MINELRES: Job opportunities at MRG Europe - Budapest

[minelres@lists.microlink.lv]

Original sender: Ildiko Magyar <Ildiko.Magyar@mrgmail.org>


We would like to call your attention to two job openings at MRG Europe
Budapest office:  

Job No. 1. Head of Europe and Central Asia Programmes/Managing Director,
Minority Rights Group Europe
Details see below 

Job. No. 2. Media Officer - Hungary
Details see below 

Deadline for applications: Monday, 26 January 2009. 

We consider fully completed application forms emailed to
ildiko.magyar@mrgmail.org before the deadline. 
Full application pack can be downloaded from www.minorityrights.org
No telephone or email enquiries please. 

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified about the date and time of
the interviews.   


MINORITY RIGHTS GROUP

Job No. 1.                       JOB DESCRIPTION

 
Title                            
Head of Europe and Central Asia Programmes/Managing Director, Minority
Rights Group Europe

Reports to                  
Director of Programmes, Minority Rights Group International

Minority Rights Group International is the leading international human
rights organisation working to secure rights for ethnic, religious and
linguistic minorities and indigenous people around the world. Minority
Rights Group Europe is MRG�s regional office supporting its work in
Europe and Central Asia.

A:       Purpose of the job

The purpose of the job is to help Minority Rights Group (MRG) achieve
its aims and objectives through the effective management and development
of the Europe regional office, planning and implementation of regional
programmes and projects in conjunction with regional partners and
contacts. 

MRG�s ECA programmes are currently focused on the Western Balkans and
the European Union, although further regional focuses are planned.  Two
new programmes focusing on Central Asia/South Caucasus and the Council
of Europe Framework Convention on National Minorities are designed but
not yet funded.

B:       Main duties and responsibilities

1. Staff    

Responsible for staff working on MRG programmes working in the regional
office, currently one Programme Officer, one Press Officer and one
Programme Assistant, for occasional interns and volunteers working on
relevant issues, and for authors and consultants commissioned to produce
reports and deliverables. 

2. Planning

Plans the programme of work in the region within the objectives set by
the Director of Programmes.

3. Programme Activity 

1. Assesses and monitors the regional priorities for MRG within the
focus set by the Council, and in line with regional developments.

2. Empowers minorities in the region to act as advocates in their own
cause through advocacy at international fora, research initiatives, and
education and training projects.

3. Develops and maintains partnerships with local partners in the region
to meet programme and publication objectives.

4. Networks with international and local NGOs and other stakeholders
active in the region.

5. Coordinates delivery of ongoing programmes as well as plans and
designs a future programme of projects on minority rights and thematic
issues within the region, which involves overseeing and undertaking:
� Design and running of training events
� drafting research and publication proposals
� supporting partners to carry out advocacy nationally and
internationally, and produce materials and do research to educate and
inform and challenge  prejudice
� investigating and implementing new ways to build organisational
capacity of partners
� carrying out advocacy in person and in writing about minority rights
issues within the region.

6. Develops and establishes ways to disseminate the results of MRG
research and experience within the region, including:
� the development and maintenance of a regional database of contacts
� liaising with NGOs in the region to maximise local outreach potential

7. Monitors the delivery of all programme activities to schedule, to
quality and content as described in funding applications and to budget.
Evaluates the outcomes and impacts of the programmes.

8. Liaises with programme donors, involves and nurtures them, drafts
narrative reports and reports on any changes to the programme and the
regional and in country networks.

9. Ensures that all activities and scripts in the regional programme
include and are sensitive to gender issues and that MRG�s gender policy
is implemented throughout all work involved in the region

10. Ensures that effective monitoring of progress on all activities and
programmes in completed and that staff reflect and learn from
experience, and share this learning across the organisation

11. Contribute to MRG�s strategic discussions, assess how regional
programmes are contributing to MRG�s overall strategy, together with
relevant staff review any gaps and how these might be addressed.

4.         Financial

1. Responsible for drawing-up operational and regional project budgets
and matching expenditure to approved budgets.

2. Responsible for office financial management, liaison with accountant,
auditor, tax authority and other authorities as required.

3. Responsible for financial reporting on operational budgets and
programme budgets.

2. In liaison with MRG�s fundraising team, responsible for the funding
of regional programme and project activities including:
� identifying potential donors
� writing and submitting funding applications, including budgets, 
       to donors
� maintaining positive relations and dialogue with donors and partners
� reporting to donors in line with their requirements

5.         Administrative

1. Prepares annual public benefit reports

2. Liaises with the organization�s Supervisory Board

3. Ensures that organizational records and files are in line with
requirements

4. Liaises with lawyers and others as required


6.         Provides advice to and liaises with

1. Director of Programmes on the integration of the regional programme
with the global outreach of the Programmes Department.

