Accountable Now (AN) Research Fellow/Internship opportunity

About Accountable Now

Accountable Now (AN) is a global platform that supports civil society organizations to be more transparent, responsive, impact-focused, and community-led. For 20 years, we have been working to shift power, champion equity, and embed Dynamic Accountability into everyday practices.

Our work focuses on supporting civil society organizations to continuously reflect, learn, and adapt to strengthen and embed new ways of working grounded in processes of inclusive, participatory and meaningful engagement with all stakeholders. It goes beyond monitoring & evaluation, due-diligence and compliance, driving accountability as a process that aligns organizational actions with their values.

Accountable Now is fiscally sponsored by Accountability Lab in the United States, but our staff and interns currently are based all over the world: Germany, Kenya, the Netherlands, Nigeria, South Korea, and the US.

About the Opportunity and the Ideal Candidate

We are looking for up to two Research Fellows/Interns to help us build a rigorous evidence base for how Dynamic Accountability is being operationalized across our member CSOs.

The Fellow/Intern will conduct a meta-analysis of member reports and Independent Review Panel (IRP) feedback letters to identify trends, barriers to improvement, and the relationship between Dynamic Accountability practices and long-term organizational impact. The role is also an opportunity to document how our 12 Commitments and the #ShiftThePower movement translate into real organizational change.

This role is perfect for a doctoral student who excels at transforming complex qualitative data into clear, evidence-based narratives. We’re excited about a candidate who has a rigorous analytical mindset, experience with qualitative research and wants to apply their analytical skills to the real-world challenges of the civil society sector.

Responsibilities

• Analyse and Synthesize Member Data: Review the Accountable Now Reporting database, including thorough review of our Member Reports and Independent Review Panel (IRP) Feedback Letters, to identify shifts and evidence of “Accountability in Practice” across member organizations.
  • You can explore what these pieces look like on our webpage, an example of a report can also be found here.
• Document Changes in Members’ Organizational and Reporting Practices Over Time: While we are not looking for contribution tracing, we are interested in how members’ accountability practices have shifted over time, and if possible, we would love to identify connections between the feedback members get and their practices – at least as written on paper.
• Develop Case Studies: Produce high-quality narrative case studies that demonstrate the Dynamic Accountability Journey of a handful of members.

Deliverables

1. Inception Report: Detailed methodology and research timeline.
2. Coded Dataset: A cleaned, categorized database of coded member report findings.
3. Research Report: A report summarizing findings and implications.
4. Internal Briefing: A presentation to the Accountable Now Secretariat.

Preferred Qualifications

• A current ESRC SCDTP PhD student. The internship must commence at least three months prior to the official PhD funding end date. You must obtain support from your supervisor and from the SCDTP in order to apply for this position.
• Ideally, students should be enrolled in Areas Studies or cognate disciplines such as Sociology and International Development.
• Experience with qualitative and quantitative research methods and tools; experience with evaluative methodologies desirable, but not necessary.
• Strong attention to detail with the ability to communicate technical findings to diverse audiences
• Ability to work asynchronously and sensitively with a globally distributed team and network
• Self-motivated, proactive, and comfortable managing your own deadlines
• Fluent in written and spoken English; additional languages are an asset.

Key Information

Duration and hours: 3 months full time or 6 months, part time

• Within these frameworks, AN practices flexible working hours

Reports to: Head of Accountability Practices and Reporting

Location: Remote

This placement is not suitable for students who are required to complete a Research in Practice placement (i.e. studentships that began after September 2024).

Students from earlier cohorts are welcome to apply to the SCDTP for approval to undertake this placement as an internship and will continue to receive their stipend during the placement period.

For further information about the conditions and application process, please see INTF – South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership or contact the SCDTP office.

How to apply to Accountable Now: Please submit the following to recruitment@accountablenow.org

• a CV/resume with relevant experience
• A brief letter of interest, outlining your approach and work style
• A copy of, or links to at least one piece of previous writing or research sample
• Contacts of two references

Only candidates who submit complete applications and who are current SCDTP PhD students will be considered. Strong candidates will be invited to a brief interview with the AN team. We regret that we are unable to provide feedback to all candidates.

Please note: Students will need to apply 2-3 months prior to the beginning of their internship due to SCDTP requirements; students will draw up an internship plan with Accountable Now prior to the start of their work.

AN’s Values and Commitment to Equity

Accountable Now is committed to ensuring a fair and equal recruitment process, including recruiting potential staff and contractors with varied backgrounds and experiences.  We actively seek and welcome applications from individuals from communities and/or whose identities have historically been underrepresented, marginalized, and/or persecuted.

Accountable Now and its staff operate in line with the following organizational values:

• Integrity: We uphold ethical standards in everything we do, ensuring transparency, honesty, and accountability in all our interactions.
• Humility: We recognize that we don’t have all the answers and are always open to learning from others. We embrace a culture of listening, reflection, and shared decision-making.
• Inclusion: We are committed to providing an inclusive space for all voices to be equally heard and raised to counter current power structures that privilege some voices over others.

Openness: We are transparent in all our activities and practice an open culture of feedback between staff members regardless of their position and also externally with any other stakeholders of the organization.