Legal Affairs Officer

This position offers a great opportunity for career growth. Overall Purpose KHRC seeks to recruit a Legal Affairs Officer to advance its Strategic Plan for 2025–2035 and mission of empowering people to claim their rights and resist impunity. This position will provide leadership in advancing KHRC’s legal and justice agenda through litigation, research, advocacy, and partnerships. The role involves implementing the public interest litigation strategy, monitoring human rights violations, and ensuring KHRC’s compliance with legal and regulatory obligations. The position will also work closely with the Civic Engagement & Rapid Response Officer and Urgent Action Team to contribute to urgent action responses, human rights documentation, policy development, and resource mobilization to strengthen access to justice in Kenya. The officer will lead in the advancement of access to justice and the protection of human rights aligned with the Strategic Plan’s frameworks, working closely with thematic teams to ensure coherence and synergy across advocacy, research, and community-based initiatives. The position will seek to strengthen KHRC’s legal advocacy and accountability efforts by conducting rigorous legal research, preparing opinions, briefs, and petitions, and maintaining accurate documentation of all legal actions, campaigns, and media actions while ensuring evidence-based litigation, credible reporting, and effective monitoring. Key Duties & Responsibilities

• The position comes with the following duties and responsibilities:

Legal Affairs & Actions – 40%

• Strengthen and oversee the KHRC Legal Affairs department and team.

• Design and implement KHRC’s interventions on legal affairs and access to justice.

• Lead and oversee implementation of the KHRC public interest litigation strategy

• Receive, compile, and address complaints and human rights violations through KHRC channels.

• Act as the principal representative for KHRC in judicial and quasi-judicial mechanisms, as wellas oversee all cases assigned to external advocates.

• Develop and disseminate legal briefs, case digests, and summaries for knowledge sharing and public engagement.

• Follow up on recovery of bail funds from various courts and ensure proper financial accountability.

• Represent KHRC in key networks, including the National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ).

Legal Research & Documentation – 40%

• Provide legal reviews, opinions, and advisories to KHRC reports, and draft petitions and statements.

• Maintain and update the case tracker on all cases where KHRC is involved.

• Lead legal research and drafting of briefs, opinions, and petitions for litigation.

• Contribute to the annual state of the administration of justice report prepared...