Project Manager

Validity Foundation (formerly the Mental Disability Advocacy Centre – MDAC) is looking for an experienced Project Manager to join the team in our Budapest office.

Validity will implement an interdisciplinary, EU co-funded project “Enabling inclusion and access to justice for defendants with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities” (ENABLE) – project reference: 101056701. Its aim is to enhance access to justice for suspects and defendants with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities by improving their ability to exercise their rights in criminal proceedings through procedural accommodations. On the basis of quality data collection and analysis and action research, the project partners will develop practical resources for those professionals, to i) improve knowledge on barriers to participation experienced by defendants with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities in the criminal justice system; ii) develop practical guidance on procedural accommodations (including communicational and procedural adjustments) to overcome barriers to participation; improve capacity of criminal justice professionals (lawyers, police, prosecutors and/or judges) to make/advocate for procedural accommodations in the criminal justice system to make proceedings inclusive; iii) strengthen cooperation and exchange between domestic civil society and criminal justice professionals to optimise access to legal services for defendants with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities. The project outputs will be introduced to professionals in various fields of the criminal justice system during national events, working groups an international symposium and through the project´s dedicated webpage.

The role of the Project Manager (ENABLE) is to take overall responsibility for coordinating activities in eight EU countries (Bulgaria, Czechia, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain), to provide overall project management and coordination of the initiative, including the development of materials and deliverables, and to ensure expert involvement and organise final external evaluation of the project.

Role Description

• Overall accountability for ensuring successful implementation of the project and effective coordination of the Consortium, in accordance with Validity’s strategy and contractual obligations.
• Responsible for creation and active oversight of effective internal project management processes and protocols, ensuring consistent collection and storage of project management documentation by the Consortium in accordance with relevant European Commission contractual obligations. Day-to-day tasks may be delegated to project team members by agreement.
• Leads on reporting to the European Commission in accordance with the relevant contractual requirements.
• Manages a Project Officer and/or Project Assistant who supports all activities of the project. In particular, provides supervision and oversight of the following tasks: monitoring of project progression and impact of project activities in accordance with the workstreams; organisation of project meetings; proper administration of all project documentation for Validity as Coordinator; proper maintenance of internal project processes on data and documentation collection, retention and reporting.
• Engage and supervise an international expert to oversee production of a high quality national and international disability benchbooks.
• Conceptualisation and production of cooperation protocols and training events, engaging and supervising experts as necessary.
• Oversees the development of a research methodology and tools, including the implementation of research, analysis of the data, and drafting of the national findings reports and bench books.
• Organise and lead an international symposium and project dissemination strategy, including publication of high-quality project deliverables and implementation of national working groups and trainings.
• Engage an external evaluator and coordinate an external expert review.

Note: Candidates must hold the right to reside and work within the European Union; preference will be given to people who self-identify as having a disability. This position will be based at Validity’s headquarters in Budapest, partial remote work will be possible.

Qualifications and experience

• University degree in law, a social science discipline, or policy field
• Desirable: Management qualification (such as an MBA, MPA or other)
• Minimum five years relevant work experience working in the field of the rights of people with disabilities or access to justice (including the following: project management, supervising other people and performance management, editing the work of non-native English speakers to a publication standard, the use of project management software, and reporting to the European Commission or other major funder)
• Desirable: Experience of managing the implementation of multi-country projects supported by the European Commission; previous experience working on complex projects in the NGO field; experience in creating or implementing professional tools and materials for professionals in the field of access to justice and/or disability rights

Knowledge and skills

• Clear commitment to Validity’s mission, vision and organisational values
• Knowledge of professional standards in relation to defendants’ rights and disability rights
• Demonstrated analytical skills and ability to thrive when handling challenging situations
• Strategic thinking and ability to seek linkages between people and themes
• Outstanding writing skills and ability to condense complex information into clear messages for a wide variety of audiences, including at short notice
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills – on the phone, skype and via other electronic means as well as face-to-face; and a positive approach to developing professional relationships which encourages openness, transparency and solution-orientation, including when working remotely

For more information, please visit our website: https://validity.ngo/about-us/vacancy-project-manager-enable/