COLLABORATIONS LEGAL OFFICER

About The Organisation

The Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA) is a feminist pan-African organisation focused on strategic litigation for women’s human rights and sexual rights at national and regional levels within the African human rights system. Our work is based on the belief that strategic litigation is an immensely powerful tool for social change because it helps to reframe the understanding of entitlements before the law and challenges legal discourse. ISLA seeks to gain ground by creating domestic and regional jurisprudence in women’s human rights and sexual rights; strengthening the capacity of litigators and NGOs on the continent; and conducting rigorous research.

Overview of Work

ISLA seeks to appoint a Collaborations Legal Officer to work full-time within the Collaborations priority area. The role will advance ISLA’s legal and normative advocacy by leading the dissemination and strategic uptake of existing knowledge products, supporting civil-society partners and coalitions, and responding to fast-moving regional developments. The Legal Officer will focus particularly on strengthening regional mechanism and countering anti-rights actors by utilising ISLA’s seizing and shielding approach, they will support strengthening civil society, and advocacy responses to regressive normative developments such as the AU Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (CEVAWG), the draft African Charter on Family Values and Sovereignty, and related anti-rights developments. Grounded in ISLA’s Collaborations Guide, the role combines strong legal analysis and writing with partner engagement, public advocacy and responsive project delivery.

Minimum Responsibilities

Minimum Responsibilities:

Legal and Normative Advocacy

Monitor, analyse and respond to fast-moving legal, political and normative developments within the African human rights system, including CEVAWG, the draft African Charter on Family Values and Sovereignty, and comparable anti-rights initiatives.
Develop persuasive legal and normative arguments that support the seizing and shielding of progressive mandates and resist attempts to co-opt, capture or weaken regional human rights mechanisms.
Draft high-quality legal briefs, submissions, advocacy notes, talking points and related outputs to a near-final standard with minimal supervision.
Support the strategic review and strengthening of legal and advocacy products, including coordination with internal and external technical reviewers where required.

Knowledge Dissemination and Repackaging

Lead the dissemination and strategic uptake of ISLA’s existing knowledge products under SRM and CARA thematic areas, ensuring that they reach and are useful to priority audiences.
Translate complex legal and normative analysis into clear, accessible and compelling materials for civil-society organisations, movements, decision-makers, media and other audiences.
Adapt messaging and formats to suit different audiences and advocacy moments while preserving legal accuracy, feminist analysis and institutional positioning.
Work collaboratively across ISLA, including with colleagues responsible for communications and knowledge products, to plan and deliver timely dissemination.

Partner Engagement and Strengthening Civil Society

Support communications and sustain relationships with partners, coalitions, networks, movements and other stakeholders working on contested rights and regional human rights advocacy.
Convene and coordinate collaborative advocacy, maintain engagement between formal meetings and support partners to identify and act on strategic opportunities.
Support civil-society organisations and emerging movements to strengthen their legal, advocacy and institutional capacity.
Navigate disagreement, conflict and complex power dynamics constructively across diverse geographical, political and organisational contexts.

Public Advocacy, Representation and Delivery

Represent ISLA and collaborative initiatives confidently and persuasively at convenings, webinars, side events, institutional or member-state meetings, media engagements and other public forums.
Communicate effectively on contentious or polarising issues, including with audiences that may be hostile or divided.
Plan, manage and report on concurrent projects and workstreams from end to end, maintaining quality and momentum as priorities change.
Respond with energy, urgency and sound judgement to emerging advocacy opportunities or crises without compromising existing commitments.
Contribute to the Collaborations function and undertake other related responsibilities that advance ISLA’s mission.

Minimum Job Requirements

Minimum Job Requirements:

Education

An advanced legal degree from a recognized institution (master’s Level).
A minimum of 4 years of work experience in human rights, advocacy or a related field.

Experience

Demonstrated understanding and experience working with or within the African human rights system, including engagement with its organs, mechanisms or normative and standard-setting processes.
Demonstrated experience in human rights legal research, litigation, advocacy or programming, with strong knowledge of relevant regional and international frameworks and jurisprudence.
A strong record of producing legal and advocacy documents to a near-final standard with minimal supervision and repackaging technical content for different audiences.
Experience leading partner communications and working with coalitions, networks, movements or civil-society organisations, including convening and sustaining collaborative work.
Experience representing an organisation or coalition publicly and advocating on contentious issues before varied audiences.
Experience managing multiple projects or workstreams in a fast-moving environment with limited supervision.

Skills and Competencies

Excellent legal research, analysis, drafting and editing skills, with meticulous attention to detail.
Strong understanding of constitutional, regional and international human rights law and the political dynamics that shape regional norm-setting.
Ability to communicate complex legal and normative arguments clearly, accurately and persuasively in writing and orally.
Strong public-speaking, facilitation and representation skills, including the confidence to engage hostile, divided or high-level audiences.
Strong relationship-management and coalition-building skills, with the judgement to navigate disagreement and complex political landscapes.
Ability to work independently, exercise initiative, prioritise effectively and deliver high-quality outputs under tight and changing timelines.
Sound project-management and organisational skills, including the ability to plan, track, coordinate and report on concurrent priorities.
A collaborative, resourceful and solutions-oriented approach, coupled with high standards of integrity and professionalism.
Knowledge and understanding of human rights as they relate to gender and sexuality, grounded in feminist analysis.

Additional Information

Other Essentials Specific to the Job

Candidate must be based within the African continent.
Commitment to ISLA’s aims and values, including feminism, Pan-Africanism, social justice and the use of law as a tool for social change.
Able and willing to travel occasionally within Africa and outside the continent when required.
Available to work occasionally outside regular weekday hours when advocacy opportunities or urgent developments require it, which is something that would be compensated within the TOIL framework.
Fluency in written and spoken English. Proficiency in French, Arabic, Portuguese or Swahili will be an added advantage.

Preference will be given to qualifying women applicants.

Salary: $50,000.00 (Fifty Thousand dollars only) gross annual income. This position offers a competitive total cost-to-company salary commensurate with experience.

Closing Date: 16 September 2026

Suitable candidates who meet the requirements for this position are invited to complete the application form here.

ISLA’s job application form replaces the need to submit a CV, as we prefer to receive standardised information from all candidates. The ISLA recruitment team will review applications. Only shortlisted candidates will receive feedback and any further requirements. Late applications will not be considered.