The mission
A correct forecast that nobody believes saves nobody.
Tidewell sends flood alerts to 2.4M people in 41 coastal towns. Alerts with a local story attached moved three times as many households. This role makes that the standard.
- Climate adaptation
- Data journalism × Hydrology
- Full-time
- Closes 30 Nov
Flood Storyteller
Tidewell · Lagos, hybrid · $70–90k · 22 people
or
Your part in it
- WRITE
- every alert script for 41 towns, in Yoruba, Ijaw, Pidgin and English.
- TEST
- each script with real listeners before it ships.
- RECORD
- local flood stories, with consent, for the story library.
- PAIR
- with Kemi, our hydrologist, to say exactly how sure a forecast is.
- PRODUCE
- Flood Diaries, a weekly community radio segment.
- MEASURE
- which messages make households act, and drop the ones that don’t.
What success looks like
- DAY 30
- you’ve recorded ten first-hand accounts in Ayetoro and rewritten one alert template.
- DAY 60
- every alert in two pilot towns goes out with a tested script.
- DAY 90
- you own scripts for all 41 towns and report weekly on households acting.
What you’ll need
- 4+ years in journalism, radio or documentary
- Comfort with numbers and uncertainty
- Willingness to spend time in the field
Nice to have, not required
- Any hydrology or meteorology background. Kemi will teach you.
- Audio editing experience
Where you’ll work
- OFFICE
- Lagos (Yaba), Tuesday and Thursday. Script reviews and radio edits happen in person.
- REMOTE
- The other three days, from anywhere in Nigeria. No fully remote option for this role.
- FIELD
- One week in a field town every two months. Travel and lodging paid.
- HOURS
- West Africa Time. Core hours 10:00–15:00.
- JUN–SEP
- Flood season. On call one week in five, with a day off after each on-call week.
Languages
| Language | Need | Why |
|---|---|---|
| English | Required | Team language, and one of the four alert languages. |
| Yoruba | One of these | Alerts for 24 of the 41 towns. Fluent spoken, comfortable writing. |
| Pidgin | One of these | Used across every town. Most radio segments run in Pidgin. |
| Ijaw | Nice to have | Alerts for 9 towns in the Delta. We pay for lessons. |
Where this role takes you
Tidewell's 2030 goal, and where the work is today
2.4Mpeople receive alerts today
24% of the way to the goal10Mby 2030
Week 1
You listen first.
Spend your first week in Ayetoro with Tunde. Record ten conversations with people who received last July's alert: what they heard, what they believed, what made them move.
With
10first-hand accounts recorded
Meet the crew. There's a seat for you.
- You?This seatFlood Storyteller
Ifeoma Nwosu · Head of alerts, your manager
“I'll give you the forecast and get out of the way. Your job is to make sure someone's grandmother believes it.”
On a bad day: reads every alert script out loud until it sounds right.
A Tuesday at Tidewell
Outside flood season
- 09:00Forecast review with Kemi
- 10:30Write and test this week's alert scripts
- 13:00Team lunch from the place downstairs
- 14:30Edit a radio segment with Tunde
- 16:00Call with a radio operator in Ayetoro
- 17:30Five-a-side football, optional
The essentials
Flood Storyteller · Tidewell
- Salary
- $70–90k
- Level
- Mid-level, 4+ years
- Where
- Lagos, Tue + Thu in office
- Remote
- Within Nigeria, 3 days a week
- Languages
- Yoruba, Pidgin or Ijaw + English
- Leave
- 30 days + December · Visa sponsored
How you'll interview · about 3 weeks
- 1 · 15-min chat with Ifeoma
- 2 · Write a sample alert (paid)
- 3 · Meet the crew
- 4 · A day in Ayetoro
Your first stop
Ayetoro, recording ten stories
Not ready to apply? Talk to Tunde for 15 minutes.
No CV needed. Ask about the work, the people, or what a hard week looks like.