Back to jobs
New

Coordinator, Legal and Policy

New York, New York, United States

FULL TIME JOB VACANCY
Coordinator
Legal and Policy Office
New York Office
Application Deadline: June 12, 2025

The Legal and Policy Office at Human Rights Watch (HRW) is seeking a Coordinator, which is a non-attorney position. The office ensures that all HRW publications and advocacy interventions are consistent with international human rights and humanitarian law and HRW policies, and is primarily responsible for providing legal and policy review for the organization’s programmatic research and reporting in approximately 100 countries. The office consists of the Legal and Policy Director and three Senior Legal Advisors, in addition to the Coordinator. The Coordinator has the option to work remotely, but is based in New York, and reports to the Legal and Policy Director, also based in New York.

Responsibilities:

  1. Coordinate the inflow of reports, news releases, op-eds, videos and other documents from programmatic staff to the appropriate legal reviewer; 
  2. Maintain up-to-date information on upcoming reports through communications with the organization’s country and thematic divisions;
  3. Serve as a liaison between staff across the organization and legal reviewers and inform staff about the legal review process;
  4. Train incoming support staff about the organization’s internal review process for programmatic research and reporting;
  5. Serve as the point-person for communications with the HRW policy committee;
  6. Retrieve and respond to requests for information;
  7. Schedule, make travel arrangements, and prepare for and take minutes at meetings;
  8. Process and assist in tracking departmental finances;
  9. Carry out other duties as required.

Qualifications:

Education: A bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience is required.

Experience: A minimum of two years of relevant experience, preferably in an office environment is required.

Related Skills and Knowledge: 

  1. Ability to multi-task effectively, including having good planning and organizing skills, and ability to work under pressure are required.
  2. Interpersonal skills to work collaboratively within HRW as well as with external partners are required.
  3. Excellent oral and written communication skills in English are required. Other language skills are a plus.
  4. Strong initiative and follow-through, and the capacity to think creatively and strategically is required.
  5. Ability to make sound decisions consistent with functions is required.
  6. Experience working for an international human rights organization in a support function is highly desirable.

Other: US work authorization is required, HRW cannot provide work authorization sponsorship for this role.

Salary and Benefits: HRW seeks exceptional applicants and offers comprehensive compensation and benefits. The salary range for this position is USD 64,201 – 68,528.

How to Apply: Please apply immediately or by June 12, 2025, by visiting our online job portal at careers.hrw.org and attaching a cover letter, resume, and brief writing sample. No calls or email inquiries, please. Only complete applications will be reviewed and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

If you are experiencing technical difficulties with your application submission, or if you require a disability-related accommodation, please email recruitment@hrw.org. Due to the large response, application submissions via email will not be accepted and inquiries regarding the status of applications will go unanswered.

Human Rights Watch is strong because it is diverse. We actively seek a diverse applicant pool and encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply. Human Rights Watch does not discriminate on the basis of disability, age, gender identity and expression, national origin, race and ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or criminal record. We welcome all kinds of diversity. Our employees include people who are parents and nonparents, the self-taught and university educated, and from a wide span of socio-economic backgrounds and perspectives on the world. Human Rights Watch is an equal opportunity employer.

Human Rights Watch is an international human rights monitoring and advocacy organization known for its in-depth investigations, its incisive and timely reporting, its innovative and high-profile advocacy campaigns, and its success in changing the human rights-related policies and practices of influential governments and international institutions.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Select...
Select...
Select...
Please attach a brief writing sample.*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Custom Demo Questions

At Human Rights Watch, we believe that a diverse personnel and leadership team are crucial to our effectiveness and enrich our organization and our work. We are committed to treating personnel according to principles of equality, equity, and non-discrimination, to ensuring diversity as we continue to grow and globalize, and to being inclusive of all personnel. To that end, we are constantly striving to improve our hiring practices by identifying and mitigating unconscious bias.

Your privacy is important to us and, therefore, your responses are voluntary. If you choose to respond to these questions, your responses will be used (in aggregate only) to help us identify areas for improvement in our process. Your responses, or your choice to not respond, will not be associated with your specific application and will not be utilized in the hiring decision in any way.

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Human Rights Watch’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.