Join a team which has unique expertise combining the power of journalism and the law to advance media freedom, foster more inclusive economies, and promote human rights.

For more than 35 years, we have promoted the highest standards in journalism by training reporters around the world to cover issues relevant to their local context, accurately and impartially. Today, we work to strengthen local and national journalism, improve media ethics, standards and regulation, combat misinformation, and explore and shape the future of the profession. We do this through newsroom consultancy, journalism training and mentoring, capacity-building, and via our funding of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford.

We also run the world’s largest legal pro bono service, TrustLaw, which leverages a network of over 120,000 lawyers who deliver pro bono legal support to thousands of non-profit organisations and social enterprises at the frontlines of social change. TrustLaw helps civil society grow, streamline their operations and navigate complex laws and regulations by connecting them with free legal assistance. We also deliver groundbreaking legal research on key social and policy issues that can be used to support civil society advocacy and law reform efforts, and we deliver innovative capacity-building workshops on legal issues. 

We are seeking a Project Officer/Legal Project Officer to join the Programmes team in Legos, Nigeria, to work alongside a Project Manager and Legal Manager to implement a project aimed at breaking down barriers of access to healthcare for most vulnerable youth constituencies in West Africa and Southeast Asia. This project builds on the existing successful ongoing collaboration between TRF and the Global Fund to support youth leaders from media and civil society in creating a step change in the public narratives on access to healthcare and strengthening the legal resilience and capacity of non-profits to advocate effective to navigate and tackle harmful laws and policies. 

The programme will do this through a series of media and communications skills training, legal research and capacity building, creation of multimedia outputs, convening to strengthen networks and ongoing tailored support and mentorship to civil society and media.

The role will report to the Project Manager based in Nigeria, with a dotted reporting line to a Legal Project Manager based in London.

Please note, this is a fixed term contract until December 2026.

About the Role

As Project Officer/Legal Project Officer at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, you will:

Project Implementation

• Take lead in project activity forecasting, planning, coordination and execution, managing activity budgets, and leading on logistics.
• Provide logistical support for remote activities including workshops and mentoring schemes.
• Support the PM in the recruitment of participants to the program, including vetting all journalist participants in consultation with the Global Fund, and working with the relevant Global Fund focal point to undertake initial screening and support CSO vetting process.
• Take lead in outreach and onboarding of participants to the project, including to the TrustLaw Portal and pro bono network.
• In consultation with the Global Fund, support the PM in demand generation for mentorship, workshops, and other learning and capacity development activities.
• Coordinate cascading of elements of the project in line with donor requirements.
• Engage with existing and new cohorts to facilitate their access to legal support based on identified legal needs and work together with the Legal Project Manager to support participants with management of legal research and other requests. Depending on qualification of the candidate, the role may also include scoping legal requests and research.
• Work with the Legal Project Manager to map and recruit, engage, and manage relationships with pro bono and consultant legal teams to support the legal needs of beneficiaries and mentorship components of the project. 
• Work closely with the PM to monitor the project plan and deliverables, keeping documents updated as and when changes take place. 
• Coordinate activities with teams across the Foundation such as Media Freedom and internal operational functions (finance, comms, etc.).
• Attend project activities and support implementation as per requirements.
• Support civil society cohort that is receiving mentorship.
• Support the PM in coordinating and facilitating the project Board. 
• Contribute to the development of impact stories and progress reporting (internally and externally), including gathering feedback from all cohorts.
• Support the Project Manager and Legal Manager in identification of potential and emerging risks and issues which could impact the successful delivery of the project. Escalate critical concerns. Contribute to development of mitigation strategies. 
• Support knowledge sharing and learning for the programmes team by sharing lessons learnt and contributing to discussions to increase wider team understanding. 
• Support knowledge capture, ensuring that we document our networks, relationships and ongoing conversations systematically.

External Coordination

• Actively support external project communications in collaboration with project team, communications team, and project donors.
• Working closely with the PM and LM, coordinate the work commitments/contractual obligations of project consultants.
• Liaise with project stakeholders in the management of events and on-going support.
• Participate in regular exchanges with the Global Fund to review workplans and agreed activities.

Budget support

• Contribute to project budget oversight through monitoring of project expenses and tracking budget allocations as necessary. Collaborate with the finance team to ensure financial compliance. 
• Set up and manage vendors/consultant procurement as per policy, manage payment of invoices, and ensure all backing documentation is logged.

