Big Brother Watch · United Kingdom
We are seeking an exceptional advocate with a policy, legal or related digital rights campaigning background to work with us furthering privacy and civil liberties in the UK at one of the UK’s leading rights NGOs. Initially, this role will be principally challenging facial recognition surveillance and scrutinising police surveillance/AI powers.
The right Senior Advocacy Officer will help us to lobby UK Parliament to further privacy and wider rights at a critical time – when a legal framework on police use of facial recognition is very soon to be introduced, and police are expanding their use of AI and new surveillance technologies. You’ll build on your strong experience to be a credible and proactive lobbyist in Parliament, write expert briefings and be confident meeting parliamentarians, take a leading role liaising with policy stakeholders, advise on strategic litigation, be a leading advocate in the press and the public forum, develop policy positions on key issues, and help drive our public campaigns for change.
About you
You’ll have 3+ years experience in a legal or policy capacity, or in a comparable advocacy environment that relied on your expertise on technology and rights issues – ideally involving facial recognition. You’ll have a strong track record of advocacy success.
You’ll be familiar with key litigation and policy issues in the area. You’ll also have excellent knowledge of British politics and UK parliamentary procedures and strong political contacts to match.
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 be an experienced spokesperson, confident undertaking live and recorded TV and radio interviews, talking to a variety of audiences and representing the organisation and our campaigns.
If you’re committed to Big Brother Watch’s mission, we’d like to hear from you.
Senior Advocacy Officer job description
Policy
Produce policy analysis, research, briefings and reports for dissemination
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 with allies 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
Identify campaigns and advocacy opportunities, and feed into campaign plans and 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
Help manage media enquiries (our 24/7 media phone is handled on a staff rota system)
Legal
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
Min. 3+ years experience in a similar role
Familiarity/expertise with domestic policy matters relating to privacy, surveillance and/or free expression
Experience of involvement in litigation, either in a legal or campaigns capacity
Experience working with parliamentarians and/or producing policy briefings
Strong legal and/or policy research skills
Excellent and persuasive communications skills
Demonstrable experience in privacy, freedom of expression, and 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
Familiarity with relevant UK surveillance laws, human rights frameworks, and relevant case law
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 small, dedicated and highly effective team of 8 staff and 5+ volunteers.