BACKGROUND OF LAW

Legal Action Worldwide (LAW) is a unique non-profit network and think tank of lawyers that provides creative legal assistance in fragile and conflict-affected areas and places national lawyers at the forefront of legal change. LAW uses advocacy, research, legal empowerment and strategic litigation to bring about this change. LAW’s thematic focuses include: Addressing Sexual and Gender-based Violence; Accountability of Security Forces; Natural Resource Exploitation/displacement; and Transitional Justice. LAW’s Advisory Council and Board are comprised of senior international lawyers who advise LAW on the development of innovative litigation and legal strategies.

LAW’s ground-breaking work has been included in a number of UN and Member State government reports and has received international media coverage, including in the New York Times, the Times of London, the Guardian, Voice of America, Huffington Post and Foreign Policy.

BACKGROUND OF THE POSITION

LAW is currently looking for a passionate, committed, human-rights oriented lawyer for the role of Programme Manager, who will be based in Juba. The person in this role will be work closely with the Head of Africa Programme, LAW’s administrative and financial staff and with LAW’s programme partners. They will take the lead on specific projects and be given a large degree of autonomy, room for creativity and space to develop the projects they work on.

The role will combine a technical legal focus with programme management and fundraising. We are therefore looking for an international human rights lawyer with legal, programme management and fundraising experience. Women and candidates from or based in the Horn of Africa region are particularly encouraged to apply.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title: Programme Manager – South Sudan

Reports to: Head of Africa

Functions/Key Results Expected

The Programme Manager will perform duties and responsibilities in accordance with the responsibilities outlined below:

Programmatic: Leading LAW’s legal projects in South Sudan including projects related to:

· Advancing implementation of the Women Peace and Security agenda and women’s rights;

· Contributing toward the conceptualisation effective engagements on transitional justice processes and institution building that reflects the priorities of the South Sudanese people;

· Supporting citizens to seek redress for human rights violations in a way that includes, empowers and takes into account the unique experiences of women in conflict;

· Working with partners and national and international lawyers to identify potential for strategic national, regional or international casework and working with them to draft legal arguments for such cases;

· Capacity building and trainings for lawyers, civil society and justice chain institutions;

· Research projects on human rights violations, due process and other issues relating to human rights the rule of law and justice;

· Documenting lessons learned, best practices, success stories, most significant changes, case studies and other useful changes during project implementation.

· Monitoring and analyse developments of new legal trends and keep abreast with legal, political and governance related developments in areas that touch on LAW’s mandate and advise the organisation appropriately on these issues, and also contribute to the formulation of relevant advocacy and policy responses.

· Leading or contributing to research on selected SGBV access to justice and accountability avenues and advocacy topics related to implementation of LAW’s mandate in Africa; drafting background and working papers, technical reports, studies, briefings and presentations and, as necessary, providing analysis of relevant programmatic and policy issues.

· Representing LAW in various policy, advocacy and communication related meetings, working groups and consortiums to ensure LAW’s key messaging and position is incorporated into joint advocacy initiatives or messaging.

· Field missions to the target regions to monitor, evaluate follow up and discuss important program matters with the project partners and to report back.

· Close coordination with LAW’s offices in London and Geneva, to coordinate research, legal advocacy efforts and identify strategic cases and other creative legal interventions;

· Any other programmatic duties as specified by the Head of Africa Programme or Executive Director of the organisation.

Fundraising: Support LAW’s fundraising initiatives by;

· Identifying potential donors, key funding priorities and funding sources, contributing to the design of projects and proposals, building on previous project proposals, to develop high quality proposals in consultation with the Africa team;

· Maintaining a database of key donors for South Sudan;

· Regularly monitoring donor websites and identify donor opportunities matching the vision and mandate of LAW

Skills and Qualifications Required:

· Masters degree in law or human rights;

· Qualified lawyer with minimum of 5 years’ practice experience in international humanitarian law, human rights law, criminal law, refugee law. Experience working on cases of sexual and gender based violence preferred;

· Understanding of protection and displacement issues in the East and Horn of African context would be an advantage;

· Demonstrated experience in programme management;

· Demonstrated experience in fundraising and liaising with donors;

· Experience advising government or judicial institutions preferred;

· Experience in overseeing the growth or expansion of projects/an organization preferred;

· Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and strong technical literacy;

Desired Qualities and competencies:

· High level of organization and sense of prioritization of tasks.

· Observation, active listening and analytical skills with ability to make sound judgment.

· Good relationship management skills and the ability to communicate and work closely with local partners, community members, and other stakeholders

· Excellent research and drafting skills;

· Ability to manage large and variable work loads, ensuring timely and accurate completion of assigned work.

· Flexibility; someone who is familiar with the volatile and unpredictable nature of working in post conflict environments.

This position will be based in Juba, South Sudan

Terms of contract

This is a project funded position for which a full and attractive package commensurate with the nature of the position will be offered, renewable on the basis of performance and availability of funds.