Opportunities – The Citizen Lab https://citizenlab.ca University of Toronto Wed, 10 Sep 2025 16:23:30 +0000 en-CA hourly 1 Job Opportunity: Information Security Program Manager https://citizenlab.ca/2025/09/job-opportunity-information-security-program-manager/ Wed, 10 Sep 2025 15:50:05 +0000 https://citizenlab.ca/?p=82633

Req ID: 44188

Faculty/Division: Office of the Chief Information Officer
Department: Information Security
Campus: St. George (Downtown Toronto)
Closing Date: 09/30/2025, 11:59PM ET

Apply here

Description

Reporting to the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of the University and a dotted line to the Director of the Citizen Lab, based at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, but operating with substantial autonomy under very general guidelines, and with input, as required, the Information Security Program Manager provides strategic leadership and management for developing and implementing Information Security Programs which includes but is not limited to the security of the Citizen Lab primarily, as well as data centres, campus perimeter, and campus enterprise systems, as well as managing risk and privacy assessments, incident response and investigation, and outreach and awareness. The Manager provides strategic and tactical planning, evaluation, design, development, implementation, and overall management and support of the University’s Information Security Program, with the goal to protect and improve the University’s cybersecurity infrastructure, posture and culture to minimize risk of compromise to all Information Technology Services (ITS services to the campus, and in managing security controls required, in the support of teaching, learning and research, and services to University staff, faculty and students.

Working with the Citizen Lab, the Manager maintains an up-to-date knowledge of advances and directions in IT security continually evaluating the performance of the Citizen Lab’s own Information Security Program, analyzing gaps and vulnerabilities, effectively solving security and privacy risk issues, integrating new systems with current systems, and initiating projects to augment and improve services delivered. The Manager develops and implements protocols for security of communications during disruptions and establishes new security standards and best practices related to the use and operation of digital assets, and strategies by which those standards are implemented to be used in the Lab and across the University.

As the key senior project team member for major security infrastructure and solutions, the incumbent leads and provides expertise at all stages of each cybersecurity project, from design to delivery, ensuring current, high-quality innovative and advanced solutions are being applied in accordance with service best practices, and evaluating appropriateness for final use to effectively achieve and optimize the security goals of ITS services to the University and Citizen Lab community, and privacy requirements. The Manager establishes and manages strong relationships with all levels of the University and the Citizen Lab community including executive leadership, project teams, support teams, clients, stakeholders, and with IT departments across the University of Toronto. Working as an internal consultant, the incumbent reviews proposals from other departments using in-depth technical and subject matter expertise and partners with other project teams to recommend and deliver security solutions.

With high level authorization to the University’s computer systems (including M365) and the Citizen Lab’s computer systems (MDM, Google Workspace), the Manager leads information security incident response for systems and services whose access control mechanisms have been compromised or circumvented, both within and from outside of the University. The incumbent oversees the monitoring of cyber threats to lab and campus systems and the auditing of Citizen Lab systems administrators and others with privileged IDs for all Citizen Lab systems and servers, working to ensure that the Citizen Lab community has secure, uncompromised access. The incumbent undertakes investigations, gathering forensic IT and security data and evidence in instances of employee related breaches and misconduct, and of potential IT related criminal activity (i.e. bomb threats using ghost email accounts) partnering with relevant departments, such as Campus Police, central ITS, external auditors, and/or work in consultation with Human Resources and Labour Relations as required.

The Information Security Program Manager manages projects with a strong business-oriented focus. The Manager allocates project related human resources and work force planning, directing staff efforts and assigning project priorities. The Manager is responsible for financial and contract management and prepares and manages project budgets. The incumbent is responsible for the initiation and successful negotiation of a wide variety of contracts and procurement processes covering hardware, software, consulting and professional services, and is responsible for the management of budget expenditures and recoveries and for completing projects in a timely, accurate and cost-effective manner.

The Information Security Program Manager serves on University committees, and has frequent contact with academic departments, instructors, and the research enterprise, to advise on security and privacy considerations, global threat landscape, nation state actors and cybercrime.

 

Qualifications

Education

University degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. A Graduate Degree and certifications and specialization in information security and management, such as CISSP, CISA, ISO Audit, PMP, CRISC or other relevant certifications, are an asset.

