About the consultancy	RNW Media is seeking a data engineer to lead the development of a moderation-assistance tool that automates message classification, supports moderator responses, and enhances the management of our partner’s listening and referral mechanism.
Duration:	90 days (From 1st August 2026)
Type of Contract/Partnership	Short-term consultancy
RNW Media Focal Point	Noyan Er, Digital Product & Data Manager (noyan.er@rnw.org)

1. Introduction

RNW Media is an international media development organization based in Haarlem, the Netherlands, dedicated to harness the power of independent digital media to uphold human rights and advance the public good. Working in more than 40 countries across Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, West and East Africa, East Asia, Central and South America, we defend media and internet freedom, the right of every human being to access to information and freedom of expression.  

With over 75 years of experience, RNW Media has evolved from an international radio broadcaster into a champion of independent digital media. Our work with our partners has demonstrated how a diverse, resilient, and trustworthy digital media ecosystem can inform people, shift narratives, influence social norms, and drive policy change, reinforcing the essential role of independent media in open and democratic societies. 

RNTC, the internationally renowned training center of RNW Media, provides journalism and media training to journalists, media makers and communication professionals. Through The Vine, RNW Media’s global community, with more than 25 independent and public interest digital media, 80 media trainers, and 10,000 RNTC alumni, we facilitate media coalition, partnership, and movement building. 

2. Context and Background

RNW Media’s implementing partner in Burundi, Yaga, operates a listening and referral mechanism that provides young people with confidential access to information, guidance and referrals on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), gender-based violence (GBV), and related issues.

• How young people learn about the mechanism. The mechanism is promoted through partner radio stations, Yaga’s digital platforms, and in-person community activities, inviting young people to reach out with questions on SRHR and related topics.
• How young people reach out. Young people reach out through SMS (via the local mobile network). They commonly seek information on topics including family planning, menstrual health, STIs, relationships, and mental health.
• How they are supported. Once a message is received, trained moderators provide support through a listening and referral approach. Moderators engage with users to understand and clarify their questions then they connect the users to appropriate services, including medical, psychosocial, legal, or other specialised support providers.

Yaga has been operating this mechanism for 2 years and have now run into two operational pressures: 

• Volume vs. capacity: incoming message volume now exceeds what the limited number of moderators can sort manually. The response rate sits at roughly 90%, and a standardised orientation is applied where the different profiles writing in (e.g. young mothers, refugees, young people living with a disability, in- and out-of-school adolescents) call for differentiated responses.
• Slow, fragile datafication: every interaction is recorded manually in Kobo Collect and later moved to Google Sheets for analysis. This is time-consuming, prone to inaccuracy and incompleteness under load, and weak for producing actionable insight.

3. Objectives and Scope of the Assignment

RNW is supporting Yaga in building a functional, documented and transferable moderation-assistance tool. The system will:

• Automatically classify messages received by profile, theme and sensitivity level, (based on documented decision trees); 
• Suggest one or more standard responses to the moderator of (drawn from a curated reference corpus);
• Feed a structured and anonymised database that maps the SRHR/GBV demands from Burundian youth over the operational period. 

RNW Media is looking for a Data Engineer to lead the development of this tool against a functional design (decision trees, thematic grid, sensitivity scale, and Kirundi SRHR/GBV glossary) supplied and validated by RNW and the AJEBUDI coordination team. By the deadline established by RNW Media, the Data Engineer is expected to have delivered the following:

• Classification engine that tags each incoming message by user profile (5 profiles + 1 open/uncategorised), theme and sensitivity level, implementing the documented decision trees and a configurable confidence threshold.
• Response-suggestion module that proposes one or more standard responses to the moderator, drawn from the curated reference corpus, with in-context injection of the Kirundi SRHR/GBV glossary and Kirundi-pivot translation into the working language.
• Moderator interface / dashboard to view, validate, correct or reject suggestions, track message status, and surface aggregate activity for supervisors.
• Messaging integration with the existing phone number SMS support handled or scoped as agreed.

4. Key Activities

• Translate the functionalities and features provided by RNW Media/AJEBUDI into a confirmed technical specification, with development carried out from specification through to production. 
• Build the classification engine, the response-suggestion module (LLM, Kirundi-pivot translation, glossary injection), the confidence-threshold logic and the independent double-pass on critical cases. 
• Implement the safeguarding gateway: critical-case detection, alert rules and an alert workflow routed to the human moderator. 
• Build the moderator interface / dashboard (validate, correct, reject, track status, view aggregate activity) and the decision-logging mechanism. 
• Integrate with the existing phone number without changing the number; handle or scope SMS support as agreed with the team. 
• Implement the anonymised, minimised structured database and support the production of the end-of-project SRHR/GBV mapping. 
• Deliver technical documentation and a complete handover (code, accounts, access, usage rights).

5. Data Engineer Profile

RNW Media is looking for a data engineer with the following qualifications and skills:

• A degree in the field of Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics or other related field.
• A minimum of 2 years of work experience in building applications with large language models (prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation / in-context grounding); backend development (e.g. Python) and REST API integration; design and implementation of structured databases; building of lightweight web interfaces or dashboards.
• Experience in integrating SMS channels; data engineering and the design of anonymised, minimised datasets for analysis.
• Expert knowledge and understanding of safeguarding, confidentiality and data-protection principles, and the ability to apply a do-no-harm approach to sensitive SRHR/GBV content; comfort designing a human-in-the-loop system where the tool never replies to users directly.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to communicate detailed concepts clearly and concisely both in writing and verbally;
• Written and oral fluency in English, French, and /or Kirundi is essential.

6. Assignment Schedule

Activity	Timeline	Output
1. System design and architecture	01.08.26 – 08.08.26	Approved documents; AJEBUDI written acceptance
2. Integrating corpus and glossary	08.08.26- 31.08.26	Approved corpus and glossary; signed validation note; check of usage rights for external sources
3. Safeguarding gateway	08.08.26- 31.08.26	Signed and approved protocol; test report; preserved test-case set
4. Development and SMS integration	31.08.26- 21.09.26	Signed specifications; repository access transmitted; proof of operational functioning; documentation delivered.
5. Calibration and operational tools	21.09.26- 30.09.26	Accessible and demonstrated interface; anonymised journal exports; dated report.
6. Testing and Bug Fixes	30.09.26- 15.10.26	Approved schema and methodology; mapping report; transmission email; presentation materials where applicable.

Changes to the schedule can be made in consultation with RNW Media.

7. Remuneration

BUDGET: 3500 EUR (VAT included)

The remuneration, payment schedule, and conditions will be discussed and agreed upon with the selected consultant. The total remuneration will cover the consultancy fee as well as reasonable costs related to the execution of the assignment, such as expenses for administration and coordination. RNW Media will provide reasonable remuneration for any field research and provide access to social listening tools or software required for data collection and analysis.

8. Application Procedure

Interested consultants should submit the following: 

• A brief cover note (max 3 pages) describing their relevant experience and proposed approach 
• A CV or profile (max 2 pages) 
• Portfolio of relevant previous work 

Interested candidates should send their applications to Noyan Er (Digital Product and Data Manager, RNW Media) at: noyan.er@rnw.org. Only complete applications will be reviewed and responded to. 

Deadline: 31st July 2026, but applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the call may be closed if a suitable candidate is found.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be considered.  

RNW Media is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.