Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is seeking an experienced researcher to contribute to our work on human rights along the renewable energy value chain, from extraction of transition minerals to renewable energy installations, and support our work on contributing to a just and equitable energy transition.
Reports to: Head of Programme, Natural Resources and Just Energy Transition
Location: Remote, with ability to work at least four hours per workday in the CET time zone. Candidates with exceptional qualifications outside of this time zone may be considered.
Contract type: Full time, 1-year (with possibility of extension)
Weekly hours: Full time (35 hours a week).
Salary: GBP 32,000-35,000, commensurate with experience and adjusted according to location (the range is aligned to London cost of living; if based in another location, the range will be adjusted down accordingly)
Closing date: 28 February 2025
Recruitment process: Selected candidates will be invited to a test and two interviews in March 2025, with a starting date in April / May 2025.
TO APPLY: Complete and return this application form via our jobs portal. Kindly note that the application form is required; we will not accept CVs. If you need any additional support, please reach out to Bea Ocampo at Ocampo@business-humanrights.org
About the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
BHRRC is a UK-registered NGO, which serves as the headquarters for a network of entities registered in New York, Berlin, Sydney, and Bogotá and a team of over 80 experts located in nearly 30 countries.
With partners and allies worldwide, BHRRC seeks to put human rights at the heart of business to deliver a just economy, climate justice, and end corporate abuse. We seek to deliver our mission through three strategic goals: 1) shared prosperity for society 2) corporate duty of care for human rights and environmental justice; and 3) safe and enabling environments in which communities and workers can advocate for their rights and interests, including through free and fair negotiations.
Our model of change and approaches are detailed in our 2025-2029 Strategy and include:
- Building collective power with partners and allies
- Influencing decision makers in governments and businesses
- Increasing corporate transparency and accountability
BHRRC has four priority programmes: rights of workers in global supply chains; rights of communities seeking responsible natural resources use and a just energy transition (NR & JET); rights of people to accountable digital technologies; and civic freedoms and rights of human rights defenders (CF & HRDs) protected from attack and restrictions. Across these programmes, we pursue our advocacy aims through developing evidence-based research, facilitating engagement between rightsholders and the private sector, closely engaging with progressive companies and their investors, and other decision-makers, and promoting respect for and protection of the rights of the marginalised, including by supporting rights capacitation at the grassroots level. Gender and racial justice lenses are designed into all our work.
About the position
The NR & JET researcher will support the programme’s ambition to increase corporate accountability for abuses of human rights in renewable energy value chains, through strategic research, engagement with BHRRC partners and supporting outreach to private sector actors. This will include generating new insights and propositions for a more just transition through the analysis of structural causes of corporate abuse in these supply chains. In particular, the researcher will help us deepen our efforts to document abuses in the context of the extraction of transition minerals (through our Transition Minerals Tracker), and will work closely with regional teams on identifying mine-level allegations and research corporate ownership of mining assets.
The researcher will support our workon community co-equity models, following the publication of our foundational report ‘Exploring Shared Prosperity: Indigenous leadership and partnerships for a just transition’ through documenting case studies and continuously identifying best practices.
The researcher will support the NR&JET team in their engagement with private sector actors, including in the context of our Renewable Energy & Human Rights Benchmark.
Key Responsibilities
- Conduct research: design and deliver high impact research and analyses that assess company policy, and practice in renewable energy sectors, exploring in particular through our Transition Minerals Tracker. Support regional research on corporate abuses of human rights in transition minerals mining operations / wind and solar deployment, including through working with local partners. Research and document ‘best practices’ and successful cases of co-ownership of wind and solar projects as well as mining as required.
- Conduct outreach and engage constructively with companies and investors: take up allegations of abuse with company HQs to seek responses to allegations of human rights abuse, conduct follow-up outreach for remedy and build relationships to enhance human rights due diligence; engage with companies and investors on the salient risks of the sector and emerging leading practices for rights-respecting renewable energy operations, and help coordinate virtual and in person workshops, roundtables, and knowledge sharing spaces, bringing together various stakeholders including representatives from local communities affected by mining and renewable energy operations, allies and partners in the Indigenous Peoples’ movements.
- Build transparency and accountability with partners: support regional researchers and our global network of external partners to strengthen our research process, and to strategically identify allegations of abuse for deeper-dive investigations and coordinated advocacy.
- Contribute to organisational and responsible natural resource use strategies: With allies and colleagues, support the NR & JET team to build and implement our strategy across all our programmes and regions.
- Develop high quality written and digital materials: Write compelling content for our website and outreach, including case summaries, blog posts, briefing notes and papers, and articles to be submitted to relevant media outlets.
- Contribute to external representation as required including through speaking on panels, webinars as well as attending conferences and roundtables.
Skills and Experience
- Sector Expertise: Strong experience working on the broad natural resource sector and/or environmental justice issues with experience including renewable energy supply chain expertise and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights highly desirable. At least three years’ experience in project delivery, policy research, campaigning, or advocacy in this area.
- Corporate Advocacy: A clear understanding, vision, and strategic insight on business and human rights risks in the energy transition. Experience engaging corporate actors in the sector, preferably from a corporate advocacy perspective.
- Research & analytical skills: Strong experience in researching and writing briefings preferably in the field of renewable energy development. Skill and enthusiasm to deliver compelling evidence and analysis, handle big data sets, and design rigorous methodologies regarding human rights issues. Able to search and identify relevant information online and offline; adept at undertaking systematic data collection to a high level of detail and accuracy; ability to generate compelling and feasible propositions for change in policy and practice that drive systematic change. While not a large part of the role, experience in conducting primary research at a community level is desirable.
- Communication skills: provenability to effectively communicate to a broad range of audiences, through a range of channels (briefings, benchmarks, blogs, dashboards, etc.), especially on digital platforms. Excellent writing ability and English language skills are required. French or Spanish desirable. Strong speaking skills and experience representing organisations to external audiences are critical.
- Partnership: Commitment to, and at least three years’ experience in working with diverse international partners. Experience working with Indigenous communities or Human Rights Defenders in the natural resource /environment and land context highly desirable.
- Strategic thinking: A strong understanding of natural resources and human rights in a global context is essential. The ability to grasp, analyse, summarise, and present complex information coherently to external audiences is required. Demonstrated experience thinking critically about impact is required.
- Values: Strong, demonstrated commitment to natural resources and human rights, and a just transition. Sharing the values and ethos of the Resource Centre.
- Team player: Experience of working in high performing multi-cultural and international teams, working with colleagues to deliver high impact programs. Experience with remote, inter-disciplinary, and culturally diverse teams.
- Organisation and initiative: Able to work efficiently and methodically to support achievement of deliverables; strong prioritization skills; self-motivated and comfortable working independently within agreed framework while maintaining communication with a global team in different time zones and geographies.
The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is a diverse, global team. We are committed to providing equal opportunities for everyone regardless of their background. We acknowledge that people from certain backgrounds are under-represented in this area of work and seek to directly address that through our hiring practices. We particularly encourage applications from women, BAME applicants, people with disabilities, and people who identify as LGBTQI+ or Indigenous.
How to apply
TO APPLY: Complete and return this application form via our jobs portal. Kindly note that the application form is required; we will not accept CVs. If you need any additional support, please reach out to Bea Ocampo at Ocampo@business-humanrights.org