Experience

  • Eight (8) years experience working in the IT industry, with five (5) years experience in a team lead or senior/supervisory role in an IT and/or organizational security operation.
  • Five plus (5+) years working with Information Security as a prime focus of activity. Proven experience in planning, organizing, and developing IT security and facility security system technologies including end point protection, identity and access management, vulnerability management, network security, security incident response, tabletop exercises, risk management and application security.
  • Experience working with a broad range of stakeholders and IT SMEs.
  • Experience in planning and executing security policies and standards development.
  • Excellent knowledge of technology environments, including information security and defense solutions.
  • Substantial exposure to data processing, hardware platforms, enterprise software applications, and outsourced systems, including financial, human resources and email.
  • Good understanding of computer systems characteristics, features, and integration capabilities.
  • Experience with systems design and development from business requirements analysis through to day-to-day management.
  • Strong understanding of IT Architecture concepts and security methodologies.
  • Experience developing and adopting information security standards and guidelines.
  • Expert level understanding of Information Security technologies and concepts.
  • Excellent understanding of defense in depth strategies and implementation across the entire ecosystem (endpoints, servers, appliances, cloud and network architecture, etc.).

Skills

Strong managerial and leadership skills. Strong communication skills, both verbal and written. Excellent project management and problem solving skills. Ability to quickly analyze and interpret forensic information and evidence. Ability to master new technology quickly. Strong understanding of change and configuration management processes.

Other

Broad knowledge of industry innovations and state-of-the-art technology in both computing and networking arenas, and in depth knowledge of information security. Strong organizational and interpersonal skills. Familiarity with financial requirements of project management is an asset. Familiarity with database administration and operations. Exposure to e-commerce and other net-centric business models highly desirable.

 

Closing Date: 09/30/2025, 11:59PM ET
Employee Group: Salaried
Appointment Type: Budget – Continuing
Schedule: Full-Time
Pay Scale Group & Hiring Zone: PM 5 — Hiring Zone: $120,499 – $140,583 — Broadband Salary Range: $120,499 – $200,831
Job Category: Information Technology (IT)

 

Diversity Statement

The University of Toronto embraces Diversity and is building a culture of belonging that increases our capacity to effectively address and serve the interests of our global community. We strongly encourage applications from Indigenous Peoples, Black and racialized persons, women, persons with disabilities, and people of diverse sexual and gender identities. We value applicants who have demonstrated a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and recognize that diverse perspectives, experiences, and expertise are essential to strengthening our academic mission.

As part of your application, you will be asked to complete a brief Diversity Survey. This survey is voluntary. Any information directly related to you is confidential and cannot be accessed by search committees or human resources staff. Results will be aggregated for institutional planning purposes. For more information, please see http://uoft.me/UP.

Accessibility Statement

The University strives to be an equitable and inclusive community, and proactively seeks to increase diversity among its community members. Our values regarding equity and diversity are linked with our unwavering commitment to excellence in the pursuit of our academic mission.

The University is committed to the principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). As such, we strive to make our recruitment, assessment and selection processes as accessible as possible and provide accommodations as required for applicants with disabilities.

If you require any accommodations at any point during the application and hiring process, please contact uoft.careers@utoronto.ca.

 

Apply here

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Job posting: Systems and Security Technical Lead https://citizenlab.ca/2025/01/job-posting-systems-sec-tech-lead/ Fri, 31 Jan 2025 21:58:48 +0000 https://citizenlab.ca/?p=81874 Date Posted: 01/30/2025
Req ID: 41494
Faculty/Division: Faculty of Arts & Science
Department: Citizen Lab
Campus: St. George (Downtown Toronto)

About us:

The Faculty of Arts & Science is the heart of Canada’s leading university and one of the most comprehensive and diverse academic divisions in the world. The strength of Arts & Science derives from our combined teaching and research excellence in the humanities, sciences and social sciences across 29 departments, seven colleges and 46 interdisciplinary centres, institutes and programs.

We can only realize our mission with the dedication and excellence of engaged staff and faculty. The diversity of opportunities and perspectives within the Faculty reflect the local and global landscape and the need for curiosity, innovative thinking and collaboration. At Arts & Science, we take pride in our legacy of innovation and discovery that has changed the way we think about the world.

The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto, focusing on research, development, and high-level strategic policy and legal engagement at the intersection of information and communication technologies, human rights, and global security. The Lab uses a “mixed methods” approach to research combining practices from political science, law, computer science, and area studies. Our research includes investigating digital espionage against civil society, documenting Internet filtering and other technologies and practices that impact freedom of expression online, analyzing privacy, security, and information controls of popular applications, and examining transparency and accountability mechanisms relevant to the relationship between corporations and state agencies regarding personal data and other surveillance activities.

