The European Roma Rights Centre seeks qualified candidates for the position of Legal Director.
ERRC Invites Applications for the Post of Legal Director
The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) seeks a Legal Director to lead the team of lawyers for its legal department to litigate Roma rights, ethnic/race discrimination and related cases in domestic, European and international courts and to devise and conduct training sessions for Central and East European lawyers in public interest litigation strategies and techniques.
The ERRC is an international public interest law organization engaged in a range of activities aimed at combating anti-Romani racism and human rights abuse of Roma. The approach of the ERRC involves strategic litigation, international advocacy, research and policy development, and training of Romani activists.
Based in
The Position
The Legal Director (LD) develops and implements, in close cooperation with the Managing Director and senior staff the legal strategy of the organisation. S/he coordinates and supervises the implementation of the legal activities, legal advocacy work, manages professional development of legal staff and ensures high quality performance of the organisation in cooperation with his/her legal staff. The Legal Director holds management responsibilities.
Key Responsibilities:
- Drafting and implementing the legal strategy of the organisation in the Roma rights/ human rights field
- Staying abreast of developments in human rights jurisprudence, international and EU law
- Ensuring new strategic legal cases are identified and selected
- Ensuring highest quality possible for strategic cases carried forward by the ERRC and its partner organizations
- Monitoring progress of local and international cases
- Guiding the drafting, drafting and/or reviewing legal submissions to domestic and international judicial fora
- Supervising ERRC staff attorneys in giving legal advice and counsel to clients, local lawyers, and others
- Guiding locally contracted lawyers in domestic Roma rights litigation
- Regularly drafting and publishing articles and analysis papers on relevant legal concepts and strategic cases of the organisation (externally and internally)
- Contributing to human rights trainings offered by ERRC
- Networking with the legal and human rights community
- Representing ERRC at meetings, conferences, and international fora and tribunals
- Ensuring high quality and timely delivery of legal department work in accordance with the strategy and annual work programme
- Contributing to overall annual work programme design
- Designing and overseeing legal department budget and grant project budgets for which legal department has primary responsibility
- Ensuring information flow between legal and programmes and other departments
- Working with programmes department to plan and execute joint activities, in particular on legal review of programmes reports, advocacy and implementation of significant court decisions
- Proposing project activities, contributing to project-specific and core fundraising
- Contributing to donor reporting
- Supervising the staff of the legal department
Requirements:
- Education and knowledge:
- University degree in law, favourably in human rights law or related fields
- Bar exam and membership in national bar (Council of Europe member states preferred but not mandatory)
- Good understanding of human rights and non-discrimination law in the wider European region and in particular in the EU
- Good knowledge of international human rights instruments and bodies
- Knowledge of Roma rights related issues in
Europe
Experience:
- Minimum 4 years experience in litigating non-discrimination and/or human rights cases
- Minimum 5 years of work experience in human rights at international level or
at national level - Minimum 4 years of work experience in a managerial position, supervising staff
Abilities and skills:
- Outstanding legal, analytical skills
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including legal drafting, oral and written presentation
- Organisational and management skills combined with leadership skills
- Ability to prioritize work, and meet tight deadlines
- Ability to work with organisations operating in a multiethnic and multicultural environment
- Sensitivity to working with Roma and minority groups
- Proficiency in written and spoken English
- Ability and willingness to travel as required
- Outstanding team player and supportive character
Desirable:
- Work experience in the legal field of a non-governmental organisation
- Experience in working with intergovernmental structures in the human rights sector
- Experience in litigating Roma rights cases, for example in the areas of education, employment, housing, health care, the rights of women and children, torture and hate motivated crimes
- Work experience in the CEE region especially with NGOs
- Human rights or legal training experience
- Proficiency in Romani language and/or other language of European countries with significant Roma population
While actual recruitment to all ERRC jobs is strictly on merit, the organisation strives to increase the number of persons of Roma origin in its staff and therefore specifically encourages candidates of Roma background to apply.
Salary and Benefits:
The remuneration level shall be commensurate with experience, from annual level of 50.000 – up to 58.000 EUR (paid in HUF) plus benefits.
Applications to:
Applicants should send a letter of interest (up to 500 words) indicating why they are ideally qualified for the position, a full CV, two writing samples preferably related to litigation or case development (in English), and the names of three referees to the address or email indicated below.
Candidates are encouraged to submit their documents in electronic form, via email to Csilla M. Farkas at csilla.farkas@
Salary and Benefits:
The remuneration level shall be commensurate with experience, from annual level of 50.000 – up to 58.000 EUR (paid in HUF) plus benefits.
Applications to:
Applicants should send a letter of interest (up to 500 words) indicating why they are ideally qualified for the position, a full CV, two writing samples preferably related to litigation or case development (in English), and the names of three referees to the address or email indicated below.
Candidates are encouraged to submit their documents in electronic form, via email to Csilla M. Farkas at csilla.farkas@
Application deadline: 18th March 2010.
Kindly note that applicants will receive an acknowledgment of receipt but only shortlisted candidates will be contacted in the course of the selection process.