Coram International at the Coram Children’s Legal Centre

Research Assistant – Job Description

POST DETAILS:

POST TITLE:Research Assistant

LOCATION:Coram International, Coram Community Campus, 41 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 2QA

SALARY SCALE: £26,000 -£28,000per annum

RESPONSIBLE TO: Senior Researcher/Director of Coram International

HOURS:35 hours per week

Contract Duration: 12 months

Start date: Mid-February, with an immediate start preferred

Coram International is a research institution and consultancy which works around the world to promote and protect the human rights of children and young people. Staffed by a dedicated team of child rights lawyers and social researchers, Coram International carries out consultancies for UN agencies, governments and NGOs and has completed projects in over 65 countries worldwide.

This position is ideal for a candidate who is starting out in a career in international child rights and who is keen to grow and develop with our organisation. The Research Assistant will provide essential support to the team on a wide range of projects involving a range of different skills, including sociological and legal research on a full scope of child rights and gender related topics, helping to develop research methodologies and tools, drafting materials for use in our reports and publications, supporting the team with developing training materials and other technical documents, and providing more basic research assistance such as developing presentations or proof-reading and formatting reports for publication. We anticipate that this position will provide considerable opportunity to learn and develop into a higher level research role in the future.

ORGANISATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS:

  1. The Research Assistant will be line managed by the Senior Researcher;
  1. The Research Assistantwill work closely with other members of the core Coram International team to implement research projects, under the overall supervision of the Director of Coram International.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:

  1. Supporting the team with contributions to research and other projects on a variety of child rights and gender-related topics, with such contributions likely to include:

-Undertaking desk based sociological and legal research and analysis;

-Drafting materials for use in Coram International’s reports and publications;

-Helping to develop research methodologies and to draft research tools;

-Supporting team members to format and proof-read reports, presentations and publications;

-Drafting high quality and well-presented materials for presentations and workshops;

-Supporting team members with drafting training materials and other technical documents.

  1. Researching and applying for funding opportunities and, where necessary, reporting to donor agencies.
  1. Drafting materials for the Coram International website.
  1. Undertaking any other duties as and when appropriate.

Please note: this role may involve international travel – we are seeking someone who is enthusiastic and flexible about this possibility.

PERSON SPECIFICATION:

Essential requirements:

  • Degree in Law,Human Rights, or other relevant social science;
  • Knowledge of international child rights law;
  • Outstanding writing and analysis skills;
  • Outstanding attention to detail;
  • Ability to work independently and take initiative for own work load, combined with willingness to take direction and work as part of a team;
  • Excellent interpersonal skills: capacity for (cultural) sensitivity, adaptability and tact in building professional relationships;
  • Ability to meet tight deadlines;
  • Fluency in English; and
  • Enthusiasm about international travel (there is the possibility that the role may involve international travel).

Desirable experience, qualifications and skills:

  • Advanced degree in Law, Human Rights or other relevant social science;
  • Previous experience working for a human rights, development organisation or academia;
  • Experience of working in an international environment;
  • Expertise in juvenile justice and child protection issues;
  • Knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, including sampling, survey design, and statistical data analysis;
  • Additional language skills (especially French or Arabic);
  • Experience in drafting funding applications and donor reports; and
  • Previous authorship of publications (for policy, practitioner and academic audiences), or experience of proof-reading for publication.