Your opportunity:

Reporting to the Director of Administration, Citizen Lab and working under the general direction of the Director, Citizen Lab in coordination with the University of Toronto’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), the Systems and Security Technical Lead is responsible for working with Information Technology staff and resources at Citizen Lab and the wider University to minimize risk of the compromising of information, data, servers, and server-based applications. Work is done in the context of existing policy, guidelines and applicable legislation in a fluid, consultative environment.

The Systems and Security Technical Lead assumes responsibility for the strategic and tactical planning and provision of systems security, confidentiality, privacy and risk management in the areas of systems administration, server and service design, implementation, operation and support. The Systems and Security Technical Lead is responsible for developing, updating, implementing, promoting and training the community on the Citizen Lab’s Information Security Program. The Systems and Security Technical Lead is instrumental in ensuring reliable and robust access controls, service availability, and activity / incident reporting. The Systems and Security Technical Lead applies known security standards as well as establishes new security standards and best practices related to the use and operation of information technology solutions, systems, servers, network services solutions and proposes strategies by which those standards and best practices are implemented, tested and confirmed on a regular basis.

The Systems and Security Technical Lead works to support and undertake forensic audits of IT systems and services whose access control mechanisms have been compromised or circumvented, both within and from outside of the University working with the I+TS Information Security and Enterprise Architecture (ISEA) unit as well as external auditors when required. The Systems and Security Technical Lead reviews and performs detective auditing of the Citizen Lab Systems Administrators and other privileged IDs for all Citizen Lab systems and servers, actively monitors threats; works to ensure systems, servers and computing solutions administered by the Citizen Lab are secure, with uncompromised access.

The Systems and Security Technical Lead acts as a project manager for IT projects that fall within areas related to Information Security or projects, which include confidential and restricted information following the security standards and best practices for Identity and Access Management, Information Disclosure, Information Integrity, Business Continuity and Protection of Privacy.

The Systems and Security Technical Lead reviews the performance of security controls, and effectiveness of projects to achieve the security goals of Citizen Lab, in the context of the University. The Systems and Security Technical Lead is also responsible for the initiation, specification and assessment of a wide variety of contracts covering information security related hardware, software, support and services. The Systems and Security Technical Lead tables proposals to augment and/or improve services delivered and participates in reviewing proposals from others, using in-depth technical expertise and a teamwork approach to organizational issues in daily day-to-day developments and in tactical and strategic planning efforts.

Essential Qualifications:

EDUCATION:

University degree in a relevant field, (e.g. Computer Science, Engineering), or equivalent combination of education and experience.

EXPERIENCE:

  • Six (6) years working in an Information Technology environment, including at least two years working with Information Security as a significant focus of activity.
  • Requires broad and in depth knowledge of industry innovations and state-of-the-art technology in both computing and networking arenas.
  • IT Security certifications held or in progress is an asset. High performance computing systems management and networking is highly desirable.
  • Expert understanding of client and server application deployment and support.
  • Strong understanding of client and server activity tracking.
  • Strong understanding of IT Architecture concepts and security methodologies.
  • Experience auditing systems for compliance (PCIDSS, PA-DSS, etc.).
  • Experience drafting information security standards and guidelines, assessing risk management and determining controls.
  • Experience in administering enterprise-level Unix-based server applications.
  • Strong Scripting skills required including Shell and interpreted languages.
  • Experience with application / scripting tools (bash, Python).
  • Experience configuring databases and database-backed applications (SQL Server, MySQL).
  • Extensive experience using network and security analysis tools.
  • Extensive experience with intrusion detection and prevention – host and network, active and passive.
  • Experience in selecting, configuring and deploying service mis-use detection and prevention technologies (Anti-Spam, Anti-Virus, Anti-DDOS, etc.).
  • Experience running penetration testing and vulnerability scanning (Metasploit, Nessus, etc.).
  • Experience with deploying, configuring and securing virtualized environments, and services running in it.

