Survivor Participation Officer

REDRESS; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

An international human rights organization is seeking a Survivor Participation Officer to coordinate advocacy campaigns with survivors of torture. This role emphasizes collaboration with survivor networks, developing co-production initiatives, and working on public advocacy strategies. Candidates should have experience working with survivors, a strong understanding of human rights, and excellent communication skills. The position is full-time, located in London, offering flexible working arrangements and a contract for 12 months.

Benefits

Pension contribution of 10%

25 days holiday per year

Employee Assistance Programme

Qualifications

• Minimum three years of experience working with survivors or survivor groups.
• Demonstrated proficiency in writing for public audiences.
• Willing to travel within the UK.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement co-production initiatives with survivors.
• Work with survivor networks to enhance participation.
• Co-develop advocacy strategies with survivors.

Skills

Experience working with survivors

Understanding of human rights

Writing and editing for public audience

Experience with NGOs

Public speaking

Good standard of written and oral English

Social media literacy

Education

Relevant degree in human rights or international relations

Job description

REDRESS is looking to appoint a Survivor Participation Officer to support our work designing, delivering, co‑ordinating, and co‑producing our policy advocacy with survivors of torture based in the UK and internationally. We are seeking applications from candidates with experience of working with survivors, grassroots organising, or policy advocacy.

We strongly encourage applications from candidates with lived experience, which may mean that they or their families are survivors of torture, or that they have escaped persecution.

REDRESS has a diverse team from different backgrounds and with different experiences, including those with lived experience of torture. Under our Equality Policy, we encourage applications from people of colour, LGBTQI+ people, and disabled people, who are currently under‑represented. We will use positive action under the Equality Act 2010 to appoint from these groups if two candidates are equally qualified.

Who we are

REDRESS is an international human rights organisation based in London and The Hague that pursues legal claims on behalf of survivors of torture in the UK and around the world to obtain justice and reparation for violations against their human rights. Our approach to legal claims is strategic, so that as well as representing an individual we target the policy reasons that enabled the torture to take place, by building campaigns that uses advocacy, survivor participation, and communications to influence change.

At REDRESS, we utilise a survivor‑centred approach, and weundertake a range of legal, policy, advocacy and communications initiatives (both in the UK and internationally) that we seek to co‑produce with survivors on accountability and reparations for torture. This includes working with different groups of survivors to co‑design and co‑develop initiatives which reflect their priorities.

REDRESS has undertaken a process of growth and modernisation over the last few years. You can find information about the organisation in the latest Trustees Annual Report. We are strengthening our processes to further enhance our diversity, build our survivor‑centred approach, and ensure people with lived experience are part of REDRESS.

The Team

The Survivor Participation Officer will work with individual survivors and survivor networks to facilitate co‑designed advocacy campaigns aimed at the UK government and international stakeholders on key issues, deepen relationships with key stakeholders within the anti‑torture movement, develop referral pathways for survivors and make referrals as necessary.

Position Profile

The main responsibilities of the role are:

Survivor Participation. Develop and implement co‑production initiatives with survivors of torture, including by providing the secretariat for the Survivor Advisory Group (SAG). Manage and build strong working relationships with new and existing SAG members, as well as survivor networks in the UK and internationally. Advise and support colleagues across REDRESS on embedding co‑production in their work.

Survivor‑Centred Approach. Develop, implement and manage internal policies and practice on survivor participation as needs arise. Enhance institutional thinking on survivor participation.

Advocacy. Work alongside the Advocacy Officer to co‑develop advocacy strategies and campaigns with survivors based on their priorities. Facilitate meetings between survivors and parliamentarians. Support survivors with the development of key messages.

Project Management. Ensure delivery of project and related activities. Manage the budget. Contribute to the drafting of funding proposals, financial reports, and donor reports.

Support guides. Update the REDRESS Guide to Justice, Accountability and Reparations (and the relevant sections of our website) periodically to ensure these remain accurate and up to date resources for survivors and practitioners.

