Organisation: African
Prisons Project (APP)
Duty
Station: Kampala, Uganda
Reports
to: Senior Paralegal Officer (Law)
Salary: £4,000 – £4,800 per annum
The African
Prisons Project is an international non-profit organization that works to
restore dignity and hope to prisoners across Africa. APP works holistically to
change the way that criminal justice issues are addressed in the countries in
which we work and empower prisoners to drive positive change. We work with
Prison Service leaders who wish to develop services and policies in line with
our mission and welcome our support. We pursue these changes in a two pronged
approach. Firstly, by focusing on rising stars and senior management of the
prison services, providing them with the skills needed to reform and improve
prison systems. Secondly, by providing scholarships and training to prisoners
and prisons staff pursuing legal degrees or diplomas through distance learning
programmes, to support them act as educators and legal advisers to prisoners
and to then take this knowledge of the law to the poorest communities upon
release.
Job
Summary: The Paralegal Manager (Law) will support the Senior Paralegal Manager
in systematising the support provided by the students by setting up
Drop-in-Legal Advice clinics in the prisons in Uganda and Kenya where our
students are located. This initiative will be very much student centered and
will be led by current and new scholars. The core service of our Drop-in Legal
Advice Clinics will be an open-door drop-in sessions where prisoners simply
turn up, and are given on-the-spot face to-face legal advice by the students
under our leadership. Working under supervision and support from the paralegal
teams and practicing lawyers, students will interview and assess clients,
research the enquiry, and then give information and generalist advice. There is
also the option to refer clients to the clinic’s volunteer lawyers/advocates to
give support, guidance and specialist advice in a number of practice areas.
This will intensively develops their interview skills, practical legal
knowledge and understanding of client care-in particular, learning to be
non-judgmental and non-discriminatory towards clients and their problems, and
providing the best possible service within the time-constraints of a busy
drop-in service.
Key
Duties and Responsibilities:
·
Under the direct guidance and supervision of the
Senior Paralegal, the Paralegal will be responsible for assisting in carrying
out the structures required for the smooth operation of Drop-in-Legal Advice
Clinics, and ensuring efficient operation and timely implementation of various
planned activities, and fulfill the necessary management requirements of the
clinics.
·
The Paralegal is responsible for supporting in the
implementation of the charities strategic paralegal initiatives around our
Drop-in-Legal Advice clinics. This includes project managing new clinics and
ensuring that the operations are effective and efficient, activities are
managed well, and the model is easily transferable from prison to prison. Will
work at all times with the prison rules and our charities policies and procedures.
·
The incumbent will identify and co-ordinate with
the Senior Paralegal new developments, such as those relating to the clinics,
models of delivery and partnership working, through regular review and
investigation of new opportunities.
·
The job holder will actively engage in appropriate
committees, working groups and other activities to maintain strong and
productive external networks.
·
Responsible for ensuring that standards and
quality of paralegal delivery is maintained and developed.
·
Assist and support in the setting up of the
clinics (in various prisons) and the implementation of all relevant activities.
Undertake regular visits to the project sites to understand the ground
situation and take necessary actions for improvement in project implementation.
·
Provide support to the Senior Paralegal in the
development of a handbook on the best practice procedures and processes; and
internal requirements and regulations on how the Drop-in Legal Advice Clinic
will operate.
·
Help in the development of relevant policies and
relevant documents to guide the operation of the Legal Advice Clinics.
·
Support the Senior Paralegal in creating training
materials and manuals and help to conduct necessary trainings and workshops
required for the efficient and effective implementation of activities in the
Legal Advice Clinic.
·
Take lead in the filing and follow up of cases
particularly appeal cases, to ensure timely outcomes. Support the research on
relevant cases and other supporting authorities/material required to enable the
provision of quality advice within the clinic.
·
Support in the carrying out of research to
understand the current situation including; the prevailing challenges in
accessing justice in the project sites; recommend changes and improvements,
work with key influencers in the prison service and in the community to inform
the design of relevant interventions to address identified gaps.
·
Significantly contribute to income generation
activities to support the paralegal clinics including networking, talking at
events and acting as an ambassador for the services you are leading for the
charity.
·
Key aspects will be to ensure that through good
project management and leadership skills all activities are delivered to a high
standard and have been achieved using professional ethics and consensus
management, to include all key parties both within the charity but also within
the prison services.
·
Perform any other duties as reasonably requested
by the Leadership Director and other project staff.
Qualifications,
Skills and Experience:
·
The ideal candidate should preferably hold a good
degree in law, social work, public health (2.1 or above).
·
Project or Business Management qualifications are
desired e.g. Prince2
·
A minimum of three years’ knowledge and
understanding of delivering and setting up paralegal type services is an added
advantage
·
A minimum of three years or more experience of
project management, including setting up various programmes in similar
situations e.g. prisons, judiciary, or drop-in clinics.
·
A minimum of three years of delivering excellence
as a project manager.
·
In depth knowledge of project reporting and
collecting Monitoring and Evaluation data is desired
·
Broad working knowledge and understanding of
cutting-edge legal partnerships.
·
Working knowledge of delivering similar type
programmes.
·
Two years or more experience in using project
management software/tools and report writing but also include producing
in-depth financial budgets and cost analysis.
·
Previous experience in setting up NGO projects in
a field environment, ideally Africa or similar.
·
Advanced oral and writing skills, and an ability
to create documents including manuals and presentations; excellent
interpersonal skills; IT skills appropriate to an office or NGO (field)
environment
·
Previous experience in dealing with Prison
Commissioners and an ability to work consultatively within democratic
structures but also to be in sympathy with our aims, objectives and values and
to demonstrate high levels of commitment and maintaining highest possible
working standards and outputs.
·
Demonstrated ability to take initiatives in
developing relationships, initiatives and options for action that might benefit
the charities drop-in clinics aims
·
Excellent track record of excellent research
outputs or equivalent engagement with knowledge development in policy or
practice contexts.
·
Previous experience leading legal activities and
producing appropriate manuals/policies.
·
Prior exposure and experience in creating training
documents and manuals to support prison programmes.
·
Project Management experience in NGO or similar
type organisations.
·
Previous experience working in an NGO who supports
prisoners or who has links with the judiciary.
·
An outstanding and innovative project manager and
leader of people with proven results/SLA’s achieved.
·
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
·
Demonstrable management and organisational skills.
·
Skills and competencies, supported by measurable
outputs.
·
An articulate and confident manner, demonstrating
sensitivity and diplomacy in order to develop good relationships and solicit
support.
·
Proactive and positive approach, a willingness to
take the lead in ensuring the goals and objectives of the project are achieved.
·
Demonstrated ability to work independently, handle
a variety of concurrent activities.
·
Highly organised and flexible approach to work
with the ability to prioritise workload under pressure and to meet tight
deadlines.
·
Excellent analytical skills
·
Proven ability to speak the local language (Luo)
will be an added advantage
Job Terms and Conditions: We offer a
competitive remuneration and plenty of scope for learning and development. This
is not a family duty station. The candidate will be expected to spend time both
in Kenya, Uganda and in the UK. The contract duration is 12 months, with a
strong likelihood that this will be extended annually depending on performance
against objectives.
All suitably
qualified and interested candidates should send an updated CV and covering
letter to Peter R. Tibigambwa, Country Director, African Prisons Project via
E-mail to, petertibigambwa@africanprisons.org.
NB:
Please do not apply unless you have the right qualifications and experience.
This role will be popular and we will only be reviewing applications who send
us their CV and covering letter which are no more 3 pages long. We do not need
to see certificates and references at this stage.
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