Application Guide
How to Apply for Public Tender: Development of the AI-Powered WIN Gender Balance Tracker
at WAN-IFRA
🏢 About WAN-IFRA
WAN-IFRA WIN is a unique global initiative specifically focused on advancing gender equality within the media industry, not just as a corporate value but as its core mission. Working here means directly contributing to a tangible, data-driven tool that will empower media organizations worldwide to measure and improve gender representation. This is an opportunity to apply technical skills toward a significant social impact goal within a respected international network.
About This Role
This contract role involves building a comprehensive, multi-modal AI system from the ground up to analyze gender balance across text, images, audio, and video content for media monitoring. It's impactful because you'll be creating the primary tool for WAN-IFRA WIN's mission, enabling data-driven advocacy and change in newsrooms globally. Success means delivering a functional tracker that generates actionable insights in English, Arabic, and Ukrainian.
💡 A Day in the Life
A typical day might involve coding backend integrations between a speech-to-text service and an NLP model to analyze interview transcripts, then refining computer vision algorithms to assess gender representation in news photographs. You'd likely collaborate with the WIN team to define relevant metrics, troubleshoot cloud deployment issues, and design front-end components for displaying analysis results in an intuitive dashboard for users.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who WAN-IFRA Is Looking For
- Has a portfolio demonstrating hands-on experience integrating multiple AI modalities (NLP for text, Computer Vision for images, and speech-to-text APIs) into a single, cohesive application.
- Can provide specific examples of developing secure, scalable backend/cloud infrastructure, preferably for data-intensive analytics or media monitoring platforms.
- Has practical experience with multilingual NLP, particularly involving languages like Arabic and Ukrainian, which present unique linguistic challenges.
- Understands the media industry context enough to design relevant gender balance indicators and user-friendly interfaces for journalists and media analysts.
📝 Tips for Applying to WAN-IFRA
Explicitly list and briefly describe past projects where you integrated OpenAI/Gemini APIs with computer vision and speech-to-text systems in a single workflow.
Detail your experience with the specific technical stack implied by the requirements (e.g., cloud providers like AWS/Azure/GCP, backend frameworks, database choices for user accounts and media data storage).
If you have any experience with media monitoring tools, analytics dashboards, or projects related to content analysis (even if not gender-focused), highlight this as it's a strong advantage.
Tailor your resume to show you've worked on systems requiring security considerations for user data and potentially sensitive media content analysis.
Mention any familiarity with WAN-IFRA's work, the WIN programme, or gender equality initiatives in media to demonstrate genuine interest in the mission beyond the technical contract.
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
['Your proven ability to architect and deliver a complete, integrated AI system handling multiple data types (text, image, audio/video), not just expertise in one area.', 'Specific examples of building secure, user-centric web applications with features like personal accounts and data storage, emphasizing scalability for a global user base.', 'How your technical approach would address the challenge of developing accurate and fair gender analysis indicators, acknowledging potential biases in AI models.', "Your understanding of the project's social impact: how the tracker will be used by WAN-IFRA WIN and its partners to drive change in media representation."]
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Explore WAN-IFRA's website and specifically the WIN programme page to understand their current projects, reports (like the Global Report on Gender Equality in News Media), and key partners.
- → Look into existing gender balance or media monitoring tools to understand the competitive/contextual landscape and identify potential features or gaps.
- → Research the specific challenges of gender representation in global media, particularly in the regions corresponding to the required languages (Arab world, Ukraine).
- → Review WAN-IFRA's public tenders or past projects to gauge their typical technical scope, reporting expectations, and contract style.
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Submitting a generic AI/developer resume without tailoring it to show integrated multi-modal AI experience and explicit mention of the required technologies (OpenAI/Gemini, speech-to-text, computer vision).
- Focusing solely on technical prowess in the application without demonstrating any understanding of or interest in the gender equality mission and media sector context.
- Proposing an overly generic or theoretical solution without addressing the specific deliverables: a fully functional tracker with a web interface, user accounts, multilingual support, and defined indicators.
📅 Application Timeline
This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!