Job announcement
Africa Researcher & Coordinator (3 days per week) - based in South Africa

Fees (in South Africa Rand): R144,000-180,000 per year for 3 days per week work (depending on experience and education). Fees are equivalent of R240,000-300,000 per year for full-time work.

closing date: 13 December 2006

Applicants must have:
• excellent English language skills;
• the right to work in South Africa; and
• previous work or volunteer experience in a non-profit organization addressing human rights, labour rights, development, environment, or other social issues.

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, the international charity tracking the social & environmental conduct (positive & negative) of over 3200 companies worldwide, is seeking a highly-motivated person to be its Africa Researcher & Coordinator.

As the first person in Africa working for the Resource Centre, you will be responsible to the Director and the Training Manager (both based in London), working with them and the other four staff members to further develop the organization and its website: www.business-humanrights.org The site is recognised internationally as the leading information hub on this subject. Mary Robinson, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, chairs the Resource Centre’s International Advisory Network.

You will be our second regional researcher. Our East Asia Researcher, appointed in April 2006, is based in Hong Kong. We plan to recruit others in Francophone Africa, Latin America, South Asia, etc.

Your responsibilities will include:
• Daily online research and input of information onto the Resource Centre website;
• Representing the Resource Centre at meetings & conferences;
• Building contacts with, and seeking information from, a broad range of people working on relevant issues in African NGOs, companies, media, investment firms, universities, governments, etc;
• Making a special effort to draw attention to under-reported issues & cases in the region;
• Assisting with the organization’s Weekly Updates, which draw attention to breaking news and important developments; inviting companies to reply to concerns raised about their conduct, so that their responses can be included in the Updates.

You must have an ability to represent the organization in Africa and build a broad range of contacts. You will need strong research & analytical skills to identify relevant materials for the website, categorise the information, and compose brief summaries. You will need to be willing to do a significant amount of online input to help keep the website updated. Rigorous attention to detail, sound political judgment, and the ability to present information objectively and impartially are also required.

You must have good word processing skills, and the ability to function under pressure and manage a heavy workload. Good organizational, communication & interpersonal skills, and a strong commitment to human rights, are essential. You must be willing to work on your own initiative, prioritise with minimal supervision, and work independently as well as function as part of a team. You must be self-servicing in terms of administrative tasks.

As we will not be setting up office premises in South Africa, you must be willing & able to work from home and/or from a hosting institution (e.g. if a South African university or NGO is willing to provide office space).

Further details about this post (including job description & application form) can be found via a link at the top of our homepage: www.business-humanrights.org The application form is required; we cannot accept CVs. If you need to contact us, please e-mail: [email][email protected]

Further information about the Resource Centre can be found in the “About us” section of the website.