Senior Investigator

Global Rights Compliance (GRC) is an international legal foundation focused on bringing perpetrators to justice for atrocity crimes. We have a presence in the Hague, London, Washington, and Kyiv.

GRC in Ukraine works in support of the Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG) by deploying several Mobile Justice Teams (MJTs) which assist the OPG in all aspects of the investigation, case building, and prosecution. Our headquarters for this project are in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The Mobile Justice Teams (MJTs) are the ‘boots on the ground’ deployed element of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA) established in May 2022 to support the Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG) in their efforts to investigate and prosecute crimes relating to the Russian full-scale Invasion of Ukraine. GRC has been active in Ukraine since 2015 and is the only international organization to have maintained an uninterrupted presence in the country since hostilities began.
GRC’s Ukraine team has, since 2015, acquired an intimate knowledge of the conflict operating environment, and built trust-based relationships with all criminal justice system actors, relevant governmental bodies, CSOs, and international partners. Our blend of local presence, technical expertise, knowledge of the Ukraine context/conflict, and language capability is unrivaled and sets us apart in terms of hands-on delivery and support.
Based in Kyiv, the MJTs aim to be active throughout Ukraine, working to encourage, facilitate, and mentor investigators and prosecutors in the creation of ‘aggregated’ or ‘higher-level’ cases where a) multiple incidents are linked together by common factors, and b) criminal responsibility is attributed to an indirect perpetrator holding a position of command.

DUTY STATION: The job will be based in Kiyv, Ukraine
CONTRACT DURATION: 6-month contract with a possible extension.

OBJECTIVES

The Senior Investigator will be assigned to one ‘Sector of the country; North, East, or South, and will take the lead in establishing local contacts, relationships, situational awareness, and opportunities for cooperation with NPU, SBU, and other agencies that investigate conflict-related crimes. For broader effectiveness, similar relationships must be forged with the plethora of other actors who are involved in, or contribute to, the accountability effort within the Sector, including other international partners who may have a field presence, e.g. EUAM.
In parallel, an MJT Senior Prosecutor will pursue similar outcomes with the Regional Prosecutor’s Offices in the Sector. The Senior Investigator and Senior Prosecutor must therefore work closely together to ensure a ‘joined-up’ approach. Similarly, they must ensure smooth interaction with the staff/activities of the specialist MJTs (Currently, for CRSV and Starvation)
who will from time to time work within that Sector.

The three MJT ‘Sectors will be centrally coordinated from Kyiv. Although the Senior Investigator will be expected to follow broad guidelines in the achievement of specific objectives, s/he will otherwise be encouraged to pursue this work according to their own initiative, in line with their knowledge of local factors and requirements.

GRC is looking for senior ICL investigators with a complimentary range of specialisms/experiences covering the spectrum of tasks arising in war crimes prosecutions, including inter alia, investigation planning, resource prioritization, interviewing, crime scene exploitation, imagery and communications analysis, source handling, military documents/intercepts, mass grave exhumation/post mortem, major incident management, OSINT, case construction, and perpetrator profiling.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Introduce, represent & promote the engagement of the MJT with investigative agencies.
• Identify, and forge working relationships with, key persons and units within the investigative agencies
• Specify, propose, and lead MJT activities aimed at improving investigative capability.
• Promote the change of mindset required amongst investigators in order to see ‘national crimes’ in an ‘international crimes’ context.
• Encourage the ambition to go beyond individual crimes and direct perpetrators.
• Identify and promote ‘good practice’ within the zone, and share with other zones when appropriate.
• Build and maintain an awareness of investigative capabilities and shortcomings and develop/deliver training/mentoring provisions to rectify these issues.
• Identify opportunities or requirements for specialist MJTs, external partners/donors’ involvement in capability building, and facilitate cooperation with them as appropriate.
• Give practical guidance for securing and processing major/large crime scenes.
• Comply with central guidance and adhere to MJT procedures.
• Record and report MJT activities and achievements in line with MJT procedures.
• Assist and develop junior MJT members as required.

ATTRIBUTES

Mandatory

• A team player who never puts themselves first
• 10+ years of cumulative investigative experience in international crimes, organized crime, and/or terrorism.
• Experience in planning and leading large and complex investigations.
• Ability to work effectively with the whole range of criminal justice actors
• Flexible and creative; able to work in an unstructured, changeable & fast-moving environment
• Not requiring detailed guidance; can be given a ‘desired outcome’ and identify the actions required to reach it
• Resilient, self-reliant, and able to work in difficult or uncomfortable conditions
• Cool under pressure, able to manage competing urgent demands.
• Administratively competent, punctual, and organized
• Practical experience in working with high volumes of sensitive material and with the requisite skills for collating, sharing, and working with such material.
• Fluent in English

Desirable

• Experience working in a post-Soviet country / legal system
• Familiar with military structures, weaponry, jargon, etc
• HEAT trained
• Experience in an ICL court/tribunal
• Full driving license Competency in Ukrainian or Russian