SKILLS:

  • Expert level understanding of the Linux operating systems at both server and client level.
  • Comprehensive knowledge of TCP/IP networking and client-server architecture and protocols.
  • Strong understanding of network configuration, hardware and next-gen firewall/IPS technologies (Cisco ASA, Juniper, Fortinet, Palo Alto)
  • Expert level understanding of the following access control technologies – LDAP and Kerberos.
  • Expert knowledge of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). Expert knowledge of Encryption technologies at network, file and file-system levels.
  • Strong understanding of cryptographic certificates and the operation of certificate authorities.
  • Excellent communication, instruction and presentation skills.
  • Able to describe a variety of complex technical concepts or policies to users and senior leadership at all technical experience levels and to deliver security awareness and education
  • content to faculty, staff and students.

OTHER:

  • Ability to work under pressure of high volume and expectations, while meeting multiple deadlines for multiple projects;
  • strong service orientation coupled with ability to recognize and assess the operational significance of a problem, control/mitigate the risk and set priorities accordingly.
  • Strong ability to assess risks and controls of computing systems and operations.
  • Demonstrated broad knowledge of information technology, network technologies, databases and application development.
  • Strong ability and willingness to work effectively as a team leader and team member; must be able to collaborate and cooperate with team members, project sponsors, other stakeholders.
  • Ability to lead team members of varying levels and skills. Must be able to deal calmly and effectively with a variety of people.
  • Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgment, tact and diplomacy.
  • Ability to effectively navigate a professional and political climate including assessing the requirement to escalate and issue to more senior levels of management or resources; ability to maintain a high level of confidentiality.
  • Ability and willingness to learn new systems, technologies and project management methods and tools.

 

Closing Date: 02/20/2025,11:59PM ET
Employee Group: Salaried
Appointment Type: Grant – Continuing
Schedule: Full-Time
Pay Scale Group & Hiring Zone: PM 3 — Hiring Zone: $91,937 – $107,259 — Broadband Salary Range: $91,937 – $153,227
Job Category: Information Technology (IT)

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Diversity Statement

The University of Toronto embraces Diversity and is building a culture of belonging that increases our capacity to effectively address and serve the interests of our global community. We strongly encourage applications from Indigenous Peoples, Black and racialized persons, women, persons with disabilities, and people of diverse sexual and gender identities. We value applicants who have demonstrated a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and recognize that diverse perspectives, experiences, and expertise are essential to strengthening our academic mission.

As part of your application, you will be asked to complete a brief Diversity Survey. This survey is voluntary. Any information directly related to you is confidential and cannot be accessed by search committees or human resources staff. Results will be aggregated for institutional planning purposes. For more information, please see http://uoft.me/UP.

Accessibility Statement

The University strives to be an equitable and inclusive community, and proactively seeks to increase diversity among its community members. Our values regarding equity and diversity are linked with our unwavering commitment to excellence in the pursuit of our academic mission.

The University is committed to the principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). As such, we strive to make our recruitment, assessment and selection processes as accessible as possible and provide accommodations as required for applicants with disabilities.

If you require any accommodations at any point during the application and hiring process, please contact uoft.careers@utoronto.ca.

Apply here

]]>
Call for applications: Information Controls Fellowship Program 2025 https://citizenlab.ca/2025/01/call-for-applications-information-controls-fellowship-program-2025/ Wed, 22 Jan 2025 15:04:48 +0000 https://citizenlab.ca/?p=81813 The Information Controls Fellowship Program (ICFP) from the Open Technology Fund (OTF) fosters research, outputs, and creative collaboration on repressive Internet censorship and surveillance issues. The program supports researchers examining how governments in countries, regions, or areas of OTF’s core focus are restricting the free flow of information, cutting access to the open Internet, and implementing censorship mechanisms, threatening global citizens’ ability to exercise basic human rights and democracy; work focused on mitigating such threats is also encouraged. The application is available on the OTF website.

Deadline: February 28, 2025.

Fellowship Details 

  • Three, six, nine or twelve month fellowships available
  • Fellows work full-time with a supportive host organization of their choosing
  • Usually offered to postdoctoral, doctoral students, and experienced researchers with demonstrated ability and expertise
  • Monthly stipend of $7,000 USD
  • Travel stipend of $1,250 to $5,000 USD, depending on the fellowship length
  • Equipment stipend of $1,250 to $5,000 USD, depending on the fellowship length

Applications to the Fund go through a two-stage application process and are accepted once per year (the 2025 application window is January 13, 2025 –  February 28, 2025).

Funding awards are performance-based contracts signed directly with the applicant. Funding is dispersed upon completion of stated objectives, activities, and deliverables per a schedule outlined in the contract. All payments are made in U.S. dollars and will comply with local laws, regulations, and ethics rules.

