job description job title: project manager location: budapest, hungary reports to: campaigns director responsible for: several in-country partners, experts, other stakeholder involvement liaises with: finance and administration director other programmatic staff job purpose: to manage an 18-month project entitled “innovating european lawyers to advance the rights of children with mental disabilities” 1. project information children with learning and other disabilities are particularly vulnerable to human rights violations because of their impairments and due to prejudice and stereotypes. frequently they are denied access to justice for such abuses, and lawyers are often ill-equipped to provide legal assistance. the mental disability advocacy centre (mdac), an international human rights ngo, is leading an 18-month project training lawyers across the eu to protect and promote the rights of children with mental disabilities. the project takes place in nine eu member states, and involves the development and roll-out of a training programme based on international human rights standards, primarily targeting legal professionals. the project is co-funded by the european commission (just/2014/rchi/ag/prof/7362). 2. core responsibilities the project manager: manages overall implementation and delivery of the project, in strict compliance with mdac’s contractual obligations with the european commission; takes the lead in initiating and managing the development of core project outputs and deliverables, specifically including a training package for lawyers, an international ‘train-the-trainers’ course, national level training courses, national legal innovation strategies, and an international best practices report, in conjunction with national partners, experts and other relevant stakeholders; proactively manages and coordinates the successful implementation of the project with partners in nine eu member states, and holds them accountable as per relevant contracts and agreements related to this project; takes overall responsibility for monitoring and managing the project plan, budget, timeline, risks register and issues log, internal and external reporting obligations, and provides regular updates on project implementation to relevant stakeholders; coordinates an external evaluation of the project, including the contracting of a suitably qualified evaluator, setting out terms of reference, and managing the production of a report providing learning and recommendations to mdac, the european commission and others; attends and takes part in training courses arranged in each of the project countries, in collaboration with partners in those countries; has responsibility for the development of a project communications plan, and takes the lead on drafting and disseminating information, learning and regular updates on implementation of the project at the national and international levels, including through academic and other journals, mainstream media, mdac’s website, online social media platforms, and by delivering workshops and presentations as required; ensures that the project achieves the maximum impact possible through developing effective strategies for targeting lawyers across the eu and council of europe regions, including through bar associations, ngos, national human rights institutions, and others; complies with internal policies on human resources, travel, finance, child protection, etc.; stays abreast of developments relevant to the project in the fields of disability rights, children’s rights and law; proactively identifies and seeks opportunities for mdac to apply for relevant funding opportunities, and inputs into any applications or proposals being developed; and undertakes any other reasonable tasks as instructed by mdac’s executive director or supervisor. 3. person specification qualifications: undergraduate degree in law, social sciences or a related field (essential) postgraduate degree in a relevant field (desirable) management qualification (desirable) training or education qualification (desirable) skills and experience: advanced written english language skills minimum three years relevant work experience in the field of children’s rights and/or the rights of people with disabilities and/or access to justice project management and use of related software proofreading and editing organising and conducting training, education and learning activities for lawyers experiences of managing cross-border networks budget management and donor reporting personal attributes: commitment to mdac’s mission, vision and organisational values, and an understanding of mdac’s strategic priorities willingness to be based in hungary with frequent travel in europe, and occasionally elsewhere a commitment to engage in dialogue with a wide variety of stakeholders very well organised, with the ability to proactively manage own time, and the flexibility to work both independently and as part of a team evidenced analytical skills and ability to thrive when handling complex material and situations strategic thinking and ability to see linkages between people and themes ability to learn quickly and thrive on multi-tasking outstanding written skills and the ability to condense complex information into punchy outputs excellent interpersonal communication skills ability to deal with ambiguous external factors and a high-paced, international working environment
