Work With Us
We currently employ staff on both a full-time and part-time basis, and provide a challenging but supportive working environment.
We offer competitive salaries and a non-contributory pension scheme with 5% employer contribution, available after 12 months of service; family-friendly policies; flexible working opportunities for staff with dependents; up to 10 days’ dependency leave (per annum) for emergency situations involving dependents; and more.
Many of the postions at the international office offer an opportunity for international travel; in recent years, staff members have travelled to Colombia, Japan, Nigeria, Hong Kong, Tunisia, Algeria, Senegal and the US, as well as many countries in Europe.
Volunteer with us
PEN International offers a year-round volunteer scheme across all areas of our work, providing interesting and exciting placements to those looking for a career in an NGO, charity, human rights or arts organisation.
Volunteers have helped ensure the success of such projects as the Writers in Prison Committee’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2010; the coordination and promotion of the Free the Word! festival in London annually since 2008; administrative support for our international Congresses (in Tokyo in 2010 and Belgrade in 2011), and for regional programmes; coordination of meetings in Lahore and Tokyo with writers from Centres in the Asia Pacific region; and much more.
We are always interested to hear from people who would like to come and work with us on a voluntary basis. We ask for volunteers to commit to a minimum of three months for at least two days a week. (Some placements have extended to six months and beyond.)
A placement with us can benefit a volunteer in a number of ways, helping her or him to acquire: experience working for a leading international human rights NGO; research and campaigning skills in the area of freedom of expression; experience of project and event management; development of written, editorial and proofreading skills; development of skills in the field of communications, including event marketing and PR and web content management; and much more.
Travel expenses and a daily allowance will be provided.
Volunteer opportunities are announced alongside our paid positions on this page.
Current Vacancies
Voluntary Research and Campaigns Assistant – Turkey
(January 2012)
We are currently looking for a volunteer/intern to work with the Programme Director of PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee on Turkey, a country of special concern to us. Under the supervision of the Program Director, the tasks include:
• Information gathering from on cases of attacks on writers and journalists in Turkey
• Drafting alerts, statements and other materials on Turkish free expression issues as they arise
• Maintaining PEN’s caselist recording instances of these attacks
• Keeping our our website and social networks updated
This is an unpaid post. PEN will cover travel costs within reason, as well as contribute to lunches.
The volunteer will work at the International PEN headquarters, based in Central London in High Holborn. Office hours are 10am-6pm.
For more information please read the full description of the position here Volunteer_job_description_Turkey_Jan_2012
Voluntary Research and Campaigns Assistant – Europe Region
(January 2012)
We are currently looking for a volunteer to work with the Programme Director of PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee on European issues. The tasks include:
• Information gathering from on cases of attacks on writers and journalists in the Europe region
• Maintaining PEN’s caselist recording instances of these attacks
• Preparing and drafting alerts and other actions
• Updating our website and social networks
• Assisting with the collation and compilation of information on the region for various publications, both internal and external
This is an unpaid post. PEN will cover travel costs within reason, as well as contribute to lunches.
The volunteer will work at the International PEN headquarters, based in Central London in High Holborn. Office hours are 10am-6pm.
For more information please read the full description of the position here
Volunteer job description Europe Jan 2012
Deadline: 6 February 2012
To apply send your CV and a brief letter outlining your reasons for applying and skills you can bring to the post to Sara Whyatt at the Writers in Prison Committee London Office: PEN International, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER UK Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7405 0338 Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7405 0339 e-mail: sara.whyatt@pen-international.org
Volunteer Translators
Volunteer Translators sought by leading international literature and freedom of expression organisation.
PEN International is a global community of writers spanning over 100 countries, from Chile to China, Moldova to Mongolia and Spain to Senegal. 120 PEN Centres worldwide are supported by an international office in London in campaigns, events, publications and programmes to celebrate literature and promote freedom of expression.
With a global membership speaking over 40 languages we have a regular demand for translators. We work in English, French and Spanish, but also often require translation into and from other languages.
If you are interested in supporting PEN International as a volunteer translator and gaining some valuable experience of translating for a range of media for a global NGO, please get in touch. Items for translation include news articles for the web; communiqués for the membership; campaigns reports; project evaluation documents.
Please email Ruth Simister at penoffice@pen-international, stating which language(s) you are able to translate into/from, and your availability.