Successful applicants are paired with an OTF program manager who will oversee all project monitoring and evaluation for the duration of the contract. Monitoring and evaluation assessments are based on predetermined and agreed-upon metrics, deliverables, and goals as laid out by the applicant in the project proposal.

Process

It is a two-stage process:

Stage 1: Submit a concept note via OTF’s online application system.

Stage 2: Highly competitive concept notes will be invited to submit a full proposal together with the proposed host organization via our online application system. 

All applications are reviewed by the OTF team. The independent ICFP Advisory Council, comprising experts in the internet freedom space, will conduct a final review of competitive proposals. 

Likely Candidates

Applications are open to experienced researchers from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines and can include students and junior to mid-career practitioners with demonstrated ability and expertise. Typically, ICFP fellows have experience in fields such as computer science, engineering, information security research, software development, social sciences, law, and data visualization, among others. 

To get a better sense of the ICFP community, you can read more about fellows from round one, round two, round three, round four, round five, round six, round seven, round eight, round nine, and round ten

Criteria: 

Individuals

  • of all ages irrespective of nationality, residency, creed, gender, or other factors, with the exception that OTF is not able to support applicants within countries where the United States has trade restrictions or export sanctions as determined by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control;
  • Who demonstrate skill and ability to assist in efforts to overcome information controls;
  • Who demonstrate a desire to grow their knowledge and skills through a collaborative, cross-discipline approach;
  • And who demonstrate a commitment to reach audiences outside of the research community.

ICFP at The Citizen Lab 

The Citizen Lab co-founded the program with OTF and has been a host organization since its inception. 

We welcome proposals from fellowship candidates for research projects related to our current thematic areas described below:

Freedom of Expression Online

Information is censored and disrupted by state actors and private companies at the network layer (e.g., network shutdowns, network throttling, Internet filtering, etc.) and the application layer (e.g., content filtering and moderation, government requests for content removal, etc).

Research Objectives: Develop methods for identifying how content is restricted at the technical level, and conduct policy and legal analyses to understand the underlying political economy around the practice and policy of these controls. Evaluate how these information controls impact freedom of expression and other rights. 

Recent Research

Targeted Digital Threats against Civil Society

Digital espionage enabled by phishing, malware, disinformation campaigns, and other threat vectors poses a persistent threat to global civil society.  Civil society does not have the same level of resources as governments and the private sector to defend against these threats.

Research Objectives: Document digital threats against civil society groups across regions and communities. Identify technical trends in how groups are targeted. Understand the political context in which these threats are happening and the impact they have on groups and social movements. Evaluate the efficacy of mitigation strategies available to civil society.

Recent Research

Mobile App Privacy and Security

Mobile applications have become a central means for civil society to communicate, organize, and mobilize. Applications that have amassed huge user populations in some regions of the world remain largely understudied by security researchers leaving users with limited information on their relative privacy and security. 

Research Objectives: Evaluate security and privacy issues in mobile applications with high user bases in communities of interest that have received minimal research attention. When applicable, outreach to companies to present concerns around security and privacy vulnerabilities. Present findings in accessible ways to help users make informed decisions about the tools they use.

Recent Research

Transparency and Accountability

Users of information technologies now depend on and share their data with a plethora of private companies, many of whom are required by law or otherwise induced to share information with government agencies. These data retention and sharing practices can lack transparency and impact user privacy and security. Companies may face varying pressures to conform to the laws of the jurisdictions in which they operate, many of which are illiberal or authoritarian.

Recent Research

Technical, Policy, and Legal Research

Apart from these research areas, we encourage applicants to propose projects that are within the following broad areas (or combinations of the two):

  • Legal and Policy Research: Evaluation of laws, policies, and norms related to Internet censorship and surveillance.
  • Technical Research: Empirically document technologies and technical practices affecting openness, privacy, and security. This area can include: research and development of software tools, analysis of systems for Internet censorship and surveillance, and data analytics and visualization.

Apply here. 

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Job Opportunity: Informatics Security Analyst and Network Administrator [CLOSED] https://citizenlab.ca/2024/06/job-opportunity-informatics-security-analyst-and-network-administrator/ Mon, 24 Jun 2024 19:13:13 +0000 https://citizenlab.ca/?p=80717 Read more »]]> The Citizen Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto, is hiring an Informatics Security Analyst and Network Administrator. Reporting to the Systems and Security Technical Lead, the incumbent is responsible for carrying out a range of system and network administration duties which include assisting in the management and oversight of the use of all information technology in the Citizen Lab; acting as the central contact for hardware and software issues; ensuring workstations and related components are kept operationally effective and secure, overseeing administration and security of onsite and offsite servers, administering and maintaining security for websites and web servers, providing training in computer security tools and practices to staff, fellows, and students.