2. Other MRG staff e.g. funding, finance, publications, legal, media and
advocacy

3. Consultants, authors and interns working on contract on regional
issues.

4. Minorities, affiliates and partners within the region, and NGOs with
an interest in the region.

5. Donors and funding agencies for funding of the regional programme
applications and report-back requirements.


6.         General
Undertakes such other tasks as may reasonably be requested by the Head
of Programmes from time to time. Attends staff and departmental meetings
as requested. Contributes to the evaluation of MRG activities and
publications. Covers for absent staff on related work as necessary. The
geographical region covered by the job holder may need to be varied from
time to time.


7.         Confidential information
Responsible for maintaining confidentiality as the job holder will be
entitled to a very high level of access to confidential information
pertaining to MRG's strategies, detailed financial information, and also
access to sensitive external information which may impact on MRG's
activities.

8.         Degree of supervision
The job holder will be expected to report to the Director of Programmes
any deviations from agreed plans and schedules, and to report monthly on
the programme and projects� progress.

9.         Working conditions
The job holder will be based at MRG's office in Budapest, Hungary,
although travel in the region(s) covered by this post will be essential
for approximately 6-8 weeks per year. The job holder is required to
maintain the pace of work which at times may be high, working to strict
time pressures and managing several tasks simultaneously.

Although the primary purpose of this post is to coordinate and carry out
MRG�s work in Europe and Central Asia region, the post holder may be
required to work partly or wholly on other areas of MRG�s work. This is
to allow MRG to move staff away from work which is unfunded or
underfunded or is no longer a priority for the organisation, to work on
areas which have more funding, are growing or which are understaffed.
This will normally involve the post holder in carrying out tasks similar
or identical to those listed in this job description but applied to
different programmes or projects.

This is a full time position based in Budapest, Hungary, starting from
March 2009

December 2008

MINORITY RIGHTS GROUP
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Head of Europe and Central Asia Programmes/Managing Director, Minority
Rights Group Europe


A. Education and Knowledge

Essential
� Educated to degree level in international law, international
relations, development or other relevant subject or equivalent relevant
work experience
� Good knowledge of the region including recent economic, political and
social developments
� Good knowledge of international human rights instruments and
mechanisms 

Desirable
� Detailed knowledge of minority rights situations arising in the region
and knowledge of networks of relevant interested individuals and
organisations
� Knowledge of international and regional instruments relevant to
minority rights
� Knowledge of international development (methods, debates,
institutions)

B. Experience

Essential
� Three years� work experience in the field of development and/or human
rights
� Two years� experience working in, or in work relating directly to, the
region
� Two years� experience of managing a team of staff, including
recruitment, training, supervision and mentoring of staff
� Two years� experience of project management, to include consultation,
planning, project design, monitoring, implementation, evaluation, and
reporting.
� Two years experience of  drawing up and controlling expenditure
against significant budgets
� One year�s experience of work in the voluntary or NGO sector
� One year�s experience of raising funds for projects from grants,
governments and/or international funds including maintaining
relationships with donors and reporting to donors.

Desirable
� Experience of working on minority or related issues
� Experience of advocacy and lobbying work
� Experience of work in training, workshops, publishing or media
activities
� Experience of living and working in several areas of the region

C. Abilities and Skills

Essential
� Good judgement and maturity
� Ability to prioritise work, meet deadlines and plan administration of
large events, projects and programmes
� Ability to stay calm under pressure and to assess and absorb
information quickly
� Computer literate and knowledge of Word for Windows, Excel, internet
and e-mail packages
� Good communication skills, including good written and spoken English
� Either a working knowledge of Hungarian or a demonstrated ability to
learn a foreign language reasonably quickly.
� Ability to maintain confidentiality
� Ability to gain the confidence of members of minority communities and
of the diplomatic community; good diplomacy skills with diverse groups
of people
� Ability and willingness to travel throughout the region for up to 8-10
weeks per year as required 
� Ability and willingness to be self-servicing within the organisation

Desirable
� Working knowledge (spoken and written) of any other languages widely
spoken in the region

D. Personality

Essential
� Commitment to the aims and objectives of MRG
� Demonstrated interest in international affairs, human rights and
development issues
� Commitment to gender equity and ability to implement MRG�s gender
policy
� Enthusiastic about working in a multicultural environment and
committed to equal opportunities
 

December 2008

*************

Job No. 2.  Media Officer � Hungary - Job Description

This post will implement MRG�s global Minority Voices, MDGs and the EU
Media project in Hungary and other EU member states primarily in Central
and Eastern Europe. Overall the project aims to increase and improve the
coverage of minority and indigenous issues and stories in the EU media. 
One strand of the project involves training minority and indigenous
activists in the South on how to collect information and present it in
ways that will attract journalists working for EU based media outlets. 
It also includes a webportal offering journalists a quick and reliable
way of identifying possible stories as well as publications and media
work in the EU.  This post will be responsible for taking these
resources and using them to achieve media coverage primarily in Hungary
and other Central European states.  It will also involve taking some
individual journalists from these states to the South to carry out
research trips and organising one major conference on minorities and the
MDGs in Budapest and other smaller events.

