ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW:
Fortify Rights works to ensure human rights for all. We investigate human rights violations, engage people with power, and strengthen the work of human rights defenders and affected communities. We believe in the influence of evidence-based research, the power of strategic truth telling, and the importance of working in close collaboration with individuals, communities, and movements pushing for change. Fortify Rights is an independent, nonprofit organization based in Southeast Asia and registered in the United States and Switzerland.
POSITION OVERVIEW:
The Investigations Associate supports Fortify Rights’s independent human rights research and documentation by providing technical support to Fortify Rights team members and partners. The Investigations Associate works closely with Fortify Rights’s country-based Human Rights Specialists, Regional Directors, and the executive team to build and expand the organization’s capacity to conduct thorough, credible, and well-analyzed investigations into human rights violations. They serve as a knowledgeable and experienced resource on conducting human rights research and legal analysis and are responsible for supporting and contributing to strategic investigations in coordination with Fortify Rights’s country teams. The Investigations Associate receives support from the Executive Director and strategic direction and technical oversight from the Chief Executive Officer.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- In collaboration with Fortify Rights’s country-based Human Rights Specialists, Regional Director, executive team, and other team members, support, strengthen, and contribute to Fortify Rights’s investigation work on strategic objectives to advance human rights.
- Provide hands-on practical guidance and technical support to ensure that fact-finding processes are methodologically sound and conducted ethically, securely, and in line with international best practices.
- Assist Human Rights Specialists and other relevant team members in facilitating investigations on priority human rights issues. Provide research assistance to support the process of conducting interviews, focus group discussions, site visits, document collection, secondary research, and other forms of both qualitative and quantitative evidence collection.
- Ensure Fortify Rights’s documentation and human rights legal analysis is accurate, thorough, credible, and well-analyzed. Assist with preparing, drafting, editing, and analyzing documentation and publications, including news releases, op-eds, briefing papers, open letters, reports, multi-media productions, web content, etc.
- Monitor developments in and serve as a resource on international law and standards, including human rights law and humanitarian law. Support the sound analysis of research findings within the framework of international human rights and humanitarian law, ensuring concrete recommendations to address specific violations.
- Develop and implement skill-building technical trainings and/or workshops on investigation skills, including interviewing skills, documentation skills, and analyticial skills, to build the capacity of Fortify Rights’s team members and partners. Provide ongoing technical support and facilitate technical learning opportunities for Fortify Rights team members and partners.
- Work closely with Fortify Rights’s development team to contribute to fundraising and monitoring and evaluation processes. Contribute to timely reporting through regular monitoring and reporting on project activities and support the development team in tracking and gathering data to evaluate the progress of projects.
- Work closely in collaboration with the Fortify Rights team to ensure effectiveness, scale the organization’s impact, and ensure sustainability.
- Perform other tasks as requested.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- A degree in relevant fields and/or comparable work experience. Law degree preferred.
- Demonstrated ability to conduct human rights research and produce high quality written material in a timely manner.
- Strong understanding of human rights and humanitarian law, and ability to apply legal frameworks to documented situations of abuse.
- Familiarity with human rights issues in Southeast Asia.
- Strong creative-thinking, organizational, problem-solving, and time management skills.
- Ability to self-manage and work efficiently in a fast-paced but flexible environment.
- Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills, and experience in a multi-ethnic team.
- Sound judgment and ability to take initiative.
- Willingness to travel.
- Fluency in written and verbal English. Additional language skills preferred.