 

The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory focusing on research, development, and high-level strategic policy and legal engagement at the intersection of information and communication technologies, human rights, and global security. The Lab uses a “mixed methods” research approach that combines practices from political science, law, computer science, and area studies. 

 

Your responsibilities will include:

  • Troubleshooting complex computer system problems
  • Planning components of projects
  • Troubleshooting network performance issues
  • Executing security measures for network devices and introducing variations as required
  • Troubleshooting networking connectivity issues for end-users
  • Probing for information to establish needs
  • Collaborating on cost estimates
  • Serving as a resource on specific issues to a group of specialists

Essential Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s Degree in computer science or engineering, or an acceptable equivalent combination of education and experience.
  • Minimum four years of recent and relevant experience in systems and network administration and information security training and research.
  • Experience in analyzing packet capture data and diagnosing connection-related network issues.
  • Demonstrated experience in firewall administration and troubleshooting such as Cisco ASM, iptables, pfilter or similar systems. This experience should include long-term administration, and troubleshooting of these systems.
  • Experience with version and source control systems (e.g., git, subversion).
  • Experience in web site administration (e.g., Apache setup, troubleshooting TLS issues, rotating TLS certificates, reviewing web logs for security).
  • Experience with WordPress content management system.
  • Experience working with update cycle, security model, and theme system.
  • Demonstrated experience in support, in staging and long-term administration of production web applications.
  • Highly engaged and aware of information security and best practices around these issues. This knowledge should include secure server administration in an Infrastructure-as-code environment, all major operating systems (OSX, Windows, and Linux) and mobile devices (Android, iOS).
  • Excellent knowledge and skills in workstation and server components.
  • Advanced knowledge and skills with networking and infrastructure management.
  • Proficiency in dynamic and static malware analysis for mobile and x86 platforms.
  • Effective interpersonal and communication skills to develop good working relationships among staff, clients, and peers.
  • Ability to communicate and work with developers to ensure that best security practices are followed, while still meeting goals for a given project.
  • Ability to multitask/prioritize and to speak to users without a technical background about technical issues.
  • Demonstrated ability to work well as a team member and independently.
  • Highly engaged and aware of information security and best practices around these issues.
  • Ability to train staff members in best security practices (e.g., encrypted email, encrypted instant messaging, secure file storage, etc.)

To be successful in this role you will be:

  • Communicator
  • Efficient
  • Insightful
  • Multi-tasker
  • Problem solver
  • Team player

Closing Date: 07/11/2024, 11:59PM ET

Employee Group: USW

Appointment Type: Grant – Continuing

Schedule: Full-Time

Pay Scale Group & Hiring Zone:

USW Pay Band 12 — $78,308 with an annual step progression to a maximum of $100,144. Pay scale and job class assignment is subject to determination pursuant to the Job Evaluation/Pay Equity Maintenance Protocol.

Job Category: Information Technology (IT)

Lived Experience Statement

Candidates who are members of Indigenous, Black, racialized and 2SLGBTQ+ communities, persons with disabilities, and other equity deserving groups are encouraged to apply, and their lived experience shall be taken into consideration as applicable to the posted position.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Diversity Statement

The University of Toronto embraces Diversity and is building a culture of belonging that increases our capacity to effectively address and serve the interests of our global community. We strongly encourage applications from Indigenous Peoples, Black and racialized persons, women, persons with disabilities, and people of diverse sexual and gender identities. We value applicants who have demonstrated a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and recognize that diverse perspectives, experiences, and expertise are essential to strengthening our academic mission.

As part of your application, you will be asked to complete a brief Diversity Survey. This survey is voluntary. Any information directly related to you is confidential and cannot be accessed by search committees or human resources staff. Results will be aggregated for institutional planning purposes. For more information, please see http://uoft.me/UP.

Accessibility Statement

The University strives to be an equitable and inclusive community, and proactively seeks to increase diversity among its community members. Our values regarding equity and diversity are linked with our unwavering commitment to excellence in the pursuit of our academic mission.

