Closing Date:

Oct 14, 2016

Salary:

£34,000 (FTE) (pro rata for 3-4 days), plus 5% employer pension contribution

How to Apply:

Please download and complete the application form accessed here. Send via email to Alex Janczenia janczenia@business-humanrights.org. Please include ‘Senior Researcher on labour rights’ in the subject line. Note: we cannot accept CVs.

Next: If shortlisted, we will invite you for an interview and a written test (please note the interview date of 20 Oct)

Applicants must have:

  • 3+ years’ work in the field of human rights, labour rights, development, environmental or social justice

  • Proven experience in high quality research preferably on business & human rights

  • Proven project management experience

  • A strong commitment to advancing labour rights in the business sector

  • The right to work in the UK

Interviews will be held on 20 October

Job Description:

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, an international human rights organization tracking the social & environmental impacts of over 6000 companies worldwide, is seeking a highly-motivated person to join its labour rights team for a 1 year maternity cover. The researcher will join our global team, which includes 15 regional researchers based in other regions.

Job description

3-4 days per week

To empower labour rights advocates in civil society and companies, and deliver greater transparency and accountability for companies’ labour rights impacts globally:

Empower advocates:  Ensure that trade unions, labour rights organizations, and concerned company personnel globally can gain the information, analysis, and guidance they need through the Resource Centre’s digital platform, and that the platform provides a channel for their concerns to influential audiences.  This will be achieved through representation, online and in-person networking, missions, and convening workshops and roundtables.

Promote accountability and transparency:Seek public responses from companies to allegations of abuse with a focus on labour rights.  The Resource Centre approaches companies approximately 400 times a year for responses to allegations of abuse, with a global response rate of over 70%.  Take further outreach steps in the case of companies that do not respond to egregious allegations.

Specific activities include:

Outreach:

  • Build & sustain an active network of contacts on labour rights globally: civil society organisations (local, national & regional), trade unions, companies & business associations, investors, media, development agencies, academic institutions, governments – who send material for highlighting on the site, and also use its information in their own work.

  • Invite companies to respond to concerns raised by civil society.  This involves an initial approach by email, and often extensive follow-up via phone as well as email with relevant representatives of the company.  Identify strategies to increase the accountability of non-responding companies.

Research, writing and communications:

  • Conduct online research to identify stories about:

  1. The impacts of companies on labour rights globally;

  2. UK companies’ human rights impacts globally;

  3. Developments in the field of labour rights; and present them on the Centre’s website in a compelling format for users.

  • Write material for our website and outreach, including blog posts, briefing notes and papers, and articles to be submitted to relevant media outlets.

  • Conduct social media outreach for our labour rights programmes.

Project management:

  • Lead projects within our labour rights strategy, including achieving key delivery promises to funders; and lead the development of new projects.

  • Help develop funding for labour rights projects working closely with the Development Directors, and management team.

  • Edit and manage the production of the organizations flagship newsletter the Weekly Update (in a rotation).

  • Lead our UK-focused work on transparency and accountability of UK companies.

Team interactions:

  • Be a full and active member of our Global Team, and provide support to global projects as necessary.

  • Assist with the management and training of interns and other staff members where appropriate

Representation:

  • Represent the organization at meetings & conferences; occasionally organize workshops.

  • Organize and conduct labour rights missions to gain a clearer picture of what is happening on the ground, and to build local contacts with civil society and business representatives.

Person specification

Values: Strong, demonstrated commitment to promoting human rights in business.  Shared values and ethos of the Resource Centre. 

Human rights experience: More than 3 years’ work in the field of human rights, labour rights, development, environment or social justice.  Specific experience promoting labour rights is desirable.

Research & analytical skills: Able to search and identify relevant information online; persistent and creative in seeking out difficult-to-find and new information.

Communications: Excellent writing skills, with an ability to write clearly and succinctly for a range of audiences (from business to trade unions in the South and North), and in diverse formats – from briefing papers, to blogs to web-based summaries of cases; experience with media and social media outreach desirable.

Representation skills: Able to represent the organization, including at meetings, conferences, and on missions.

Outreach and networking: Able to foster productive, professional relationships with a broad range of contacts, including activists, company representatives, and government officials.

Languages: Fluent English (reading, writing, speaking); another international language is desirable.

Strategic insight: Able to identify how change can happen, and new opportunities to increase the Resource Centre’s impact in promoting human rights in business and supporting victims.

Team-work: Able to operate effectively and constructively as part of a global team, and ensure effective communication despite geographical distances between team members.

Initiative and motivation: Able to use own initiative, and work independently within agreed frameworks; motivated by achieving results and completing tasks, and being accountable.

Organization and prioritization: Strong organizational and prioritization, and time-management skills, enabling efficient and effective work.