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Who we are
Protecting the right to life, liberty, free speech, fair trials and equal treatment – just an ordinary day at the office.
Liberty is one of the best known campaigning organisations in the UK. Our success depends on the talent and commitment of our staff, and the support of many dedicated volunteers.
Liberty is an accredited Living Wage Employer.
Liberty is Level 1 Disability Confident Committed.
Liberty has adopted The Halo Code.
Details on how to apply for any of our current vacancies can be found below.
Unless specifically requested CVs and covering letters will not be accepted or submitted to the shortlisting panel as part of your application.
Liberty is looking for a mission-focussed, bold and strategic leader with strong political instincts to step into the exciting role of Director of External Affairs.
Liberty has launched an ambitious new strategy in a rapidly changing external environment, where existential threats to human rights and civil liberties give our work a renewed sense of urgency.
Leading our external relations directorate, you will work across policy and public affairs, communications and engagement, and legal, to deliver our strategy, shape national debate, influence decision-makers, and strengthen Liberty’s reputation as a trusted, principled and independent voice on human rights and civil liberties. You will build influential and impactful relationships with government, decision-makers, think tanks, NGOs and media partners, and explore new partnerships across other sectors to broaden our impact and reach.
You will have the experience and skills to lead and inspire teams, embed effective cross-team systems and practice, and deliver high-impact work in a fast-paced and challenging external context.
You will have exceptional delivery skills, as well as demonstrable experience delivering through and across external-facing functions in multi-disciplinary and complex mission-driven, values-based organisations, balancing both longer-term proactive work as well as reactive work. You will need to demonstrate exceptional political judgement and insight, a proven track record of influencing, and strong experience of managing organisational risk in a fast-paced, complex and sometimes hostile external context. You will have an excellent grasp of detail as well as the ability to communicate complex issues well to a wide variety of stakeholders, including as a leading spokesperson for Liberty.
As a member of a small Senior Leadership Team, you will be delivering organisation-wide work for which you will need demonstrable experience of leading and delivering complex internal work, excellent communications skills, the confidence and experience to embed a values-based approach across organisational functions, and the ability to work collaboratively and in an agile way in a small leadership team.
Liberty fully embraces flexible working and is committed to employee development. We aim to encourage people from all backgrounds to work with us and are particularly interested in hearing from people from minority backgrounds and all socio-economic sections of society. Liberty supports hybrid working, and there is a minimum office requirement of 2 days per week however, the Senior Leadership Team typically work from the office at least 3 days per week.
The deadline for applications is 9am, Monday 14 September 2026
Applications received after this deadline will not be considered.
Please be aware that we do not accept CVs for this role. All applicants must complete the application form to apply.
First round interviews will be held online on Tuesday 22 September 2026
Second round interview will be held in person on Friday 2 October 2026
Please note that due to team capacity we cannot offer alternative interview dates so please do ensure you hold these dates before you apply.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Review Application Form Guidance and Guaranteed Interview Scheme details below
Review our Staff Benefits
Review the job description and person specification.
Review the scoring guidance and complete the application form.
Apply via the Job Board and upload completed application.
Any questions or issues, please contact us at hr@libertyhumanrights.org.uk.
APPLICATION FORM GUIDANCE
- You will score higher, if you are able to refer to as many of the essential and desirable criteria as possible. A tip for doing this is to use the criteria as headings in your personal statement.
- Give strong examples – you can see how applications are scored at the bottom of the application form.
Using the STAR method can help when evidencing competencies and giving examples:
Situation: the situation you had to deal with
Task: the task you were given to do
Action: the action you took
Result: what happened as a result of your action and what you learned from the experience. - For your application to standout, spend time researching Liberty and the work we do (our website is a great place to start). Draw meaningful connections with your own motivations, work experience and personal experience.
- Be concise, keep your answers clear and to the point and avoid long sentences. Bullet points can sometimes work well.
- Try to use the full word count (but do not exceed it).
- Ensure your application is proofread for errors and set out neatly.
- Present your application clearly and logically. Follow the Example Application Form for layout tips.
POSITIVE ACTION INTERVIEW SCHEME
Liberty are committed to pursuing a diverse and inclusive workforce and are trialling a Positive Action approach to our recruitment and selection process. Positive Action allows employers to take action to minimise disadvantages that groups with particular protected characteristics face in the workforce.
The Positive Action Interview Scheme will expand on our commitments as a Disability Confident Employer to offer an interview to an applicant who declares they have a disability and meets the minimum requirement.
Liberty’s Scheme is applicable to individuals who identify as either:
- Disabled
- A member of the Global Majority (people from Black, Asian, Mixed, and other ethnic groups who often racialised as ‘ethnic minorities’)
- A member of the LGBTQ+ community
&
- Scores above the median score for the role
You can take part in the Positive Action Interview Scheme by selecting that you are a member of one of these communities on your application and agreeing to participate.
This means that if you complete your application, and have opted into the interview scheme and your application scores above the median score for that role, you will still be considered for an interview even if you were not in the pool of top scoring candidates that would otherwise go forward.
The information you share by participating in the scheme is not shared with Hiring Managers at the shortlisting stage, and details of the group(s) in which candidates identify will not be shared;however applicants are made aware that is it not possible to prevent those involved in the shortlisting process from being able to identify candidates who have been offered an interview specifically under the scheme.
If we receive over 25 applications for the role, we reserve the right to limit the number of interview spaces available to those who take part in the scheme.
The scheme will not affect how we shortlist for the original interview spaces which is based on the highest scores in the pool. The extra interview space offered as part of the Positive Action Interview Scheme will be in addition and so will not put any other applicant outside of the scheme at a disadvantage.
Privacy Notice for Job Applicants
You can find our privacy notice for job applicants here.