The University is committed to the principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). As such, we strive to make our recruitment, assessment and selection processes as accessible as possible and provide accommodations as required for applicants with disabilities.

If you require any accommodations at any point during the application and hiring process, please contact uoft.careers@utoronto.ca.

Closing Date: July 11, 2024

To apply, please click here

]]>
2019 OTF Information Controls Fellowship [CLOSED] https://citizenlab.ca/2019/01/2019-otf-information-controls-fellowship/ Thu, 10 Jan 2019 14:00:46 +0000 https://citizenlab.ca/?p=71734 The Information Controls Fellowship Program (ICFP) from the Open Technology Fund (OTF) supports research into how governments in countries, regions, or areas of OTF’s core focus are restricting the free flow of information, cutting access to the open Internet, and implementing censorship mechanisms, thereby threatening the ability of global citizens to exercise basic human rights and democracy; work focused on mitigation of such threats is also supported.

Full application details available on the OTF website.

Deadline: February 24, 2019

Program Details

  • The program offers three, six, nine, or twelve month fellowships
  • Candidates apply to a specific host organization
  • Fellowships usually offered to postdoctoral, doctoral students, and experienced researchers with demonstrated ability and expertise
  • Monthly stipend of $4,200 USD
  • Travel stipend of $1,250 to $5,000 USD depending on the fellowship length

Applications are open to people from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines and can include students and junior to mid-career practitioners. While individuals with diverse and unique backgrounds are encouraged to apply, likely candidates have experience as computer scientists, engineers, information security researchers, software developers, social scientists (e.g., comparative politics; international security), lawyers and law students, data visualization designers, and others.

ICFP at the Citizen Lab

The Citizen Lab co-founded the program with OTF and has been a host organization since its inception. We welcome proposals from fellowship candidates for research projects related to our current thematic areas described below:

Freedom of Expression Online

Information is censored and disrupted by state actors and private companies at the network layer (e.g., network shutdowns, network throttling, Internet filtering, etc.) and the application layer (e.g., content filtering and moderation, government requests for content removal, etc).

Research Objectives: Develop methods for identifying how content is restricted at the technical level, and conduct policy and legal analyses to understand the underlying political economy around the practice and policy of these controls. Evaluate how these information controls impact freedom of expression and other rights.  

Recent Projects:

Targeted Digital Threats Against Civil Society

Global civil society is under persistent threat from digital espionage enabled by phishing, malware, disinformation campaigns, and other threat vectors. Civil society does not have the same level of resources as governments and the private sector to defend against these threats.

Research Objectives: Document digital threats against civil society groups across regions and communities. Identify technical trends in how groups are targeted. Understand the political context in which these threats are happening, and the impact they have on groups and social movements. Evaluate the efficacy of mitigation strategies available to civil society.

Recent Projects:

Public and Corporate Transparency

Users of information technologies now depend on and share their data with a plethora of private companies, many of whom are required by law or otherwise induced to share information with government agencies. These data retention and sharing practices can lack transparency and impact user privacy.

Research Objectives: Conduct analyses of private sector and government policies and laws around data protection and transparency. Develop methods and tools for evaluating how these policies and laws are implemented in practice. Disseminate findings in accessible ways to increase user awareness around data protection and impact change in private and public actor practices.

Recent Projects:

National Security Policy

Policies and practices based on national security interests have been, and continue to be, enacted by governments. These policies and practices pertain to use and operation of technologies and may have negative impacts on human rights.

Research Objectives: Identify government policies and proposals, assess the potential harms, and provide recommendations for preventing harm.  

Recent Projects:

Mobile App Privacy and Security

Mobile applications have become a central means for civil society to communicate, organize, and mobilize. Applications that have amassed huge user populations in some regions of the world remain largely understudied by security researchers leaving users with limited information on their relative privacy and security.  

Research Objectives: Evaluate security and privacy issues in mobile applications with high user bases in communities of interest that have received minimal research attention. When applicable, outreach to companies to present concerns around security and privacy vulnerabilities. Present findings in accessible ways to help users make informed decisions about the tools they use.

Recent Projects:

Legal, Policy, and Technical Research

Apart from these research areas, we encourage applicants to propose projects that are within the following two broad areas (or combinations of the two):

  • Legal and Policy Research: Evaluation of laws, policies, and norms related to Internet censorship and surveillance.
  • Technical Research: Empirically document technologies and technical practices affecting openness, privacy, and security. This area can include: research and development of software tools, analysis of systems for Internet censorship and surveillance, and data analytics and visualization.

