Feminist Litigation Network Manager 310 views0 applications

An exciting employment opportunity is available to Feminist Litigation Network Manager who is a confident self- starter looking to make a contribution to the advancement of human rights, especially in the field of women’s human rights.

About the organisation:

The Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA) is a feminist and Pan-African organisation that aims to contribute to the development of jurisprudence on women’s human rights and sexual rights on the continent. ISLA aims to develop jurisprudence before domestic courts, the African Human Rights Systems and UN treaty bodies on ISLA’s thematic areas of focus areas. ISLA provides legal representation and support to those who seek to hold states accountable for violations of women’s human rights and sexual rights. ISLA nurtures, facilitates and supports a culture of social justice lawyering by helping to develop a critical pool of strategic litigation lawyers and feminist lawyers in particular. ISLA provides quality and long-term support to individuals and partner institutions who work on strategic litigation focusing on ISLA’s thematic areas.

About the position:

• The ISLA team is looking for a Feminist Litigation Network Manager
• The Feminist Litigation Network Manager is responsible for managing the activities and providing leadership in developing and implementing the Feminist Litigation Network.

About the work :

The selected candidate will be responsible for the following:

Relationship Development

• Review past and current partners on a continuous basis.
• Scout, research and identify appropriate partners the Network.
• Develop relationships with other organisations that work in the countries where ISLA works in that can be a resource for ISLA’s work and partnerships.
• Maintain effective relationships with network partners and quickly resolve relationship challenges that arise in partnerships.
• Maintain regular contacts with other appropriate organisations in order to ensure that the network can maximise its range of contacts and impact.
• Communicate with network partners and team members on project status, including progress, risk and any issues that may have an impact on project delivery.
• Provide ongoing assistance to network partners and lawyers in developing programme policies, procedure plans and associated communications documents.
• Develop policy around network development and communication, including identifying and addressing possible areas of conflict and guidelines for current and future network membership.

Create an Enabling Environment for Conducting Strategic Litigation:

• Conduct contextual analysis of strategic litigation with a view to understanding barriers and opportunities for doing strategic litigation.
• Identify and explore collaborations with organisations including social movements that can support the use of strategic litigation in countries where we have partners and before the African human rights systems.

Capacity Strengthening and Knowledge Production:

• Work with the capacity strengthening unit to develop and update a curriculum for the Feminist Litigation Network.
• Manage the litigation institutes and partner assessments.
• Deliver litigation institute components related to the Feminist Litigation Network.
• Develop and implement a learning and development tool.
• Keep up to date with national, regional and global developments that impact on strategic litigation and women’s human rights in order to continuously adapt the work methods of the network.

Litigation

• Working with the litigating for social change unit to  support cases that have been developed under the network and ensuring that cases are litigated effectively, partners are supported  and that appropriate advocacy strategies are developed in order to support the cases.

Fundraising and Grant Management

• Work closely with the Directors to develop and implement a fundraising strategy for the sustainability of the network.
• Coordinate and oversees network grant-related issues, including tracking and submission of expense reports and other financial reports. Assists with monitoring, verification and reconciliation of budget expenditures.

Other information about the position:

Preference will be given to qualifying applicants who:

• Are women.

This role reports to the Executive Director.

Skills and Knowledge Required

• An advanced degree in gender studies, law, social movements or social sciences.
• At least five years’ experience in a network management position.
• An in-depth knowledge of the operation of international networks and transnational organising.
• An in-depth knowledge of strategic litigation.
• Substantive knowledge of women’s human rights and feminist analysis.
• A sophisticated understanding of legal mobilisation.
• Strong communication skills both orally and in writing, including knowing how to deal with politically sensitive issues.
• Supervisory experience with added advantage from experience in coordinating and managing projects.
• Evidence of being a self-driven, resourceful person able to manage and coordinate team work well.
• Organisational and social skills.
• Fundraising experience, including a demonstrated ability to cultivate relationships with individual donors, is beneficial.
• Fluency in English and French

Other Essentials Specific to the Job

• Able and willing to travel occasionally within and out of South Africa.
• Commitment to the overall aims and values of ISLA, feminism and Pan Africanism.
• Expectation of occasional work outside regular weekday hours, as required to do the job.

Salary:

This position offers a competitive salary, up to R620,000 per annum, (total cost to company, and commensurate with experience

Opportunity closing date: 

30 September 2019

Important Application details:

To apply for the position, click here to complete the application form. The ISLA’s job application form replaces the need to submit a CV as we prefer to have standardised information provided to us by all candidates. Please complete this form in as much details as is possible. Once you submit, the form is received by ISLA’s recruitment team who will evaluate your application and provide you feedback on your application status and further requirements. Please complete the form before the closing date specified in the advertisement. Late applications will not be considered.

ONLY INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THE ONLINE APPLICATION FORM WILL BE CONSIDERED. CV, COVER LETTER OR OTHER DOCUMENTS THAT WE HAVE NOT REQUESTED WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED!