View Vacancy – Senior Political Adviser (Human Rights), C4, Islamabad

Note : All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the complete online application form including the employment and educational details, motivational segment and the competency based questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the application forms only for all the required details. Forms that are incomplete in any respect will not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.

Please note that due to Covid-19 outbreak, the start date of employment mentioned in the advert is tentative, subject to normal business of British High Commission. All recruitment campaigns will remain open for applications, we will progress the recruitment process as swiftly as possible and continue to review all applications, monitor progress and developments. We will be in touch with you for the interviews/ should there be further updates on the application, however given the circumstances, kindly expect some delay in response and please reach out to if you have any further questions.

Main purpose of job:

You will work within the political section at the heart of the High Commission and support the cross-Mission coordination of our work on human rights. The successful candidate will be responsible for contributing to one of the UK Government’s top priority areas. You will build understanding of the complex and constantly evolving human rights situation in Pakistan across a breadth of human rights issues. You will develop and maintain a network of contacts to inform reporting and analysis, using this and open source information to inform policy thinking. You will work with our Lahore and Karachi offices to understand the provincial human rights picture, and how this links back to federal activity. You will play a leading role in organising human rights-focussed visits and events. You will work with programme colleagues to ensure that activity aligns with policy.

Please note: This is a fixed term position for a period of 1 year with a possibility of renewal.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Political Reporting (40%)

• Increasing the BHC’s depth and breadth of understanding of Pakistan’s constantly changing human rights landscape.
• Using network of contacts to inform reporting on and monitoring of internal human rights issues.
• Undertaking proactive and reactive open source research on human rights priority issues, verifying this research with expert contacts and using this information to inform BHC activity.
• Providing advice to London on topical human rights issues, often under tight deadlines.
• Producing the human rights section of the Internal Team weekly report to London.
• Working with our offices in the Punjab and Sindh provinces to understand the human rights picture across Pakistan, how this reflects back to activities within the federal system, and using this to identify opportunities to progress UK objectives.
  

Visit and Events (20%)

• Accompanying and supporting senior staff on visits and meetings within Pakistan, this includes providing political and policy advice to seniors and producing records, as required.
• Leading on human rights events, including proposing events, compiling guest lists, managing invites and logistics, and briefing seniors, as required.

Network of Contacts(20%)

• Strengthening the BHCs existing network of contacts across the human rights spectrum.
  
• Managing and maintaining a diverse group of human rights contacts to inform understanding, identify opportunities, and influence progress towards UK human rights objectives.
• Setting up meetings for the Internal Team and the Political Counsellor, and accompanying as necessary.
  

Cross-Mission Engagement and Programming(20%)

• Playing a key role in ensuring that human rights is integrated into the wider work of the BHC
• Helping set the direction of programme activity on human rights to ensure alignment with policy priorities
• Working with programme colleagues to ensure programme outcomes are fed back in to policy decisions.
  

What we want from you

• A strong understanding of Pakistan human rights.
• A good understanding of extremism and sectarian landscapes.
• Ability to work autonomously on sensitive and challenging policy issues.
• A proactive dynamic individual with a can do attitude, who works well in a team.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to think creatively to solve problems, often under pressure, and to multi-task.
• Willingness to work to frequent and tight deadlines while maintaining high standard of work.
• Strong I.T skills.
• A track record in managing and prioritising your workload.
• Confidence and commitment to deliver with minimal supervision.
• Required: at least 3 years’ work experience in human rights or a related field.
• Desirable: over 5 years’ work experience in human rights or a relevant field; Master’s degree.
  

Language requirements:

Language: English and Urdu

Level of language required: Excellent command of written and spoken English and Urdu

Learning and development opportunities:

1. Formal in-house and external training.
2. Coaching, mentoring and job shadowing.
3. Structured learning on the job, including stretching objectives and work.

Essential on arrival:

Bachelor’s Degree; three years’ relevant work experience in a human rights-related field.