Response coordinator

Background

People and communities around the world have the solutions to social injustice, authoritarianism, and the climate crisis. But repressive governments, corrupt corporations, and armed groups use violence and oppression to try and silence them.

By building resistance and resilience among those challenging unaccountable power, Open Briefing supports a shared vision for a world where communities and ecosystems can thrive.

As a mission-driven nonprofit, we join forces with grassroots activists, community groups, and social movements at risk. Working together, we strengthen their physical safety, digital resilience, and collective wellbeing. As a social impact consultancy, we help high-profile nonprofits and foundations navigate risk and support the people and partnerships that make change possible. This dual approach allows us to work at every level of civil society, from the grassroots to the global.

We have scaled to meet a 66% surge in demand for our support over the past two years, with our international team now responding to 11 new cases every week. Last year, we:

• Answered 575 calls for assistance across 100 countries.
• Delivered over 6,000 hours of mentoring and accompaniment.
• Trained over 1,000 activists in 112 holistic security workshops.

Across all our work, we come with questions, not just answers. We listen to the knowledge and experiences of the people we support before sharing our own. Then we act together to challenge unaccountable power.

We are expanding our diverse, inspired, and purpose-driven team. Will you join us as our new response coordinator?

Role description

Open Briefing operates a highly-respected rapid response mechanism that provides holistic security mentoring, accompaniment, and capacity sharing to grassroots activists, community groups, and social movements at risk of physical, digital, or psychological harm. As our response coordinator, you will play a central role in leading and developing this programme, with responsibilities that include:

Programme management

• Review and triage referrals to ensure they meet our eligibility criteria, and initiate timely and appropriate responses.
• Coordinate individual cases and oversee project administration to ensure smooth and effective delivery.
• Provide logistical and administrative support to staff and consultants working on cases and referrals, ensuring that they can focus on delivering support.
• Monitor budgets and contribute to financial tracking, reporting, and accountability.

Partnerships and outreach

• Raise awareness of our rapid response mechanism among at-risk activists and referral partners.
• Grow our network of trusted referral partners.
• Build productive relationships with referral partners, other rapid response mechanisms and protection hubs, and current and potential funders.
• Act as a key point of contact for funders of dedicated programmes for their grantees, ensuring clear communication and meaningful collaboration.

Learning and innovation

• Help design and launch new specialised units, including one supporting civic actors in the United States and another focused on Indigenous, land, and environmental defenders.
• Develop and implement a Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) approach to strengthen our work and demonstrate impact.
• Track and analyse trends in shrinking civic space, with a focus on contexts and communities most at risk.
• Identify opportunities to evolve and grow the mechanism in response to feedback, learning, and emerging needs.

‭Person specification

Essential

• Demonstrable experience managing or coordinating programmes within nonprofits or foundations.
• Demonstrable experience coordinating protection and security support for civic actors at risk.
• Deep understanding of the drivers and consequences of shrinking civic space globally.
• Highly organised, with strong project management and financial monitoring skills.
• Sensitivity to the progressive, rights-based missions of Open Briefing’s clients and partners.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Based in a country with a time zone that is UTC +/- 5 hours or able to accommodate our core working hours.

Desirable

• Experience coordinating or contributing to a rapid response mechanism.
• Proficiency in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, or other additional languages.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

Open Briefing values diversity. We are committed to being equitable and inclusive, and to being a place where all can be their authentic selves. We therefore encourage applications from all who may meet the person specification and particularly from candidates who are from racialised communities and others who are underrecognised in our team, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour. Please read our diversity, equity, and inclusion policy for more information.

Open Briefing is neuroinclusive, positive about mental health, and a Disability Confident Employer. We welcome applications from all candidates who meet the person specification. We will share the interview questions with you in advance and make closed captions available during interviews. Beyond that, please let us know in your cover letter how we can be the recruiter and employer that you need us to be.

We voluntarily follow the gender pay gap reporting guidance from the UK government. We have checked the text of this advert using the Gender Decoder tool.

Terms and remuneration

We are a global, remote-first, and digital nomad-friendly organisation. This is a home-working role with some potential for travel.

It is a full-time, employed role. Your line manager will be Tom Bendall, our director of safety and security.

We offer a remuneration package made up of fair pay, sector-leading benefits, and progressive leave policies, including:

• Salary of £46,900‬‌ per annum.
• ‬‭ 7% employer pension contribution
• ‬‭ Family private medical insurance.‬
• ‬‭ Employee Assistance Programme, including welfare counselling.‬
• ‬‭ Unlimited professional coaching.‬
• ‬‭ 25 days annual leave plus local public holidays.‬
• ‬‭ Up to three additional leave days for annual close down.‬
• ‬‭ Enhanced sick pay.‬
• ‬‭ Flexible working‬‭, including flexitime and remote and‬‭ home working.‬
• ‬‭ Support for climate action:‬
  • ‬‭ Personal carbon emissions offsetting.‬
  • ‬‭ Up to two additional leave days for‬‭ sustainable travel‬‭ .‬
  • ‬‭ Up to two additional leave days for climate activism.‬
• ‬‭ Apple MacBook Air and peripherals.‬

‬‭In order to ensure that we comply with local laws and regulations, Open Briefing staff based‬ in the United States and elsewhere outside the United Kingdom will be contracted locally through an‬‭ employer of record‬‭ (EOR).‬ Wherever possible, we apply the same terms and conditions of employment to all staff,‬ whether employed directly or through an EOR. Where there are differences due to local laws and regulations, we will apply the better of the provisions set out above or the local statutory requirements.

Safeguarding

Open Briefing is dedicated to upholding the highest safeguarding standards, ensuring a culture of respect and protection for both our internal and external stakeholders. Our approach encompasses preventative measures and a strong response mechanism to any safeguarding concerns, guided by a survivor/victim-centred ethos. We enforce a strict no-tolerance policy towards any violations of safeguarding policies, ensuring that all concerns are addressed promptly and appropriately.

It is part of our policy and duty of care to identify and communicate any risks that relate to the roles we recruit for. We have identified vicarious (secondary) trauma‬ and compassion fatigue as wellbeing risks associated with this‬ role. Our wellbeing policy and procedure set out the mechanisms and resources we have put in place to manage these risks, including effective line management, counselling support, wellbeing check-ins, and psycho-education.

There are also digital security risks associated with this role, including possibly account and device breaches by state or non-state threat actors. These risks are mitigated through our information security framework, including technical and organisational security measures.

How to apply

How to apply

To apply, please submit your CV and cover letter (no more than two pages each) using the secure form here. You will be asked three screening questions in the form, which form part of your application:

1. What excites you about Open Briefing’s mission and the role of response coordinator?
2. This is a remote-first role in a fast-moving environment, involving collaboration across time zones and disciplines. What helps you stay organised, connected, and effective in this kind of setting?
3. We often operate behind the scenes – quietly coordinating cases, managing consultants, tracking budgets, and keeping systems running smoothly. Describe a project or programme you’ve run that demonstrates your ability to juggle operational details while staying focused on impact.

Please note the following dates:

• Closing date for applications: 25 July 2025
• First round interviews: 4-5 August 2025
• Second round interviews: 7-8 August 2025
• Ideal start date: 1 September 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter

Please let us know in your cover letter if any of these dates are problematic and we will try to accommodate. The successful candidate will need to complete a reasonable vetting process before engagement.