Room 1.30.1 The Distillery Building, 145-151 Church Street, Dublin 7, Ireland
t. +353 (0)1 817 5331 e. info@irishruleoflaw.ie www.irishruleoflaw.ie

Position: Communications and Engagement Manager

Location: Dublin, with option for hybrid working and based in head office at least two days per week

Hours of work: Full time or part time, depending on experience

Salary: €48,000 - €53,000 depending upon experience, plus health insurance and employer pension contributions

Reports to: Director of Operations

Background:

Irish Rule of Law International (IRLI) is a legal non-governmental organisation (NGO) with charity status set up under the auspices of the Law Society of Ireland and the Bar of Ireland as well as the Law Society of Northern Ireland and the Bar of Northern Ireland. Dedicated to promoting the rule of law in resource-constrained countries, IRLI is primarily a project-based organisation with a variety of access-to-justice projects in countries such as Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia. Through its work, IRLI seeks to protect human rights by promoting and strengthening the rule of law. It provides technical support and assistance in the form of legal capacity and institution building in those jurisdictions to help tackle the effects of global injustice, and to empower freedom from inequality, corruption, and conflict.

Position Summary:

Established in 2009, IRLI has progressively grown through the years, expanding on both its programme portfolio and its working networks. The organisation is now at an exciting stage, having recently secured multi-annual funding as well as having established a broad programme base, ranging from access to justice, to institutional capacity building, and legal education. In addition, we have recently embarked upon an organisational review and strategic planning process which will help us chart the path for the next three-year period, from 2026.

In recent years, IRLI has engaged the expertise of communications’ experts on a consultancy basis. Due to recent growth within the organisation coupled with the increased importance of communicating the impact of our work, IRLI is excited to offer this in-house role which will help the organisation to develop and deliver a strategic approach to communications and engagement. To support our mission and aims, we hope through this process to find a creative, passionate, strategic thinker with excellent communication skills and the ability to build meaningful, lasting relationships.

This will be either a full-time or part role role which will be based in IRLI’s head office in Dublin (with the option of hybrid working from home for part of the week while working from head office at least 40% of the week, with specific days to be agreed with the Director of Operations and Executive Director and subject to the needs of the organisation). There may be occasional travel to events throughout Ireland as well as the potential for travel to programme field locations, subject to funding. The successful candidate will report to and work directly under the supervision of IRLI’s Director of Operations.

Main Responsibilities:

• Developing and implementing a communications strategy and plan for the organisation. This will be done in conjunction with the Executive Director and in consultation with the wider staff team, both in Ireland and Malawi, as well with any staff or partners, as appropriate, in any country in which IRLI is working.
• Raising awareness of the work of IRLI through engagement with key stakeholders and partners.
• Managing and maintaining IRLI’s website and social media presence.
• Producing, editing, publishing, and promoting a monthly podcast episode and a quarterly newsletter.
• Managing the communications and promotion of events (including visits of delegations both to and from Ireland), including drafting press releases, engaging with PR agencies and outlets, and assisting and supporting other staff with the organisation of such events where required.
• Assisting staff with the development of articles and other promotional materials.
• Working with the Executive Director and supporting staff to develop and implement clear guidance in relation to key audiences and key messaging for communications, including language, tone, key phrases, general style, and approach (with platform-specific adaptations as appropriate).
• Working with the Director of Operations to develop, implement and maintain an organisational IT system and database that is fit for purpose.
• Managing IRLI’s media contacts list in line with GDPR.
• Providing support to the Executive Director, Director of Programmes, and Country Directors, in developing and implementing strategies in relation to fundraising, including supporting with application and report writing where required.
• Considering and advising the Executive Director and all staff on appropriate effective communications specifically with funders, both current and potential, in mind.
• Guiding and assisting the Executive Director, as well as other staff where required, in relation to the preparation of presentations and other media engagements to ensure that relevant individuals are fully briefed as to the context of any engagements and are clear on key messaging in any such engagements.
• Developing appropriate measurement, tracking and reporting frameworks to gather relevant statistics and monitor the effectiveness of activities and implementation of communications.
• Other tasks as directed by the Executive Director where required to support the day to day running and operations of IRLI.

Person Specification:

Essential Requirements:

• A Bachelors’ degree and/or a master’s level degree in communications, journalism, public relations, marketing, or other related area.
• A minimum of 5 years’ professional communications experience in a non-profit organisation to include experience in the use of various platforms and applications, to include mainstream social media platforms, Mailchimp, Eventbrite, and other communication tools.
• A minimum of 1 years’ experience in podcast producing, editing and publication.
• Proven ability to execute public engagement activities, preferably in the charity/NGO sector.
• Ability to work well under pressure, prioritise a wide range of competing tasks and meet deadlines.
• Self-motivated, dynamic and the ability to work independently as well as collaboratively.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate with and relate to a wide range of external audiences.
• Appreciation of the aims and objectives of IRLI.
• Demonstrated excellent research and communication skills.
• Adept in use of Word, Adobe, Canva, Excel, PowerPoint.
• Fluent in spoken and written English with strong analytical skills.
• Legal right to work in Ireland.

Desirable Requirements:

• A keen interest in programmes related to human rights, rule of law, and legal development issues.
• Overseas work on international programmes.
• Familiarity and previous engagement with the Irish and/or Northern Irish justice sector actors.
• Professional experience in a communications role related to human rights, rule of law, and legal development issues.
• Fundraising experience, including submission of funding proposals and or reports, on behalf of a charity or charities.
• Ability to create new ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including launching creative and innovative initiatives.

Terms and Conditions:

• This is a full-time or part time, hybrid role with standard office hours of 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and 30 minutes for lunch. There is a flexible approach to these working hours to ensure that it works for the individual and for the organisation.
• There is an employer contributory pension scheme where IRLI will match the employee’s contribution up to a maximum of 5% of the employee’s salary.
• The organisation contributes up to €2,000 per annum towards an employee’s private health insurance.
• There are 25 days annual leave per year, plus public holidays in Ireland (and organisational closure days on Good Friday and during the Christmas period).
• The organisation actively supports employee professional development, with a minimum of 5 study days granted per year and a contribution towards the cost of work-related courses or training.

Applications:

The deadline for submission of applications is Friday 16th May 2025 at 17:00 GMT.

Interviews are expected to take place in the week commencing 2nd June 2025 between 09:00 and 17:00 GMT (either in person or online, depending on the candidate’s location. There is a preference for any candidate living in Ireland to attend an interview in person).

Subject to a considerable number of applications being received, candidates will be contacted, if they are shortlisted for interview and to arrange a time, no later than 17:00 GMT on Friday 23rd May.

Please submit to careers@irishruleoflaw.ie:

1. A curriculum vitae.
   The CV must be no more than three sides of an A4 page in length and use font size no smaller than 11.
   It should include the names and contact details of two referees (who will not be contacted without permission from the applicant)
2. A cover letter describing why you are interested in the position and summarising your relevant experience and suitability for the post.
   The letter must be no more than two sides of an A4 page in length and use font size no smaller than 11.

Please note that failure to comply with the above requirements will result in automatic disqualification from this recruitment process.

Only applications received through careers@irishruleoflaw.ie will be considered.

All applications must be submitted with the email subject line “Communications and Engagement Manager”.

Any queries should be directed to IRLI at info@irishruleoflaw.ie