Mental Disability Advocacy Centre: Project Manager – deadline 1 December 2015

Children with learning and other disabilities are particularly vulnerable to human rights violations because of their impairments and due to prejudice and stereotypes. Frequently they are denied access to justice for such abuses, and often lawyers are ill-equipped to provide legal assistance.

The Mental Disability Advocacy Centre (MDAC), an international human rights organisation, is searching for a person to manage an 18-month project training lawyers across the EU to protect and promote the rights of children with mental disabilities. The project will take place in eight EU member states, and will involve the development and roll-out of a training programme based on international human rights standards and targeted at legal professionals. The location of the job is flexible, although preferably London, Leeds or Budapest.

The post-holder will:

• Manage the overall delivery of the project, including the development of a training package and related materials
• Proactively coordinate with project partners in eight EU Member States and other project stakeholders across Europe
• Take overall responsibility for monitoring and managing the project budget, financial reporting and donor obligations
• Coordinate an external evaluation of the project, including recruitment of an evaluator.
• Take part in the delivery of training in all eight project countries
• Have responsibility for disseminating information and learning from the project through relevant domestic and international fora, journals, mainstream media, etc.
• Coordinate dissemination of project results to European bar associations, NGOs, national human rights institutions and lawyers in the EU and Council of Europe regions, and at the United Nations.

The ideal candidate will have the following:

Qualifications:

• University degree in law, social science or related discipline (essential)
• Masters in a relevant field (desirable)
• Management qualification (such as an MDA, MPA or other) (desirable)
• Training or education qualification (desirable) 

Skills and experience:

• Minimum three years relevant work experience in the field of children’s rights and/or the rights of people with disabilities and/or access to justice
• Organising and conducting training, education and learning activities for lawyers
• Experience of managing cross-border networks
• Advanced written English language skills
• Project management and use of related software
• Proofreading and editing
• Budget management and donor reporting

Personal attributes:

• Commitment to MDAC’s mission, vision and organisational values
• Willingness to be based in the UK or Hungary with frequent travel in Europe
• A commitment to engage in dialogue with a wide variety of stakeholders
• Evidenced analytical skills and ability to thrive when handling complex material and situations
• Strategic thinking and ability to seek linkages between people and themes
• Ability to learn quickly and thrive on multi-tasking
• Outstanding writing skills and ability to condense complex information into punchy outputs
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills
• Ability to deal with an ambiguous external environment and a high-paced working environment.

Click here for the application form and more information.