Senior Labour Rights Researcher

The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is seeking a Senior Researcher join our team in delivering high quality research, analysis, interventions, and strategies on a full range of labour rights issues, with particular focus on freedom of association and collective bargaining, living wage, and forced labour and modern slavery in supply chains. All work will be done in active collaboration with trade unions, labour and women’s organisations in the Global South, and will involve engagement with companies, investors, and policy makers.

• Location: London, Berlin or Global South (must already have work authorization)
• Salary: GBP 35,000-37,000 per year (the range is aligned to London cost of living; if based in another location, the range will be adjusted down accordingly)
• Contract type: 1-year; FT (35 hours per week)
• Closing date: 15 September 2022 at 23:59:59

The successful candidate will play a key strategic role in our growing Labour Rights Team composed of researchers and project managers. The successful candidate will report to the Director for International Programmes, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

About 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 over 80 members of our Global Team based around the world who work with a rich network of human rights advocates in eight languages. Our work covers the full gamut of human rights in business, with three priority issues: labour rights; responsible resource use; and protection of civic freedoms and human rights defenders.

Our three primary global approaches to deliver 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, due diligence, and effective remedy for abuse;
• Build transparency of the advances, challenges, and abuse of human rights in business.

We place strong emphasis on our alliance with grassroots organisations facing often profound inequalities of power in protecting their rights; alongside our ability to influence responsible business, investors, and governments for transformative change. Our three primary approaches to deliver this vision are to: strengthen allies and movements; drive accountability for abuse; and influence decision-makers.

Key competencies and attributes

• Values: Strong, demonstrated commitment to promoting human rights and labour rights in business. Shared values and ethos of the Resource Centre.
• Human rights experience: A minimum of 6 years’ experience in the field of labour rights, or related work in human rights or social justice.
• Research & analytical skills*:* Proven experience in conceiving of, conducting, and overseeing high quality research and analysis on business and human rights and labour rights. Strong understanding of transparency and accountability tools in supply chains Adept at undertaking systematic data collection to a high level of detail and accuracy; ability to synthesize research and policy for effective communication to a broad range of audiences. Experience in using a range of research methodologies, developing, and implementing field and desk-based research plans, and integrating a gender and racial justice lens is highly desirable.
• Strategic insight: Demonstrable experience of identifying how change can happen in human and labour rights and identifying opportunities for change and impact; track record of developing successful programme strategies to effect change; experience in tailoring outputs for diverse international audiences an asset.
• Project management: Highly organized, with demonstrable success in managing complex projects to make change happen, working with team members, partners, funders, and other stakeholders; with an ability to move as needed between high-level strategy and detailed implementation.
• Communications: Proven excellent communications skills, including an ability to write clearly and succinctly for a range of audiences (from business to trade unions in the South and North), and in diverse formats (including research reports, briefing papers, blogs, web-based summaries); experience with media and social media outreach desirable.
• Presentation skills: Proven speaking skills and ability to represent the organization effectively, including at meetings, conferences, and on missions.
• Outreach and networking: Demonstrable experience of engaging in and with grassroots movements for change, preferably within the labour and trade union movement, and particularly within the Global South. Able to foster productive, professional relationships with a broad range of contacts, including activists, company representatives, and government officials.
• Initiative and motivation*:* Able to take initiative and drive work forward independently within agreed frameworks, motivated by achieving external results.
• Organization and prioritization: Strong organizational and time management skills, enabling efficient and effective work.
• Team work: Able to operate effectively and constructively as part of a multicultural and diverse global team, and ensure effective communication despite geographical distances between team members.
• Languages: Fluent English (reading, writing, speaking); another international language is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Conduct in-depth research: Research and monitor labour rights developments by collecting and analysing information from a range of sources, including NGOs, unions, local and international media, companies, government and others; identify trends and thematic research priorities, gather data and conduct data analysis on the drivers for labour abuse, especially in the apparel industry, and emerging practice from by workers’ organisations and leading companies to address abuse, respect rights, and empower workers.
• Develop high quality written materials: Write compelling content for our website and outreach, including reports, blog posts, briefing notes and papers, and articles to be submitted to relevant media outlets.
• Outreach: Sustain and build our active network of contacts on labour rights globally, including trade unions, civil society organisations (local, national & regional), companies & business associations, investors, media, universities and governments, with a particular focus on the Global South.
• Build transparency and accountability: Work with regional researchers to identify stories about the impacts of companies on labour rights globally and developments in the field of labour rights, and take up allegations of abuse with company HQs, in collaboration with workers’ organisations. Identify strategies to increase the accountability of non-responding companies.
• Track policy and legislation: Keep abreast of, and in some cases participate in, relevant legal and policy developments, including current movements in supply chain transparency and mandatory human rights due diligence
• Project management: Identify trends and thematic research priorities and develop and oversee research projects on this basis
• People management: Line manage 1-2 labour rights researchers
• Contribute to organisational and labour strategies: Build strategies for own areas of responsibility and support the team in designing and implementing our labour strategy across our programmes and regions
• Representation: Represent the organization at meetings, conferences, and other gatherings.
• Team support: Provide support to global labour projects as necessary, share admin jobs and assist with the management and training of interns and other staff members where appropriate.
• Travel: There may be occasional international travel for research, outreach, scoping, communications and/or representation.

The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is a diverse, global team. We are committed to providing equal opportunities for everyone and we acknowledge that people from certain backgrounds are under-represented in progressive movements. We particularly encourage applications from the Global South, and from Black, Asian, Latinx and other minorities, people with disabilities, and people who identify as LGBTQ+.