Employment Opportunities
The nature of Amnesty International
While Amnesty International employs staff, we are essentially a voluntary movement of 1.4 million people who contribute what they can -- time, expertise and/or money -- to international campaigning against human rights violations. Of these 1.4 million people, only about 1,000 are paid staff. Almost 700 are employed by our national sections to organise the campaigning and development of our movement; the rest are employed by our International Secretariat based in London. The National Operations Team in New Zealand includes six paid positions. Many employees of Amnesty International first contributed voluntarily to the work of the movement as members, and sometimes as office volunteers. However, membership of Amnesty International is not usually a precondition, nor is it any sort of guarantee, of employment.Employment with Amnesty New Zealand
Employment at our International Secretariat
Our International Secretariat employs a wide range of specialists, most of whom are based in London. Approximately 100 staff work as part of our subregional research and campaigning teams on particular countries. They tend to be recruited on the basis of their regional knowledge and experience, and usually have the relevant languages. The backgrounds of our "researchers" include degrees in international relations, politics, journalism, law and history. Our "campaigners" often have backgrounds in campaigning of one sort or other. Other staff are employed as general campaigners, legal experts, journalists, information specialists and in a range of other roles necessary for the functioning of any organisation.
You can find position descriptions for vacant posts on our international website -- http://www.amnesty.org/en/employment
For research and campaigning positions, the best general advice we can give is for you to develop the maximum knowledge and skill you can gain in a field of your choice, and some campaigning experience through employment and/or voluntary contribution with Amnesty International and/or other organisations. There are numerous opportunities in the movement to develop skills and experience through voluntary contribution.
If you are not already involved in Amnesty International we would welcome your contribution, and invite you to contact us if you would like to discuss the possibilities.
