, Economics or equivalent.
• At least five (5) years of professional copy-editing experience in media organisations or think-tanks.
• A proven track record of copy-editing assignments;

• Knowledge of governance issues in Lebanon is a strong asset;

• Working experience on governance issues in Lebanon is a strong asset;

• Excellent writing and communication skills and demonstrated research experience;

• Excellent command of English

DRI is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. We strongly encourage qualified females to apply for this position.

Interested candidates should sent their application by 5 September 2019, 12:00 pm local time (Beirut). Please include (1) a cover letter, (2) your CV, (3) samples of similar assignments, (4) three references, and (5) a detailed quotation showing the cost break-down for each publication to mena@democracy-reporting.org cc’ing e.haddad@democracy-reporting.org. Please mention External Reviewer (Lebanon)** in the subject line and refer to the source where you have found this opportunity.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview. If you are one of those shortlisted, we will contact you within one week after expiration of the deadline at the latest.

Organisation responsible for this vacancy:

Democracy Reporting International gGmbH

Prinzessinnenstraße 30

10969 Berlin, Germany

Tel +49 30 27877300

Fax +49 30 27877300-10

Data processing of personal data in third countries will not take place. We process your data in accordance with the provisions of § 26 German Federal Data Protection Act. More information about processing your personal data: privacy policy.

Note: This call does not entail any commitment on the part of DRI, either financial or otherwise. DRI may cancel the call any time without assigning any reason.

[1] The original publication was issued by VNG International in the framework of the Local Governance Resilience Programme (LOGOReP), funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The full text is available here: https://www.logorep.nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Lebanon-Federation-of-Municipalities-Capacity-Mapping-Study.pdf.