About You

To be our Project Officer/Legal Project Officer, you will likely have:

• At least 3 years work experience in a similar role, coordinating a range of activities with a number of internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience of working in and/or knowledge of youth advocacy, health, human rights and/or pro bono legal support in West Africa.
• Legal training, experience or qualification or prior experience with legal pro bono is advantageous, though not essential.
• Experience of building trusting working relationships across organisations with common goals, and working constructively with a diverse range of people 
• Experience of managing a range of project related risks.
• Excellent organizational skills, juggling a number of competing priorities.
• Experience of administrative or finance processes and excellent numerical skills 
• Ability to implement projects utilizing a context sensitive approach.
• A pro-active self-starting and problem-solving attitude, including paying attention to detail and being good on follow-through.
• Experience organizing events and training sessions  
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills –able to establish and maintain positive working relationships both internally and externally, with people from a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds 
• Competency in Word, Teams, Outlook and Excel. Experience with databases (e.g. Salesforce) would be an advantage
• Willingness to travel internationally 
• Fluency in English.
• Fluency in French is highly desirable.

How to apply

The deadline for applications is 17th January at 11.59pm (GMT).

• To apply for this position, submit your CV and a cover letter in English, describing how you meet the specifications for this role and provide your availability to start. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.
• The salary is relative to the charitable sector in Nigeria and will be commensurate with experience. 

About Thomson Reuters Foundation

The Thomson Reuters Foundation is corporate foundation of Thomson Reuters, the global news and information services company. As an independent charity, registered in the UK and the USA, we work to advance media freedom, foster more inclusive economies, and promote human rights. Through news, media development, free legal assistance and convening initiatives, we combine our unique media and legal services to drive systemic change.

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What’s in it For You 

At the Thomson Reuters Foundation, our people are our greatest assets. Here are some of the benefits we offer for your personal and professional growth: 

• Global Perspective and Impact: Interested in working for a dynamic global organization with a focus on social impact? With hubs all over the world from Bangkok to Madrid to Rio de Janeiro, join a truly international team with a shared goal of helping to build societies around the world that are free, fair and informed. 

• A Unique Approach: Our expertise in media and the law is world class; we combine the power of both to address the critical issues faced by humanity.  

• Our Relevance: With a focus on advancing media freedom, fostering more inclusive economies and promoting human rights, our work has never been more needed than right now. 

• Benefits: We offer competitive salary packages and market-leading benefits. 

• Learning & Development: We are dedicated to the continual professional development of our employees and offer access to both in-house and external training opportunities. 

About Thomson Reuters Foundation 

The Thomson Reuters Foundation is corporate foundation of Thomson Reuters, the global news and information services company. As an independent charity, registered in the UK and the USA, we work to advance media freedom, foster more inclusive economies, and promote human rights. Through news, media development, free legal assistance and convening initiatives, we combine our unique media and legal services to drive systemic change. 

Do you want to be part of a team helping re-invent the way knowledge professionals work? How about a team that works every day to create a more transparent, just and inclusive future? At Thomson Reuters, we’ve been doing just that for almost 160 years. Our industry-leading products and services include highly specialized information-enabled software and tools for legal, tax, accounting and compliance professionals combined with the world’s most global news services – Reuters. We help these professionals do their jobs better, creating more time for them to focus on the things that matter most: advising, advocating, negotiating, governing and informing.

We are powered by the talents of 26,000 employees across more than 70 countries, where everyone has a chance to contribute and grow professionally in flexible work environments that celebrate diversity and inclusion. At a time when objectivity, accuracy, fairness and transparency are under attack, we consider it our duty to pursue them. Sound exciting? Join us and help shape the industries that move society forward. 

Accessibility 

As a global business, we rely on diversity of culture and thought to deliver on our goals. To ensure we can do that, we seek talented, qualified employees in all our operations around the world regardless of race, color, sex/gender, including pregnancy, gender identity and expression, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, citizen status, veteran status, or any other protected classification under applicable law. Thomson Reuters is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer providing a drug-free workplace.

We also make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs in accordance with applicable law.

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More information about Thomson Reuters can be found on https://thomsonreuters.com.