Background
Open Briefing provides holistic security support and resources to empower people and communities to agitate and advocate without fear of attacks and reprisals. We also provide consultancy and retained support to help high-impact nonprofits and foundations understand and meet their risk management and duty of care commitments from the grassroots to the global.
Last year, our international teams of protection specialists, information security consultants, and counsellors and psychologists answered over 300 calls for assistance and provided over 6,000 hours of direct support to civil society organisations and activists under threat in 41 countries.
When it comes to digital and information security, our approach differs from many providers. Instead of offering trainings on digital security tools or auditing devices and practices against arbitrary standards, Open Briefing is focussed on understanding risk and protecting information assets.
We work with clients and beneficiaries to identify their information assets that represent the greatest value to their work and the greatest potential harm to them and their partners. We seek to identify where that information is and where it should be. Once as many unnecessary instances of that information as possible have been securely deleted or archived, we work to design appropriate measures to protect that information in light of the realistic capabilities of the adversary and within the limited resources that are available.
If the above approach sounds familiar or appealing, please read on!
Role description
Vibrant, diverse, and robust civil societies are essential to achieving peace, human rights, and environmental justice. But most of the world lives in countries with threatened civic spaces and global freedom continues to decline year on year. Courageous people and communities around the world are fighting to make rights and justice universally possible within this context. But they face attacks, harassment, and censorship from powerful vested interests. Many pay the ultimate price.
This is where you come in.
The work is fascinating and varied. Those we support are high risk and high profile, and threatened by highly-capable threat actors, including state security forces, corrupt corporations, and organised crime gangs. As an information security consultant at Open Briefing, your primary responsibilities will be to:
- Provide digital and information security mentoring and remote accompaniment to human rights defenders and other activists and advocates at risk around the world.
- Provide digital and information security consultancy and training to high-profile nonprofit and foundation clients working for rights, justice, and peace.
Person specification
Essential
- You will have at least three years professional experience in information security roles.
- You will have experience working with nonprofits, foundations, and/or activists.
- You will understand why and how threat actors actually seek to compromise, damage or destroy valuable or sensitive information assets.
- You will be comfortable working across the range of technologies, policies, and practices required to keep information assets safe.
- You will have a deep understanding of threat and risk and be comfortable with complexity and prioritisation.
- You will have an understanding of data protection regimes, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and COPA.
- You will be highly organised and have excellent project management skills.
- You will be sensitive to the rights-based agendas and diverse profiles of our clients.
- You will have excellent written and spoken English.
Desirable
- You may have excellent knowledge of information security frameworks.
- You may have a strong understanding of the physical security and psychosocial aspects of holistic security and how they interact with information security.
- You may have excellent written and spoken Portuguese, French, or Arabic.
Terms and remuneration
This is a remote, working-from-home consultancy role. We welcome applications from established consultants with a range of backgrounds, experiences, and profiles, and from anywhere in the world. The hours can vary from month to month, depending on demand and your availability; however, we are seeking applications from consultants wanting to be part of our team and to build long-term and valued working relationships with us and our clients. As such, this role will not suit those between jobs or searching for full-time employment.
We recognise that as well as being hugely rewarding, the work can be challenging. So, you will be properly onboarded, continually supported by experienced managers and co-workers, and receive ongoing technical support and mentoring. Our consultants work remotely, from wherever they want to, but the role may require occasional remote meetings outside of normal working hours depending on your location.
You will receive £52.50 an hour (equivalent to £420 a day), a package of mental health and psychosocial support, and access to motivated colleagues working on the frontlines of information security.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion
Open Briefing values diversity. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where all can be their authentic selves. We therefore encourage applications from all who meet the person specification and particularly from candidates who are historically marginalised and underrepresented in our digital and information security team. This currently includes people of colour.
Please read our diversity, equity, and inclusion policy for more information. Our ethical and environmental policies are also available. And you may find our Purpose, Vision, Mission, and Values statement of interest.
Open Briefing is a Disability Confident Employer and a signatory of the Charter for Employers Who Are Positive About Mental Health. We will make reasonable adjustments for disabled and neurodivergent people during the recruitment process and any subsequent contracts. Please let us know in your cover letter how we might support you best.
We have checked the text of this advert using the Gender Decoder tool.
How to apply
To apply, please email your CV to our digital and information security lead, Richie Tynan, at [email protected]. Please also include a cover letter of no more than two pages answering the following questions:
- What excites you about Open Briefing and the information security consultant role and motivates you to apply?
- How do you meet the person specification?
Interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis until we recruit two suitable candidates. If you are interested in the role, please submit your application as early as possible!
