28 March 2014

University College London Institute of the Americas (UCL-IA)
Network Facilitator
Deadline for application: 25 April 2014 (provisional)

The UCL Institute of the Americas (UCL-IA) is a leading multidisciplinary specialist institution for the study of Latin America, the United States, the Caribbean and Canada. In the UK it acts as a focal point for students and researchers seeking to develop in-depth regional and continental knowledge of the Americas.

As part of its mission to promote specialist regional and comparative knowledge of the Americas, the Institute complements its teaching and research programmes by creating, supporting and coordinating national and international scholarly networks. It actively participates in knowledge exchange/public engagement, and organises its own programme of public lectures, seminars and specialist symposia serving the scholarly, diplomatic and public policy communities.

The Institute is currently employing a Network Facilitator.
Main purposeThe postholder will be required to support the Network Administrators and Executive Committee administering an International Network funded by the Leverhulme Trust entitled ‘The Inter-American Human Rights System: Assessing its Development and Impact’.

The Network’s objective is to engage scholars to generate innovative research on the development and impact of the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS). A multidisciplinary group of scholars (experts in international relations, international law, human rights and Latin American studies) will use innovative methods and approaches to understand how the IAHRS affects rights protections in the Americas. Assessing the development and impact of the IAHRS will contribute with practical insights into how the regional human rights system can be strengthened and advance the fields of international relations, international law, political science, and human rights.
The postholder will be based at the UCL Institute of the Americas and will undertake the management of the budget, workshops, meetings, dissemination and outreach activities, online resources, and co-ordination of publication activities.


Duties and responsibilities
Practical project management and organisation of events:
• To co-ordinate with Network partners with responsibility for ongoing information sharing.
• To manage the Network budget.
• To assist in the organisation of workshops and review meetings (programming, accommodation and travel arrangements, monitoring expenditure, publicity).

Organisation and dissemination of findings and other forms of output:
• To assist in coordinating activities and the subsequent dissemination of workshop findings.
• To keep detailed records of meetings (minute-taking of meetings and workshops).
• To prepare and circulate regular reports informing Network partners of research developments and pending tasks.
• To collate research papers and upload content from workshops onto Network website.
• To coordinate publicity, contact websites, listservs and discussion forums to promote Network activities and outputs.
• To prepare progress reports on research for funding bodies as required.

Online resources and research facilitation:
• Responsible for creating, maintaining, and updating the Network website.
• To administer a survey soliciting feedback from scholarly experts, policymakers, and relevant stakeholders in order to design website and calibrate dissemination strategy accordingly.
• To compile and regularly update a working bibliography on the Inter-American Human Rights System, and coordinate contributions from Network members.
• To liaise with Network members to construct and maintain regularly updated case information and an Inter-American Human Rights System database.
• To coordinate and contribute to regular substantive Network updates with systematised information on IAHRS activities.
• To provide contributions which are relevant to the aims of the Network.
• To contribute to the preparation and drafting of research bids and proposals.

Co-ordination of scholarly and policy publications:
• To manage publication activities and liaise with Network authors and contributors, publishers, translators, and copy-editors.

Other duties:
• The post holder will actively follow UCL policies including Equal Opportunities policies. The post holder will also maintain an awareness and observation of Fire and Health & Safety Regulations.
• The post holder will carry out any other duties as are within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job as requested by the Principal Network Administrator.
• The job description reflects the present requirements of the post, and as duties and responsibilities change/develop, the job description will be reviewed and be subject to amendment in consultation with the postholder.

Person specifications
Education, qualifications and training
Essential:
• A good general education to GCSE/A levels or equivalent.

Desirable:
• Educated to degree level in a relevant discipline related to human rights.


Skills and ability
Essential:
• Ability to analyse and write up data accurately and clearly as complex reports and papers.
• Ability to process complex information and present research effectively to a range of audiences, with impact.
• Excellent working knowledge of IT software including Word, Excel, Outlook, email, and the internet, and the ability to update and maintain websites.
• Proven ability to compile and construct agendas, take accurate minutes for meetings and draft correspondence.
Desirable:
• Conversant to fluent in Spanish and/or Portuguese.

Experience
Essential:

• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary research environment.
Desirable:
• Experience of working in a human rights related environment.
• Experience of working in a higher education environment.
• Experience of financial management.
• Experience of organizing meetings and events, and creating documentation for the web or print.
• Experience of editing academic material.
• Knowledge and experience of web management systems and social media.

Aptitudes
Essential:
• Excellent interpersonal skills, which enable the postholder to liaise and build good relationships with a variety of people, at all levels of the university and externally.
• Ability to meet tight deadlines and manage own workload in a busy environment, through effective prioritizing, time management and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage expectations of stakeholders, responding to changing priorities using a proactive approach.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively as part of a team.
• Commitment to providing high quality support to achieve Network aims.
Desirable:
• An interest in the IAHRS and/or human rights in the Americas.

How to apply
Apply
online. You will need to register to use the system if you have not used it before. You are able to do this after you have clicked on the 'Apply now' button at the bottom of the advertisement.

Closing Date: 25 April 2014 (provisional). Interviews are provisionally scheduled to take place on 13 May 2014. Due to limited resources, we regret that we cannot respond to candidates who are not shortlisted for this position. If they have not heard from UCL after 3 weeks applicants should consider themselves not to have been shortlisted.

Conditions of appointment
Salary
Salary will be on the Grade 6 pay scale, starting at spine point 24, which is currently £28,621 per annum including London Allowance, and will be pro-rata on 0.6 FTE. Progression through the salary scale is incremental following satisfactory completion of probationary period. Cost of living pay awards are negotiated nationally and are normally effective from 1st August each year.

Probation
Appointments are subject to receipt of satisfactory references and a probationary period of 6 months. A reference will be required from your immediate employer for the person appointed.

Hours of work
An average of 21.9 hours per week with the times of work as agreed between postholder and Principal Network Administrator.

Pension
The pension schemes at UCL are amongst the best in the country. There are two main pension schemes, for this position SAUL would be the relevant scheme, this is subject to the Scheme’s rules and eligibility conditions, with employee contribution rates of around 6%. UCL also contributes at least an additional 13% into your pension. You don't pay any tax on the pension contributions you make. Further information about SAUL and the benefits it provides can be found at www.saul.org.uk.

Right to work
All candidates invited to interview will be expected to provide evidence of their right to work in the UK at the time of interview. Evidence may be presented in the form of a British Passport or a Passport or National Identity Card from an EEA country or Switzerland; a passport or other travel document endorsed to show that the holder can stay indefinitely in the UK or that they can stay in the UK and are allowed to undertake the type of work being offered (for further advice please contact Human Resources); or an Application Registration Card issued by the Home Office stating that the holder is permitted to take employment.

Guidance on verifying your right to work
General terms and conditions for Support Staff
Further information about UCL staff benefits

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