ABOUT PURPOSE
We are Purpose, the global social impact agency.
We use creative storytelling and campaigns to shift narratives, spark movements and drive change. Partnering with philanthropies, brands and NGOs to inspire people to reimagine the world, and to harness their power to make it happen.
Our movement-building, culture-changing, participatory projects have delivered real impact with our world leading partners since 2009. And as we’ve grown, our connections around the world have grown too. Yet we’ve never lost sight of what matters, collaborating with underrepresented audiences, impacted communities and unexpected allies, to tackle tomorrow’s biggest problems today.
Purpose specializes in; strategy, creative, campaigns, and impact measurement and learning - across the social impact space.
We focus on six issue areas we believe are key to our collective future: environment and climate, equity, childhood and youth, democracy and human rights, mis- and disinformation, public health. Join the team that makes all this work!
About the Role
We are seeking a Field Researcher and Coordinator who is based in Papua with experience in climate issues (particularly on forest, indigenous communities, and climate) for a contractor position to support a Purpose strategy and research projects. Purpose is leading a six-month landscape mapping and co-design phase to build a locally owned blueprint for a Papua-driven communications hub focused on forests, people, and climate. The project centers Papuan journalists, storytellers, communities, CSOs, and trusted local leaders in shaping a shared narrative infrastructure — one designed to redistribute narrative power to the communities most affected by deforestation and climate change. The mapping phase will investigate the existing media ecosystem, trusted messenger networks, narrative gaps, structural constraints, and connections to national/international policy processes (including FOLU Net Sink 2030 and the Indigenous Peoples Bill).
The Field Researcher and Coordinator will serve as Purpose’s on-the-ground lead in Papua for the mapping phase. They will carry out primary research with Papuan journalists, community leaders, CSOs, and trusted local voices, and coordinate local logistics, partner relationships, and workshops. They report to the Project Lead and work with the Project Strategist and the wider Purpose team to ensure that findings, and the blueprint for the communications hub, reflect Papuan priorities and realities rather than external assumptions.
Report to: Associate Director of Strategy (Project Lead)
Engagement type: Fixed Term Contract
Working hours: 24 hours per week
Duration: 6 months [November 2026 - April 2027]
Preferred location: Papua, Indonesia
Working conditions: Remote, with flexibility for time zones
Desired Start Date: November 2026
Key responsibilities
Research
Conduct desk research and contribute to mapping the Papua media and information ecosystem, including formal outlets, community radio, digital platforms, and informal channels such as WhatsApp groups and oral networks.
Conduct in-depth interviews and consultations with local communities, indigenous leaders, women’s groups, local journalists, and CSO partners to identify trusted information sources and credible messengers, across digital and non-digital channels.
Support social listening and audience research by providing local context on languages, platforms, and information habits, and by validating findings against community realities.
Document structural constraints on a media hub (access restrictions, political volatility, connectivity, geographic dispersal) based on firsthand and partner experience.
Contribute to the trusted messenger taxonomy and the risk assessment with field-based evidence, including community sensitivities and risks of co-optation or backlash.
Produce clear, accurate field notes and interview summaries, and flag where information is unverified, contested, or based on a single…