The Thomson Reuters Foundation stands for free, independent journalism, human rights, women’s empowerment, and the rule of law. We expose corruption worldwide and play a leading role in the global fight against human trafficking. We use the skills, values, and expertise of Thomson Reuters to run programmes that trigger real change and empower people around the world, including free legal assistance, journalism and media training, coverage of the world’s under-reported stories, and the Trust Women Conference.

The Foundation is recruiting an East Asia Legal Programme Manager for TrustLaw. The position will be based in the Hong Kong Thomson Reuters’ office, and would lead TrustLaw’s work in Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Mongolia.

TrustLaw is the Thomson Reuters Foundation's global pro bono service that connects NGOs and social enterprises with the best law firms around the world. Launched in 2010, TrustLaw has grown to include 2,700 members in 170 countries, including over 515 law firms and in-house legal teams and over 2,200 NGO and social enterprise members. Our mission is to spread the practice of pro bono worldwide to drive social change.

The Foundation is seeking a highly skilled and dynamic lawyer to support us with scoping legal projects and research programmes and expand our award-winning TrustLaw programme across East Asia. We have a growing presence in the region already but recognise a huge potential for expansion of our services there and plan to run a number of high profile programmes and events in the region. We are looking for the ideal candidate to lead these efforts.

Responsibilities 

Based in Hong Kong, the successful candidate will be responsible for supporting our service across East Asia and expanding the TrustLaw programme in East Asia, as well as representing the Thomson Reuters Foundation in the region. This will include: 

• Managing pro bono requests from our community of NGOs and social entrepreneurs, from the scoping of the legal pro bono projects, connecting the pro bono client with lawyers and follow up with the parties involved.

• Management of multiple cross-border research and policy advisory programmes that address the most critical needs facing our NGO and social enterprise members and contributing towards achieving impact through a high quality end product.

• Mapping out and implementing strategies to expand the TrustLaw membership by recruiting the best NGOs and social enterprises, as well as the strongest law firms and corporate in-house legal teams in the region.
• Relationship management of key TrustLaw members and facilitating their engagement with the service, through hosting events and managing regular communications, marketing and PR.
• Representing TrustLaw and the Thomson Reuters Foundation by speaking publicly on our work at panels, conferences, or other speaking engagements.
• Support the team on thought leadership projects including the and .

The candidate

• An experienced lawyer with strong legal skills. You will have at least 5 years post-degree working experience (ideally with at least two of those years as corporate counsel or in private practice).
• Experience, or a demonstrated interest, in the pro bono sector, with knowledge of key global pro bono trends.
• The candidate will have experience working with the charitable, philanthropic or social enterprise sector.
• They should have extensive experience working with a diverse range of stakeholders, from senior corporate executives and partners of top law firms to social entrepreneurs, NGOs and any other beneficiaries of our services.
• The candidate will have a strong understanding of the East Asian region, and experience working in the region.
• The candidate must be fluent in English and Mandarin, with excellent written and spoken communication skills and an ability to adapt messages to different audiences.
• Fluency in Cantonese is desirable, but not essential.
• The candidate will be a confident public speaker and networker who can confidently present the Foundation and our work at high level meetings.
• The candidate will have experience working with a diverse range of stakeholders, from senior corporate executives and partners of top law firms to social entrepreneurs, NGOs, and any other beneficiaries of our services.
• The candidate must be able to work quickly under pressure, to juggle multiple tasks and requests simultaneously, to meet deadline requir