Legal Advisor (80%) – open-ended contract

Founded in 2002, TRIAL International is a non-governmental organization fighting impunity for international crimes and supporting victims in their quest for justice. The organization takes an innovative approach to the law, paving the way to justice for survivors of unspeakable suffering. With offices in Geneva, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Democratic Republic of Congo, TRIAL International provides legal assistance, conducts investigations, litigates cases, develops local capacity, and pushes the human rights agenda forward.

For our newly created program to tackle impunity for crimes committed in the context of the provision of private military and security services, we are looking for a legal advisor, a part-time position based in Geneva.

The overall mission of this position is to support in the implementation of our activities related to accountability for international crimes (including corporate international crimes) in this sector. Through your work you will support victims in their quest for justice through strategic litigation actions. You will also assist in reinforcing the capacity of partner organizations working on documentation and case building in multiple countries. Finally, you will assist advocacy actions at the international level reinforcing regulations and promoting accountability.

YOUR MISSION

• Litigation activities: you will be implementing investigation and documentation activities (whether digital or field) for selected cases in compliance with the methodology of the program. Your role also includes analyzing large sets of evidence (witness statements, audio-visual evidence, digital evidence etc.) in the context of case-building, conducting legal researches and drafting legal briefs. Furthermore, your responsibilities include the drafting of legal complaints and other legal filings.
• Capacity building and advocacy: you will support preparation and delivery of training and mentoring sessions to partner organizations and support related reporting and evaluation. Additionally, you will engage advocacy efforts, participating in meetings, presentations, document drafting and representing the organization at events such as conferences and side-events.

YOUR PROFILE

• Post-graduate/master’s degree in law with specialization in international criminal law, international humanitarian law and/or international human rights law;
• A minimum of 5 years of demonstrated experience in a field relating to national or international criminal justice, human rights and/or international humanitarian law;
• Prior experience working as a lawyer, legal adviser, legal officer or legal professional in an NGO or related field. Experience working on extraterritorial criminal cases, human rights complaints and/or corporate accountability cases will constitute a strong asset;
• Strong legal analysis capabilities on large volumes of different types of evidence. Prior experience in international crimes investigations will constitute a strong asset;
• Excellent legal research skills;
• Excellent team work skills, creativity, ability to work independently and to set priorities;
• Proficiency of Microsoft Office IT tools, particularly Excel;
• Excellent command of English and French both written and spoken. Good command of Spanish, Arabic and/or Portuguese will constitute an asset;
• Availability for international travels to medium / high-risk contexts.

In order to consider your application, you must be a Swiss national, a citizen of the European Union or EFTA, or hold a valid work permit in Switzerland.

WHAT WE OFFER

An exciting and varied opportunity in a dynamic organization in full development and within a committed and motivated team.

• Workplace: Geneva, Switzerland
• Workload: 80% position (32h/week)
• Type of contract: Open-ended contract
• Start date: January 2025 (negotiable)

The conditions of employment offered correspond to those in force in the NGO sector, with 5 weeks annual leave for full time and flexible working arrangements.