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This is an exciting position for an exceptional person with a legal, policy or digital rights campaigning background to work for one of the UK’s leading rights NGOs. In this role, you’ll have the opportunity to lobby UK Parliament to campaign for strict restrictions on police use of facial recognition technology; to further privacy, free expression and data protection rights; to be involved inimportant litigation on human rights and technology; and to lead public advocacy campaigns for real change. You’ll also be a key Big Brother Watch spokesperson in the media.

You’ll have opportunities to work across areas of our organisational strategy spanning policing and AI, surveillance, free expression, protest, data rights and justice, as well as to explore new organisational priorities over time. This role is likely to initially focus on facial recognition surveillance.

About you

We’re looking for highly skilled professional with a demonstrable passion for protecting civil liberties, especially privacy and freedom of expression, and a high level of interest in new and emerging technologies. 

Ideally, you’ll have previous experience in a legal or policy capacity, or in a comparable environment that relied on your expertise on technology and rights issues. You’ll be familiar with key litigation and policy issues in the area, but you do not need to be a lawyer or have a law degree. You’ll also have excellent knowledge of British politics and UK parliamentary procedures. You’ll be a brilliant communicator, able to simplify complex technology issues and convey powerful messages whether in expert policy briefings or in live news interviews as a Big Brother Watch spokesperson. The ideal candidate will appreciate the importance of winning not only in courts of law but in the court of public opinion.

You’ll be at ease working on a strictly non-partisan, cross-party basis and grounding policy analysis in human rights and liberal principles.

You’ll be proactive in pitching policy, litigation and campaign ideas for the organisation to pursue within our work streams. You’ll also be proactive in building relationships with partner organisations, experts and stakeholders. We’re looking for someone who is highly capable, self-motivated, flexible, diligent and able to work under pressure with an often competing workload.

This is a broad role and we appreciate not all candidates will have experience involving all of the skills involved. However, if you’re committed to Big Brother Watch’s mission, we’d like to hear from you.

Big Brother Watch

Big Brother Watch is a UK civil liberties campaign group fighting for a free future. We’re determined to reclaim our privacy and defend freedoms at this time of enormous technological change. And we fight to win.

We’re a fiercely independent, diverse, non-partisan and non-profit group of campaigners and researchers who work to roll back the surveillance state and protect rights in Parliament, the media or the courts if we have to. We publish unique investigations and pursue powerful public campaigns to pursue real change. We work relentlessly to inform and empower the public to collectively reclaim privacy, defend our civil liberties and protect freedoms for the future.

We’re a dedicated and highly effective multi-disciplinary team of 8 staff, plus a brilliant team of volunteers who you will have opportunities to supervise over time. 

Interviews

First stage interviews will take place on Thursday 10th December.

Due to a high number of applications, unfortunately we cannot inform candidates whose applications are unsuccessful before this stage.

Job description

Policy

• Produce policy analysis, research, briefings and reports for dissemination, including scrutinising new legislation, codes of practice and police policies 

• Develop strategic policy recommendations informed by expertise

• Identify and explore new and emerging policy issues in our key work areas

• Communicate complex policy issues to varied audiences, whether Parliament, the press or the public

• Build strong relationships with parliamentarians and advisors across all parties

• Identify opportunities to further our strategic aims in Parliament, through committees, parliamentary questions and other activities; as well as regional assemblies and on occasion local government

• Work with stakeholders and pursue collaborative campaigns/coalitions on key issues

• Develop Big Brother Watch’s relationships across Government, legislative bodies, international organisations, and NGOs

• Draft formal correspondence, blog posts, presentations, and other documents articulating Big Brother Watch’s policy positions

Advocacy

• Work with the team to contribute to campaigns plans that further strategic aims

• Identify advocacy opportunities, and feed into campaign materials

• Write articles and give quotes to press

• Give pre-recorded and live interviews for TV and radio

• Uphold Big Brother Watch’s reputational excellence in public fora 

Legal (you do not need to be a lawyer or have a law degree)

• Help co-ordinate Big Brother Watch’s strategic litigation where appropriate, liaising with external lawyers

• Manage relationships with external counsel & build strong relationships with partners

• Produce legal and policy analysis and identify strategic litigation opportunities 

Person specification

Essential

• Prior experience in a similar role

• Familiarity with domestic policy matters relating to privacy, surveillance and/or free expression

• Strong legal and/or policy research skills

• Excellent and persuasive communications skills

• Demonstrable experience in privacy, freedom of expression, or other rights and technology areas

• Aptitude for managing and building relationships with partner organisations, parliamentarians and other stakeholders

• Proven ability to produce high quality work under pressure

• Creativity and energy in approaching a workload consisting of large long-term projects

• Willingness to work in non-partisan environment, and ability to recruit support of MPs across all parties

Desirable

• A track record of successful advocacy experience

• Media/spokesperson experience

• Experience of involvement in litigation, either in a legal or campaigns capacity

• Experience working with parliamentarians and/or producing policy briefings

• Familiarity with relevant UK surveillance laws, human rights frameworks, and relevant case law