Advertised from 2 July 2025

Role

The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) is Scotland’s human rights watchdog. 

We are an independent, expert body that works with and for the people of Scotland; we monitor, listen, and speak up for all our rights and respond when things go wrong. We are a public body created by statute, with a mandate to protect and promote the human rights of all people in Scotland. 

The Commission is established as a National Human Rights Institution. As such we are part of a global network of bodies accredited by the United Nations to monitor state compliance with international and national human rights law and treaties. We are independent of government. It is the job of National Human Rights Institutions to use the rule of law to promote and protect the human rights of all of the people who live in any given country and assess the actions of the state on that basis. This is how the Scottish Human Rights Commission approaches its work.

The Commission is committed to being agile, engaged, accessible, open to collaboration and above all visibly committed to the realisation of rights in Scotland, as an authoritative and challenging partner in pursuit of that goal. 

Recruitment

The Scottish Human Rights Commission is recruiting a Legal Fellow, for a fixed term of 12 months, as part of its Scottish Human Rights Fellowship scheme. 

The post and how to apply are described more fully below:

Legal Fellow

Full time (37 hours per week)

Fixed term 12 months 

Grade 2 FTE salary £31,514 - £34,066 (pay award pending for 2026-27)

Based in Edinburgh, Hybrid working available

The job holder will work collaboratively with members of the Legal and Policy team and colleagues across the Commission, gaining valuable insight into the work of Scotland’s National Human Rights Institution. 

Specific projects and areas of work will depend on the particular focus of the Legal and Policy team at any given time; however, the job holder will use their knowledge of the European and International human rights systems together with their legal and policy research skills to support various projects aimed at protecting and promoting the human rights of everyone in Scotland.

Application notes

For a recruitment pack, please visit http://www.scottishhumanrights.com/about/opportunities/

or email recruitment@scottishhumanrights.com 

Closing date for applications: 9am on Tuesday 15 July 2025

Interview date: likely to be Wednesday 30 July 2025

Please note that CVs will not be accepted and applications received after the deadline will not be considered.