Legal and Advocacy Advisor

At LAW our goalistoempower victims and survivors to identify and articulate their rights and their justice needs, reduce impunity and increase accountability, supporting victims and survivors to advocate for victim-centred truth seeking and justice and assist them to select the appropriate mechanisms. Our approach is creative, inclusive and responsive and we work with the most vulnerable in fragile and conflict affected contexts.

The ideal Legal and Advocacy Advisor will be a self-starter that can help deliver the highest quality legal advice and services to some of the most marginalised victims and survivors is at ease in all areas of advocacy and communication. They will work closely and collaboratively with LAW’s communication manager and taking advice from programme managers as well as senior management.

They will help support programme teams in the regions to develop and implement legal representation, high level advocacy and strong referral pathways encompassing holistic services. They will produce and review hard hitting evidence-based reports and increase LAW’s visibility and advocacy.

BACKGROUND ABOUT LAW

LAW is an independent, non-profit organisation comprised of human rights lawyers and jurists working in fragile and conflict affected areas in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. LAW has a particular focus on gender equality and sexual and gender-based violence, the rule of law and accountability and transformative justice – working to bring justice to those who need it most.

LAW’s portfolio includes multiple ground-breaking cases, which utilise creative legal strategies on behalf of victims and survivors from some of the most challenging contexts, representing more than 1000 clients. LAW’s ground-breaking work has received international media coverage, including in the New York Times, the Times of London, the Guardian, Al-Jazeera, BBC News, France24, The Independent, Voice of America, Huffington Post and Foreign Policy.

MORE ABOUT THIS POSITION

Where? The position will be based at LAW’s Head Office in Geneva.

Duration? This position is funded and available for 12 months on a full-time basis with possibility to be extended subject to funding.

Salary: Competitive rates of pay apply

More detail: You are a team player with significant expertise in human rights law, advocacy, communications and external representation. You can communicate, verbally and in writing, in a compelling manner on legal issues to a wide range of audiences.

Role Overview:

The Legal and Advocacy Advisor will support litigation and advocacy efforts by drafting and contributing towards innovative reports, policy notes and communication products; ensuring LAW is consistently producing high quality materials for advocacy proposals as well as reviewing concept notes, briefs, strategies and other documents when necessary.

The postholder will perform duties in accordance with the responsibilities outlined below:

Legal:

• Provide support to LAW’s litigation initiatives aimed at justice and accountability for victims and survivors of international crimes and human rights violations, including research, drafting, advice, and coordination;
• Develop high quality legal documents including submissions, position papers, reports, concept notes and legal briefs.

Advocacy and Communications*:*

• Devise advocacy priorities and strategies, working closely with the programme staff to identify advocacy opportunities;
• Lead on LAW’s innovation and thought-leadership, including through LAW’s expert roundtables;
• Promote the profile and visibility of the organisation and represent LAW on national and regional platforms, when required;
• Draft a range of written materials, including news releases, op-eds, blog postings, policy analyses and review reports and documents prepared by others;
• Develop and/or review publications, press releases, talking points, newsletters, case studies, social media content, and other communication products as required;
• Coordinate and ensure that the website and social media content related to our work is up to date and engaging audiences.
• Any other duties as specified by LAW’s Communications Manager and Senior Management Team.

About You

• You must have the legal right to work in Switzerland is a strong preference;
• A degree in law, with post-graduate experience in human rights law, journalism, international relations or a related field;
• 5 years’ demonstrated experience in a similar role within an NGO/INGO is preferred;
• Exceptional speaker with outstanding communication skills both verbal and written in English, and good knowledge of French preferred;
• Excellent track record of drafting skills and significant experience in drafting proposals and reports within the not-for-profit sector;
• Demonstrated knowledge of human rights law, international criminal law, humanitarian law and public international law;
• Excellent organisational skills, with an ability to effectively manage individual and project workplans in a fast-paced environment and to effectively problem solve and troubleshoot;
• Flexibility and ability to work simultaneously on a wide range of tasks and projects; ability to prioritise tasks, particularly under pressure, and to meet tight deadlines;
• Ability to work on own initiative and part of the wider team.

Preferred / desired requirements:

• Track record and experience in advocacy and public speaking;
• Demonstrated experience of project management and implementation of delivering communications plans and strategies;
• Relevant experience working with international NGOs is preferred, ideally in human rights or humanitarian field.