Deliver training. Develop and deliver capacity strengthening workshops to survivor groups, diaspora communities and NGO practitioners, to increase access to information on justice and reparations.

Referrals. Support REDRESS clients where necessary, including by signposting and making referrals to support providers.

Partnerships. Foster relations with existing and potential partners and counterparts on litigation, policy advocacy, and training.

Teamwork/Collaboration. Work collaboratively with REDRESS team members and external stakeholders always exercising professional integrity.

Representing REDRESS. Contribute to the wider needs of the organisation, including communicating REDRESS’ work to a wide array of audiences.

The position is also expected to carry out such further duties as may reasonably be required from time to time by REDRESS.

Qualifications

We are seeking applications from intermediate professionals with some previous experience in either co‑production, grassroots organising, or policy advocacy to contribute to this work.

The successful candidate will need to have the following essential competencies:

• Experience working with survivors and/or survivor groups. At least three years relevant experience.
• An understanding of human rights.
• Demonstrated proficiency in writing and editing for a public audience.
• Experience working with NGOs and other stakeholders.
• Experience in public speaking to a variety of audiences.
• Good standard of written and oral English.
• Willingness to undertake travel within the United Kingdom.
• Literacy in social media in a professional environment (primarily Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook).

We may consider candidates who are at the early stages of their career and do not meet all the essential criteria. As a minimum at junior level, candidates would benefit from experience of working with survivors, and demonstrable experience in delivering projects.

A strong candidate will also have other desirable competencies:

• A relevant degree in an area such as human rights or international relations, or equivalent experience in the field of human rights.
• Fluency in a language other than English.
• Experience managing projects and project budgets.
• Experience in UK parliamentary advocacy.

Personal Attributes

To work for REDRESS, the candidate should have the following personal attributes:

• Happy to work collaboratively as part of a small and energetic team with a wide range of personalities.
• Highly efficient and organised, with an ability to multi‑task, show initiative, solve problems, and take a hands‑on role when necessary.
• Able to think and work strategically, creatively, and under pressure.
• Able to understand and support the aims, objectives and values of REDRESS and reflect them in all aspects of work.
• Able to work with survivors of human rights abuse with a range of specific needs.

Terms

Reporting. The position will report to a Senior Legal Advisor.

Hours. This is a full‑time position at 35 hours a week, however part‑time hours will be considered. Evening and weekend work may be required from time to time.

Location. The position is based at the REDRESS office in London.

Flexible Working. REDRESS is an “in‑person” organisation and we value teamwork, but we have a flexible working policy which allows for working from home. This role is currently required to be in the office at least two days a week.

Duration. The contract is for a fixed term of 12 months (maternity cover).

Start date. The position would start in January 2026.

• Probation. There is a six‑month probationary period.

Pension. REDRESS offers a pension contribution of 10% of salary.

Holiday. There are 25 days of holiday per year, in addition to UK public holidays. The office is also closed between Christmas and New Year.

Status. The candidate must have the right to live and work in the UK. Unfortunately, we cannot sponsor a UK immigration process for this role.

Interview process. We expect to do two rounds of interviews. We may ask candidates to complete a brief written test as part of the process but will provide information on that nearer the time.

First round Interviews will take place on a rolling basis and will be online.

Final round interview will take place on 17 December 2025 and will be in‑person at our office in London.

Wellbeing. REDRESS has an Employee Assistance Programme (free and confidential resource) to support the health and wellbeing of all our staff, professionally and personally.

Application Process

• A cover letter of no more than one page explaining (a) why you would like to work for REDRESS, (b) how you fulfil the personal specification for the role, and (c) how you will contribute to the diversity of REDRESS.
• Your CV or resume.

Please also complete the anonymous Diversity Monitoring Form. We use the information from the form to tell us about the diversity of the applicant pool for each of the positions that we advertise. We keep the conclusions of the analysis for our records, and the underlying data is destroyed three months after the recruitment closes.