Executive Director

ERRC - European Roma Rights Centre

Budapest, Hungary

The European Roma Rights Centre Board of Directors invites applications for the post of Executive Director.

Deadline for Applications: June 8, 2014

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) is an international public interest law organisation defending and promoting the human rights of Roma. The ERRC pursues its goals through strategic litigation, international advocacy, research and policy development, and training. Established in 1996 and based in Budapest, the ERRC has an international Board of Directors, employs approximately 22 staff, as well as consultants and interns, and has an annual budget of approximately 2 million Euro. For more information, see the ERRC website: www.errc.org.

The Executive Director is responsible for providing the strategic and management leadership necessary to enable the ERRC to fulfill its mission of promoting respect for and protection of the fundamental human rights of Roma across Europe. 

The Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors, and is responsible for the hiring and management of staff.

The main duties include:

• Planning the strategy and future work of the ERRC, in consultation with the Board;
• Acting as an articulate and effective spokesperson for the ERRC;
• Setting priorities and managing the ERRC's work;
• Ensuring that all ERRC activities and documents are of the highest quality;
• Supporting and facilitating the work of the Board by developing resource materials, providing appropriate information and reports as necessary;
• Implementing all policies and decisions of the Board;
• Taking the lead in fundraising planning and implementation and liaising with funders;
• Reviewing and evaluating the results of programmatic activities;
• Leading, supporting and managing the ERRC's staff and implementing a strong equal opportunity policy;
• Supervising the financial and administrative management of the organisation;
• Creating and maintaining working relationships with partner organisations, including international organisations, with a special focus on Roma-led non-governmental organisations.

Essential Requirements:

• Strong commitment to promotion of Roma rights and human rights in general;
• At least three years’ experience in a senior managerial position, involving supervision of staff;
• Significant experience addressing rights issues at a domestic or international level;
• Proven ability to lead a culturally diverse team of highly-skilled individuals;
• Excellent presentational skills including dealing with media;
• Fluency in oral and written English;
• Willingness to travel as required inside and outside Europe to represent the ERRC;
• University degree, preferably in law, political science, international relations or other related discipline.

Desirable Characteristics:

• Significant experience promoting Roma rights;
• Significant experience in working with Roma and for the Roma community;
• Strong management and budgetary experience;
• Proven record of strategic leadership in complex environments;
• Familiarity with international and European human rights law and practice, the European political context and the position of Roma;
• First-class drafting skills including an ability to write clearly and concisely;
• A record of successful fundraising and grant management in NGO settings;
• Excellent networking skills, including familiarity with use of electronic communications tools for networking;
• Broad involvement in the work of human rights institutions at the international, European and national level;
• A mixture of experience in governmental, non-governmental and other settings;
• Knowledge of Romani language, and/or language spoken in central and eastern Europe or former Soviet Union.

Salary and Benefits: Commensurate with experience 

While actual recruitment to all ERRC jobs is strictly on merit, the organisation strives to increase the number of persons of Roma origin in its staff and therefore specifically encourages candidates of Roma background to apply.

Applicants should send a letter of interest (up to 500 words) indicating why they are qualified for the position, a full CV, and the names of three referees who may be contacted before interviews are held. Candidates should submit their documents in electronic form to the following email address: edrecruitment@errc.org.