United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Research & Projects Intern

Starting date: Two intakes starting in October 2015 and January 2016

Overview

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is seeking two Research & Projects Interns. Working with our London-based staff and other members of our global team, you will assist in monitoring news about companies’ impacts on social and environmental issues, update our website on a daily basis with relevant reports, and provide support to web-based projects seeking to raise awareness about business and human rights. We are a small team and often ask interns to help with a variety of other tasks as well (see task description below).

We are looking for someone who is enthusiastic, reliable, and well-organised. You should have a strong interest in international human rights issues. You will need the ability to concisely communicate and demystify large amounts of complex information. You should be self-motivated, and able to work independently while functioning well as a member of a small team. You will need research skills, but also must be willing to do a large amount of routine data input efficiently & accurately. Attention to detail and accurate spelling are essential.

Period: This recruitment is for two interns, each for at least 4 months part-time (15 hours/week). Start dates are Oct 2015 and Jan 2016.

Reimbursement of local travel costs, and lunch up to £5; we are unable to pay any stipend or salary.

Location: our office in central London (intern may also work from home at times if he/she wishes).

If shortlisted, we will invite you for an interview and a written test. Provisionally, these will be held on 15-16 October 2015.

We especially encourage current students or recent graduates of relevant undergraduate, graduate or postgraduate programmes to apply.

About us

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is an international NGO that tracks the human rights impacts (positive & negative) of over 6000 companies in over 180 countries making information available on its eight language website. We seek responses from companies when concerns are raised by civil society. The response rate is over 70% globally.

The Resource Centre has 9 paid staff in London, including the Executive Director. Our team members are also based in Brazil, Colombia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Myanmar, Senegal, South Africa, Ukraine & USA. The Centre is a non-profit organization, and does not accept funding from companies. Further details about the Centre are on our website (http://www.business-humanrights.org).

Your tasks

1. Online research & input: Finding relevant news and reports online; composing abstracts; categorising articles; adding and updating pages on the website.


2. Assisting with web-based projects and big issue sections of our website including; Climate Justice, Human Rights Defenders, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Binding treaty, Major sporting events, Tax avoidance,Freedom of Association, Natural Resources, Conflict and Peace.


3. Supporting social media & communications work (including covering major events such as the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights)


4. Updating broken & outdated links on our site.


5. Participating in staff meetings, including biweekly Skype discussions with all staff & regional researchers.

You will be trained, supervised and supported by our London staff.

Please note that this internship is not academically oriented, and does not involve extensive analysis or writing. Rather, it is a practical internship focused on bringing global attention to company conduct affecting people and communities, with the aim of promoting respect for human rights.

For full role description and person specification, please visit our website.