The post will be full time, will be based at MRG Europe in Budapest. 
The overall project will be managed by MRG�s Director of Policy and
Communications who is based in the London office, many day to day
decisions about priorities will be made by the Director of Policy and
Communications, however the postholder will be line managed by the Head
of Europe post who manages the Budapest Office.  The postholder will
also need to liaise very closely with MRG�s media, website and
publications staff based in London.

Main duties include: 

Research and maintain contacts with locally based journalists �
primarily in EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe �
particularly those supplying EU media outlets.

Identify and respond to media opportunities relevant to MRG�s work,
within the overall framework of MRG�s aims and objectives;

Write and distribute press releases;

Translate press releases generated from other parts of the project into
Hungarian (and if possible other language spoken in the region).

Develop and maintain media contacts primarily in Hungary and Central and
Eastern Europe;

Draft text for updates for MRG�s website.

Produce items and text for MRG�s monthly e-bulletin. This includes
identifying relevant topics for inclusion, writing short pieces,
developing and maintaining the circulation list with relevant contacts
in the region. Possibly contribute to the production of audio and visual
materials to be used on the web hub and in podcasts (e.g. during trips
see item 9).

Organise press conference, publications launches and at least one major
conference including planning, logistics, elements of budgets, travel,
visas, venues, interpretation, materials

Identify and nurture particularly high profile and respected journalists
primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, develop their interest in
minority rights and facilitate trips for such journalists to travel to
the South to meet with minority partner organisations to generate
influential media coverage in important media outlets.  Accompany these
journalist on these trips as needed.

Maintain and update the marketing, publicity and media database records.
Ensure good detailed records are held of all media coverage appearing as
a result of this programme in the region.

Handle requests for permission to reproduce and/or use MRG copyright
materials

Undertake other tasks and responsibilities as delegated by the Director
of Policy and Communications. These may include, among others,
contributing to the evaluation of MRG�s work, including publications.

Respect and work towards full implementation of MRG�s Gender and Equal
Opportunities Policies in all the work involved in this post.


Although the primary purpose of this post is as described above, the
post holder may be required to work partly or wholly on other areas of
MRG�s work. This is to allow MRG to move staff away from work which is
unfunded or under funded or is no longer a priority for the
organization, to work on areas which have more funding, are growing or
which are understaffed. This will normally involve the post holder in
carrying out tasks similar or identical to those listed in this job
description but applied to different programmes or projects.

D: Confidential information
The post holder is responsible for maintaining confidentiality since
s/he will have access to confidential information pertaining to MRG�s
strategies and finances, and access to sensitive external information
which may impact on MRG�s activities.

E Degree of supervision
The post holder will be expected to work in consultation with the
Director of Policy and Communications, reporting to the Head of Europe
with monthly work planning to set priorities, and reporting meetings. 

H Working conditions
The post holder will be based at MRG Europe in Budapest. The post holder
will be required to travel to the South to accompany journalists but
will also need to travel to other locations within the EU to attend
conferences and meetings. The post holder is required to maintain the
pace of work which is at times high, will need to work to strict
deadlines and the ability to react quickly to external events. 


MRG is a self-servicing organization.
MRG is striving to be an equal opportunities employer. 

Person Specification

At least 2 years experience as either a journalists or a media officer
or similar post with a particular focus and successful track record in
achieving coverage in national media � preferably also international
media 
This experience should include work with print, radio, TV news and
documentaries as well as if possible work with new online media.  If no
actual experience on one or more of these, show a well developed
understanding of each of these media and how to access them and how they
differ. 

Experience of organising event with international participation 

Some experience of project management, budgets, logistics, monitoring,
planning and evaluating. 

A good knowledge of minority and indigenous issues as they are covered
in the media. 

Ability to work in multicultural teams 

Knowledge of gender issues and willingness and ability to mainstream in
all work. 

Ability and willingness to travel 

Excellent interpersonal skills, ability to network and nurture contacts 


You will need to have fluent written and spoken Hungarian and English. 
Any other languages spoken in EU member states in Central and Eastern
Europe would be a distinct advantage.  


Yours faithfully, 

Ildiko Magyar

Programmes Assistant
MRG Europe
H-1016 Budapest, Berc u. 13-15.
Hungary 
T: +361 2795769, F: +361 2795772
E: ildiko.magyar@mrgmail.org
W: www.minorityrights.org 
 
Minority Rights Group International: Working to secure the rights of
ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and indigenous peoples
worldwide.

---------------------------------------------
This message was sent using Endymion MailMan.
http://www.endymion.com/products/mailman/ http://www.microlink.com/