Irish Rule of Law International Country Director, Malawi

**Position: Country Director, Malawi**

**Location: Lilongwe, Malawi**

**Hours of work: Full time**

**Salary:** **€55,500 – €60,000, commensurate with experience, plus benefits, detailed below**

**Reports to:** **Executive Director**

The successful candidate will also work closely with the Director of Programmes on the management, coordination, and delivery of IRLI’s Malawi programmes.

**Organisation Overview**

Irish Rule of Law International (IRLI) is a civil society organisation supported by both branches of the legal professions across the island of Ireland. We work to strengthen justice systems that uphold human rights across multiple jurisdictions. Our current programmes strengthen access to justice in Malawi, advance survivor-centred justice in Tanzania, and support anti-corruption and accountability in Zambia. We also deliver a small number of projects, both in our programme countries and elsewhere, in cooperation with pro bono, civil society, and human rights partners.

IRLI was established in 2007 by the Law Society of Ireland and the Bar Council of Ireland. The Law Society of Northern Ireland and the Bar of Northern Ireland joined as partners in 2015. We are further supported by the Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Ireland, and the European Union.

We operate from offices in Dublin, Ireland, and Lilongwe, Malawi, with one staff member also currently based in Lusaka, Zambia. We adopt a multidisciplinary approach. Our work is locally driven, grounded in priorities identified by stakeholders, and delivered in partnership with communities through strong alliances with local organisations. Since our beginnings, we have collaborated with academics, judges, legal practitioners, policymakers, and civil society to deepen collective understanding of the relationship between the rule of law, democracy, sustainable development, and human rights.

**Organisation Values**

- **Participation**: We are rooted in partnership and collaboration, built on shared learning and mutual respect. We listen to and are guided by partner needs and priorities.
- **Humility**: We approach our work with openness and respect, aware that our role is to support, and learn from those closest to the issues.
- **Compassion**: We are committed to strengthening justice systems where all people are treated with dignity, where they can place their trust and feel protected.
- **Integrity**: We act with honesty, transparency and fairness, holding ourselves and our partners to the highest ethical standards.
- **Justice**: Justice and equality guide everything we do, ensuring fairness for people is not just an aim but a standard.

**Position Summary**

IRLI has progressively grown through the years, expanding on both its programme portfolio and working networks. The organisation is now at an exciting stage having recently completed its 2026 – 2030 strategic plan, secured multi-annual funding from the European Union, and is finalising a renewed five-year proposal to the Embassy of Ireland in Malawi. We have established a broad programme base, ranging from access to justice, institutional capacity strengthening, and legal education.

The Country Director will provide strategic, operational, financial, and people leadership to the Malawi programme, ensuring high-quality programme delivery, strong donor stewardship, sustainable growth, and effective representation of IRLI within the justice, governance, and human rights sectors.

The Country Director (CD) position will be primarily based in the IRLI office in Lilongwe. The CD will also undertake occasional travel in-country.

The CD will be responsible for overall management and oversight of the programme and IRLI Malawi team and reports to and is supported by IRLI’s Executive Director, Director of Programmes, and Director of Operations, all based in Dublin.

The Malawi team is comprised of four Programme Lawyers (PLs) who are strategically placed alongside key institutions in the Malawian criminal justice system: the Judiciary, the Legal Aid Bureau (LAB), and the Malawi Police Service (MPS). The team also comprises our Alternative Justice Programme Officer (AJPO) leads IRLI’s child diversion programme (Mwai Wosinthika) for children who come into conflict with the law, as well as our Finance Manager, our Monitoring Evaluation Accountability and Learning manager, and our Admin Officer. Finally, we are currently housing the Secretariat Coordinator of the Malawi Irish Consortium of Gender Based Violence, of which IRLI is currently Chair.

**Online information session**

Please note that an **online information session** will take place on **Wednesday, 3rd June, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm (GMT)**. Members of the IRLI executive team will provide an overview of the organisation’s work, its value and impact, and the countries in which it operates. The session will be an opportunity to ask any questions you may have.

You can join the session via the following Teams link:

[https://teams.