To get a better sense of the ICFP community, you can read about fellows from round one, round two, round three,  round four, and round five.

Apply!

The application process is run by the Open Technology Fund. See their website for details. The 2019 application window will be open from January 10, 2019 until February 24, 2019. Please note that applications have to be submitted via the OTF website no later than 23:59 (11:59 PM) GMT on February 24, 2019. The fellowship window is open once annually.

If you have questions about the ICFP and Citizen Lab, email us at inquiries@citizenlab.ca.

For general questions on the fellowship, OTF has a public spreadsheet that you can post to and they will answer you promptly.  If your question is not appropriate for a public forum, please email icfp@opentechfund.org.

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Engineers for the World (E4TW) Fellowship [CLOSED] https://citizenlab.ca/2017/02/engineers-world-e4tw-fellowship/ Tue, 07 Feb 2017 19:17:07 +0000 https://citizenlab.org/?p=28885 The Division of Engineering Science and The Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs has one position available for an Engineering Science student completing Year 2 or Year 3, for a summer fellowship. ]]> The Division of Engineering Science and The Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs has one position available for an Engineering Science student completing Year 2 or Year 3.

The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary research laboratory that investigates the intersection of human rights, security, and information technology. Based at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, we use a mixed methods approach that combines techniques from network measurement, information security, and the social sciences for researching and documenting practices and technologies that impact the openness and security of digital communications and pose threats to human rights.

Students from Engineering Science have been placed with the Citizen Lab for a summer position since 2007. The Engineering Science E4TW fellow will have the opportunity to contribute to ongoing research projects within the general themes described below. The specific summer project will be determined based on the student’s interests and strengths and current research priorities at the Citizen Lab. The Division of Engineering Science will provide $3000 in funding to the student that will be matched by The Citizen Lab for a total of $6000.

Project areas

Privacy and security of mobile apps and social media

This area works to uncover censorship and surveillance in popular apps and social media platforms (e.g, chat apps, microblogs, etc), and evaluate the privacy and security of popular consumer apps (e.g., browsers, fitness trackers, etc). We are particularly interested in widely used apps and platforms that are understudied by security researchers. The goal of this work is to help users make more informed decision about the technologies they use.

Measuring Internet filtering and network interference

This area includes developing new tools and methods for network measurement to document Internet filtering systems, and correlate network interference with political events (e.g., elections, protests, conflicts, etc).

Targeted malware attacks against civil society

This area focuses on investigating politically motivated targeted malware campaigns against civil society groups. Specifically, reverse engineering malware, mapping malware infrastructure, tracking malware development, and linking contextual information to technical data.

Corporate and public transparency

Projects in this area include developing software platforms for empowering citizens to exercise their rights to data protection and access requests, and analyzing the systems and policies practices of telecommunication and Internet companies.

The research reports below are recent examples of projects done with E4TW Fellows:

Citizen Lab, Iraq Information Controls Update: Analyzing Internet Filtering and Mobile Apps, July 24 2014, https://citizenlab.ca/2014/07/iraq-information-controls-update-analyzing-internet-filtering-mobile-apps.

Citizen Lab, Asia Chats: LINE and KakaoTalk Disruptions in China, July 10, 2014, https://citizenlab.ca/2014/07/line-kakaotalk-disruptions-china.

Who we are looking for

Candidates should have some computer programming proficiency, experience documenting designs and implementations, and a general understanding of TCP/IP and related protocols. Knowledge and experience in any of the following skills and areas is relevant to many of our projects and highly desirable, but not necessarily required: Python, SQL, web technologies (e.g. HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Django or any other web framework), mobile development (Android or iOS), course work or interest in networking or operating systems. We encourage students with general interests in information security, technology policy, and global affairs to apply. The fellowship is a learning opportunity and will expose the student to a range of research methods and skills for technical projects grounded in current political issues. Eligible students will have a mature attitude and ability to work well as part of a team.

How to Apply

If you’re interested in this position, please submit a CV/Resume along with a cover letter by email to Scott Sleeth, Engineering Science Curriculum Officer, at curric.engsci@ecf.utoronto.ca by Monday, March 6th, 2017 at 9:00am, explaining why you’d like to work with the Citizen Lab this summer and highlighting any relevant professional experience, course work, and personal projects and interests that relate to the research areas and skill sets described.

Visit the E4TW website for more information.

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