Privacy International, London
Senior Legal Officer
Deadline for application: 20 March 2013

Privacy International is one of the world’s leading privacy organisations. It was founded in 1990 and has active associates in over 20 countries. Its mission is to defend the right to privacy across the world, and to fight unlawful surveillance and other intrusions into private life by governments and corporations.

The vision of Privacy International is a world in which privacy is protected by governments, respected by corporations and cherished by individuals. We believe that technological developments should strengthen, rather than undermine, the right to a private life, and that everyone’s personal information and communications must be carefully safeguarded, regardless of nationality, religion, personal or economic status.

The role of the Senior Legal Officer is to develop and implement Privacy International’s litigation strategy as part of the Big Brother Incorporated project, in collaboration with the Head of Research and the Head of International Advocacy. The successful candidate will report to the Head of Research.

The Big Brother Incorporated project investigates the international trade in surveillance technology, with a particular focus on the flow of products from Western countries to repressive regimes intent on using them as tools of political control. The project's objectives are:
• To raise worldwide awareness of the dangers of surveillance technologies and the ethical failures of the surveillance industry.

• To ensure that export controls are put in place in Europe and the US to restrict the sale of surveillance technologies to repressive regimes.

• To seek redress for those who have suffered harm as a result of Western-manufactured surveillance technologies.



Roles and responsibilities
• Develop and implement PI’s legal strategy, building and bringing strategic litigation in domestic and regional courts to promote the aims of the Big Brother Incorporated project.

• Explore innovative and creative legal avenues for holding surveillance companies to account for complicity in human rights violations.

• Work with the rest of Big Brother Incorporated team to investigate and collect evidence to support litigation and advocacy initiatives.

• Consult with and instruct external pro-bono lawyers and manage cases from inception to completion, including collecting and documenting evidence, drafting legal documents and supporting advocacy initiatives around litigation.

• Work directly with individuals who have been subjected to unlawful surveillance and consequent human rights violations in order to document their stories and seek legal redress.

• Support other legal initiatives within other project areas at PI, including writing amicus briefs for the European Court of Human Rights and supporting advocacy efforts before the UN Human Rights Council.

• Develop and maintain PI's network of legal partners and identify potential partner organisations for collaborative work.

• Represent PI at conferences, debates and in the media in order to advance PI's strategic public outreach and stakeholder engagement objectives.

• Recruit, train, motivate and manage volunteers to assist in carrying out the above responsibilities.

Person specification
Essential
• Law degree or equivalent, any jurisdiction.
• At least two years experience of litigation work at a law firm or charity/NGO, with concrete experience in case management and preparing written legal submissions.
• Willingness to develop and pursue creative and original legal strategies.
• Demonstrable interest in technology and privacy issues.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to take initiative, to work unsupervised and to take responsibility for managing relationships with counsel and partner organisations.
• Proactive and self-motivated individual capable of engaging persuasively with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Willingness to travel to Central Asia, Latin America and Africa, including to medium-risk/high-risk environments on occasion.

Desirable
• Knowledge of the non-profit sector and general understanding of the key institutions in the human rights world.
• Experience of working in international human rights law.
• Experience of working with and in small teams.
• Experience of giving presentations and delivering lectures to diverse audiences.

Please note that this position is for an initial one-year period, to be extended if deemed to be in the best interests of PI and if funding permits. The successful candidate will be based full-time in our Central London office.

Application
To apply, please e-mail a CV and covering letter (not more than five sides of A4 in total) to info@privacy.org by 6 pm on Wednesday 20 March 2013. Interviews will be held in Central London on Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 March 2013. We are able to arrange interviews via Skype for overseas candidates. The successful candidate would ideally start asap.