World Organisation Against Torture is looking for a Secretary General (French-speaking)

Job Description

OMCT

Description

ABOUT OMCT

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) is the principle civil society coalition working with 200+ member organisations of its SOS-Torture Network, to end torture, cruel and inhuman or degrading treatment, arbitrary detention, extra-judicial executions and enforced disappearances and to protect human rights defenders worldwide. Together, we make up the largest global group actively standing up to torture in more than 75 countries. Helping local voices be heard, we support our vital partners and members and provide direct assistance to victims and human rights defenders. Our international secretariat is based in Geneva, with offices in Brussels and Tunis.

ROLE AND PROFILE

The Secretary General will represent the OMCT, advance its mission, develop strategic priorities and hold final responsibility for the management and financial sustainability across OMCT’s offices in Geneva, Brussels and Tunisia. The Secretary General acts under the oversight and guidance of the OMCT Executive Council and its Bureau and is supported by a dedicated management team and skilled staff.

The OMCT seeks as its next Secretary General a thorough and versatile individual with a demonstrated record of active human rights defence, with the ability to articulate and translate vision into practice. The new Secretary General should be a gifted communicator with an ability to engage with governments, international organizations and civil society organizations. The candidate should have a strong commitment and record engaging on resource mobilization with donors (public, philantrophic and individuals). The OMCT looks for an inclusive manager with a record empowering teams, acting with fairness, integrity, humility and decisiveness. Thanks to professional experience, the candidate should be able to project, mobilize, represent, defend and build with other national, regional and international actors the vision and mission of the SOS-Torture Network at a critical juncture of the human rights movement.

The Secretary General will be primarily responsible for:

Strategic leadership

• Provides strategic leadership to define and steer the OMCT’s overall direction, ensuring its continuous relevance and responsiveness to shifting global human rights challenges and emerging crises.
• Upholds and actively promotes the OMCT’s mission, vision and core values (solidarity, universality, non-discrimination and representation, local ownership and agency), ensuring these are embedded across all aspects of the organisation’s work, culture and partnerships.
• Ensures the effective implementation of the OMCT’s strategic plan as a leader of the anti-torture movement, as adopted by the organisation’s General Assembly in 2025, in line with the decisions of and under the supervision of the Executive Council, and in close collaboration with the Senior Leadership Team.
• Provides leadership in collaboration with the OMCT’s Senior Leadership Team, ensuring that programmes are effective, efficient and aligned with the OMCT’s mission.
• Responds to crisis situations, reflecting strategic priorities, and steers effective and sustainable resource mobilization together with the fundraising team.

Representation

• Represents the OMCT and acts as its spokesperson including towards outside audiences, traditional and social media, intergovernmental institutions, donors, civil society and social and justice movements.
• Engages at a high level with governments and other stakeholders, and is the voice of the movement.
• Respresents the OMCT in relevant consortia, coalitions and future alliances aligned with the OMCT’s mission.
• Represents the OMCT and acts as its voice with members of its global SOS-Torture Network and the global membership of its General Assembly as well as other civil society partners.

Effective and efficient management

• Bears responsibility – with the support of the Senior Leadership Team – of ensuring good governance and the effective and efficient management of the OMCT International Secretariat including the offices in Tunis and Brussels.
• Works by leading as an example to build and foster a healthy working environment, setting policies on an enabling environment for a thriving office culture and the conditions for staff well-being and care.
• Ensures the implementation of financial policies, internal control and compliance systems led by relevant departments and with members of the Senior Leadership Team and the finance and operations team.
• Brings the ability to build alignment in the OMCT International Secretariat across offices on priorities and fosters a culture of partnership with peer organizations and the SOS-Torture Network.

Resource mobilization

• Leads and steers effective resource mobilization closely with the fundraising team and thematic programs, cultivates the OMCT’s donor base and engages with institutional, philantrophic and individual donors.
• Sets priorities and fundraising initiatives, ensuring coherence with the organisation’s strategic plans, priorities and identified gaps; supports new and alternative initiatives for resource mobilization.
• Informs the Executive Council on these initiatives, involving its members in order to grow viable structures to support the OMCT, including building strategies for the diversification of funds.

Accountability and governance

• The Secretary General is accountable towards the Executive Council, composed of leading human rights defenders, and participates in the statutory bodies of the OMCT, helps to set its agenda and sets proposed directions.
• Coordinates and ensures, with the support of the Senior Leadership Team, the implementation of decisions of the statutatory bodies, including the OMCT’s General Assembly, its Executive Council and its Bureau, including the organisation’s strategic four-year plan.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• University degree and ideally postgraduate degree in law, political science, international relations, human rights or humanitarian law, communications or other relevant areas.
• At least 10 years of relevant experience, including at least 7 years in leadership positions at the national, regional or international level.
• Proven management skills in an organisation, building a common purpose and setting strategic directions.
• Excellent knowledge of international human rights law and bodies, including of national, regional and global protection mechanisms on torture and other gross human rights violations, as well as protection of and support to human rights defenders.
• Demonstrated ability to drive effective fundraising (track record) and knowledge of framework of donors in the field of human rights and ideally equipped with a network of relevant contacts.
• Excellent oral and written English and good knowledge of French. Capacity to communicate in one additional language is a welcome asset (notably Arabic, Spanish, Russian or German).

OTHER COMPETENCIES REQUIRED

• High ethical standards and strong commitment to core human rights principles, the rule of law and social justice causes.
• Demonstrated ability to foster and sustain a healthy, inclusive organisational culture.
• Ability to work with organisations around the world, victims and survivors and human rights defenders.
• Ability to speak and write clearly and effectively for internal and external audiences.
• Excellent attention to detail: having a thorough way of working while maintaining a strategic vision.
• Strong communication skills across programmes and offices.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to maintain collaborative relationships with people from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
• Initiative and motivation: being self-driven and able to use own initiative and work independently within agreed frameworks; motivated by achieving results, completing tasks and being accountable.
• Organisation and prioritisation: strong organisational, prioritisation, and time-management skills, enabling efficient and effective work.

WHAT WE OFFER

We offer a fascinating job at the heart of the struggle for human rights with a dedicated and committed team, a unique network of inspirational member organisations around the world committed to the cause and an international board and General Assembly of leading human right defenders.

OMCT is an equal opportunity employer. We provide competitive salaries for leadership, comparable to other human rights NGOs based in Geneva. The salary will be in line with international NGO standards, with a minimum of 25 days of holidays, the usual social benefits under Swiss law, including social insurance and second pillar retirement funds, and the possibility of a 5 days of paid leave for professional development.

OMCT encourages applications both from within and outside Switzerland that fulfill the above criteria. It provides a flat rate for financial relocation support for applicants from abroad.

This is a full-time position, based at the OMCT office in Geneva. The new Secretary General is expected to regularly travel to the OMCT offices in Brussels and Tunis, as well as on advocacy, political engagement and donor engagement missions.

APPLICATIONS

Applications comprising a motivation letter and a CV should be addressed to the OMCT International Secretariat with the subject “Secretary General” and sent to: [email protected].

Tentative starting date: 1 July 2026

Deadline for application: Applications must be received by 3 April 2026**.**

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