Deputy Director

Validity Foundation (formerly the Mental Disability Advocacy Centre – MDAC) is looking for a Deputy Director to join the team.

The Deputy Director will work closely with the Co-Executive Directors to provide day-to-day leadership and management of the organisation, and staff supervision. In particular, they will provide strategic and practical support to the Co-Executive Directors in the areas of staffing structure and management processes, coordination and communication, strategy development and alignment of operations, and funding and sustainability. They will be a key member of the senior management team responsible for designing and implementing innovative strategies for change across the organisation and ensuring that these are co-produced with persons with disabilities. The Deputy Director will have line management responsibility for our Europe-based strategic litigation team in charge of the organisation’s national and regional case docket, well as our EU Portfolio Manager (tbd) in charge of EC co-funded projects.

The incumbent will be an adept senior manager with excellent knowledge of and experience in law, international advocacy, project and budget management, and staff supervision. The successful candidate will be an inspiring leader with strong organisational skills and the ability to think strategically as well as practically

Role Description

• Work closely with staff across the organisation to ensure effective coordination and delivery of programmes
• Develop and maintain relationships with key Validity partners, experts, networks and other stakeholders
• Guide and mentor staff to ensure alignment of positions and activities with agreed strategies
• Serve as Acting Co-Executive Director when one of the Co-Executive Directors is absent (holidays, sabbaticals, illness etc.)
• Design and manage implementation of a communications strategy to increase Validity’s visibility and dissemination of our work, including to individual and institutional donors
• Internal focal point for coordination of Validity’s commitment to a fully inclusive workplace and co-production of outward facing activities with persons with disabilities, including through providing practical and strategic support to the Inclusive Validity Working Group
• Represent Validity externally to the highest professional standard and conduct advocacy with high-level officials and other stakeholders nationally, regionally and globally

Assist the Co-Executive Directors in:

• Guiding, assessing, adapting and monitoring Validity’s activities and impact against our Strategic Framework
• Identifying funding opportunities and development of applications, recruitment of new donors, drafting of donor reports, and maintenance of existing relationships
• Establishing clear workplans and manageable workload for staff, communicate and manage implementation of priority strategies in a timely and effective manner
• Developing and rolling-out quality assurance processes for all Validity activities
• Designing and implementing a monitoring and evaluation framework for ongoing assessment of Validity’s external impact, and develop recommendations for the Co-Executive Directors’ consideration
• Reviewing and renewing our organisational Strategic Framework
• Designing strategic projects and initiatives
• Maintaining, streamlining and improving internal staffing structures, coordination and communication
• Identifying and planning for organisational risk and issue management
• Developing and monitoring the annual organisational budget and operational plan

Provide line management to Validity’s EU Portfolio Manager and Europe-based Litigation Managers, in particular:

• Provide effective day-to-day management, guidance and support to the Europe-based Litigation Managers and EU Portfolio Manager, and ensure that their work creates impact in alignment with clearly identified strategic objectives as agreed with the Co-Executive Directors.
• Participate in senior management meetings to set strategic litigation and advocacy objectives, ensure ongoing alignment between EC co-funded projects and Validity’s other initiatives, and propose new opportunities for the development of EU projects and strategic litigation cases for consideration by the Co-Executive Directors.

Note: Preference will be given to people who self-identify as having a disability. This position may be based at Validity’s headquarters in Budapest but remote working is a possibility (if based remotely, minimum six months physical presence in Budapest, Hungary in first 18 months employment required).

Qualifications and experience

• Post-graduate degree in law, human rights, rule of law, justice, international relations or related field (or equivalent experience)
• A minimum of ten years’ relevant experience in international human rights and/or disability law or related work, of which at least five years must be in international disability rights
• Five years’ experience in progressively responsible management positions, including significant experience of supervising staff teams
• Demonstrable experience in national and/or international litigation, especially strategic litigation
• Demonstrable experience of international human rights advocacy and developing impactful advocacy materials
• Demonstrable experience of budget preparation and management
• Experience researching, monitoring and analysing human rights violations in the field
• Experience working in a multicultural, international environment
• Experience managing EC co-funded projects an asset

Knowledge and skills

• The highest commitment to Validity’s mission and campaign goals, with a clear understanding of the need to end discrimination and promote equality for persons with mental disabilities.
• Outstanding written and spoken English. Knowledge of a Central or Eastern European language an asset.
• Strong understanding of international disability rights, particularly the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with sound knowledge of key modern human rights issues facing persons with disabilities (national and regional level).
• Knowledge of key strategies for pursuing concrete, strategic impact in the field of human rights.
• Excellent communication skills, teamwork ethic, ability to give clear and precise instructions and information to colleagues.
• Strong legal analytical skills and an ability to think strategically
• Knowledge of public policy an asset
• Confident in senior level decision-making, with an ability to identify risks and issues, conduct applicable analysis, identify and weigh solutions, as well as the ability to implement new approaches and problem-solve in complex, time-sensitive matters.
• Excellent organisational and leadership abilities
• Ability to appropriately plan, prioritise and manage multiple competing demands in a timely manner in a dynamic, challenging environment
• Analytical and solution-focused, creative with exceptional multitasking skills.
• Knowledge of fundraising and donor relations
• Ability to prepare high quality written documents with very short turnarounds in a variety of formats and for a variety of internal and external audiences
• Exceptional ability to edit a range of complex documents for legal and factual accuracy, effectiveness of communication, strategic coherence, as well as grammar, flow, style etc.

Salary: Commensurate with experience and location

Downloadable job description and further information on open postions available on our website: Vacancy – Deputy Director – Validity Foundation – Mental Disability Advocacy Centre – Validity Foundation – Mental Disability Advocacy Centre