BHRRC is recruiting

4 May 2018 - Lee-Anne Bruce

The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre is looking for a new Researcher and Representative for Southern and Anglophone West Africa

The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, an international non-profit organization tracking the human rights impacts of over 6500 companies worldwide, is seeking a highly-motivated person to be its Southern and Anglophone West Africa Researcher and Representative. The representative will lead our broad strategy for Southern Africa and for Anglophone West Africa, and will join our global team, which includes 18 regional researchers.

Details:

Location: South Africa
Salary: Regionally competitive consultancy fee
Contract Type: Part-time consultancy
Closing Date: 25 May 2018

Applicants must have:

5+ years’ work in the field of human rights, labour rights or equitable development, including in Southern Africa and/or Anglophone West Africa
Fluency in English; additional languages a plus
Commitment to advancing human rights in the business sector
Strong ability to work constructively with a range of stakeholders (from civil society, business, government)
The right to work in South Africa

How to apply:

Please fill out the application form in English by 25 May 2018 to Administrative & Program Support Officer Nicole Brewer at brewer@business-humanrights.org, with a cc to Marti Flacks, Deputy Director, at flacks@business-humanrights.org. There is no need to submit a C.V.

Please put “Application: Southern and Anglophone West Africa Researcher and Representative” in the subject line.

Interviews will be held in Johannesburg the week of June 4.

The Organization

The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre works to put human rights at the core of companies’ business models; to empower communities and workers to secure their rights and gain accountability for abuse; and to encourage governments to create the right regulation and incentives to facilitate these outcomes. We are a global organization that is rooted in fifteen regions, and committed to cooperation with diverse actors in our movement. We have nearly 40 members of our Global Team based around the world who work with a rich network of human rights advocates in eight languages, including Arabic. Our work covers the full gamut of human rights in business, with three priority issues: labor rights; responsible resource use; and protection of civic freedoms and human rights defenders.

Our three primary global approaches to delivering this vision are:

Empower human rights advocates in civil society, business, and governments to stimulate bold leadership for human rights in business.
Strengthen corporate accountability to strengthen due diligence, and effective remedy for abuse.
Build transparency of the advances, challenges, and abuse of human rights in business.

The Position

The Researcher will work closely with organisations in Southern Africa and Anglophone West Africa to advance human rights in business and work towards eradicating abuse, with a particular emphasis on issues related to labour rights, natural resource extraction, and civic freedoms and human rights defenders when such issues touch on business activities.

Our organisation’s plans for Southern and Anglophone West Africa are focused on, among other engagements: bringing transparency to the conduct of business in the region; building and expanding effective networks and interactions among groups that are confronting the human rights impacts of business; empowering local communities, NGOs, and human rights defenders (including labour leaders) to engage with companies to improve human rights protections; promoting improved labour conditions and living wages in at-risk sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing; and addressing the land, water, and livelihood impacts of natural resource extraction.

The work will be aligned with the Resource Centre’s organizational aims of empowerment, accountability and transparency.

Specific activities include:

Working with the Africa team, participate in the development and implementation of the Resource Centre’s Africa strategy and priority areas for engagement.
Represent the Resource Centre in Southern and Anglophone West Africa, meeting not only with civil society actors but also with relevant representatives from business, government, international financial institutions and international organizations
Develop strong networks and communicate regularly with local civil society groups, and work with them to develop effective strategies for change in specific cases of abuse, including undertaking missions and visits to hear directly from local NGOs and affected communities.
Conduct trainings and workshops on business and human rights for community and labour leaders alongside local partners, on topics such as documentation of abuse, international standards, and global supply chains.
Implement projects in Southern Africa related to the impact of mining on local communities
Research and share materials on business and human rights with actors in the region, in English and local languages – via the Resource Centre’s website, social media channels, and e-newsletters, and in external publications.
Invite companies to respond to specific allegations of misconduct raised by civil society (the Resource Centre to date has invited companies over 4,000 times to respond to concerns, with a global response rate of 70%).
Work with the Development Team to develop and draft proposals for new work and report on outcomes of ongoing work.
Participate in regularly schedule Global Team and Africa team calls and ad hoc calls and meetings as needed.

Key Competencies

Values: Strong, demonstrated commitment to human rights. Shares values and ethos of the Resource Centre.
Human rights experience: 5+ years’ work in the field of human rights, labour rights, equitable development, law and policy, or advocacy – including in Southern and/or Anglophone West Africa.
Subject matter expertise: Advanced knowledge and understanding of the business and human rights field in general, including standards and developments, and of the relevant African context in particular.
Representation skills: Able to foster productive, professional relationships with a broad range of contacts, including representatives of civil society, business and government.
Existing networks: Established networks and contacts with relevant stakeholders in Southern and/or Anglophone West Africa.
Research & analytical skills: Able to search and identify relevant information online and offline; persistent in seeking out difficult-to-find information; creative in identifying new sources of information.
Communications: Strong writing skills, including succinct writing for the web, and strong public speaking skills.
Strategic insight: Able to identify new opportunities to increase the Resource Centre’s impact and role in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Teamwork: Able to operate effectively and constructively as part of a global team, and ensure smooth communication despite geographical distances between team members.
Self-initiative and motivation: Able to use own initiative, and work independently within agreed framework; motivated by achieving results and completing tasks.
Organization and prioritization: Strong organizational and prioritisation skills, enabling efficient and effective work.

Terms and conditions

Note that this is a part-time consultancy position. Payment will be made on the researcher’s presentation of invoices. The consultant will be responsible for paying from the fees his/her own taxes, health insurance, pension, etc., and those costs are taken into account in calculating the fees. The Resource Centre will reimburse necessary work-related expenses such as for travel.

Hours: The person will be expected to work 3 days (21 hours) per week. The hours worked are flexible, provided that there is effective communication with team members in other regions, and that the hours are spread reasonably throughout a week.

Reports to: Deputy Director, based in Washington, DC

Fees: Regionally competitive consultancy fee

The consultant will have the freedom to organize paid days off from doing consulting work for the Resource Centre, in an amount expected to be 10 days during the year (70 hours) – i.e. equivalent to four weeks per year for full-time work. The consultant will not be expected to work on national holidays in the country where she/he is based.

Workplace: From home, or if the consultant does not wish to work from home, from an agreed hosting institution.

Duration: The consultancy contract will be a one-year contract, which can be extended by mutual agreement.