Passionate about democracy and the rule of law, and want hands-on experience on a pan-European project?

Come join our Team as a Project Assistant!

Our Rule of Law looking for Project Assistants!

We are looking for young people who want to grow with us: students (although being enrolled at a university is not a requirement) and fresh graduates within 1 to 2 years of graduation, with a genuine interest in democracy and the rule of law, a good work ethic, and eagerness to learn. No prior NGO experience is needed; what matters most is reliability and motivation.

We are recruiting Project Assistants in three areas:

  • Project management (programme coordination and participant and logistical support)

  • Communications (social media, website, and newsletter)

  • Research (editing, quality review, and synthesis)

The Project Assistant role will start in August 2026 and end in June 2027. You can find the detailed role descriptions below.

Application procedure

The application form includes general questions, area-specific questions, and a short task related to your chosen area. Shortlisted candidates will then be invited for an interview, held between 27–29 July.

Applications close 21.07.2026 18:00 CEST

Application Form!

What the positions entail

  • Role summary: Owns quality and consistency of the report chapters and leads the synthesis into the final report narrative. Fills research gaps rather than conducting research from scratch, which in practice means oversees fellows progress in conducting the research and supports where needed

    Core responsibilities:

    • Review and edit report chapters for clarity, accuracy, and consistency of format

    • Ensure all chapters follow the agreed template and quality standard

    • Draft executive summaries of key findings

    • Synthesize report chapters into the overarching report narrative

    Supporting / as-needed:

    • Targeted literature review to fill specific gaps not covered by report chapters

    • Support Core Team in finalizing report templates/content guidelines (early in project, not ongoing)

  • Role summary: Owns day-to-day tracking of the fellowship program and serves as the supplementary point of contact for fellows. Supports onboarding and event logistics.

    Core responsibilities:

    • Maintain the master tracker for deadlines, deliverables, and fellow status; flag risks early to the Core Team

    • Serve as supplementary point of contact for fellows throughout the program

    • Coordinate communication between fellows and mentors 

    • Provide weekly/biweekly status updates to the Core Team

    Supporting / as-needed:

    • Assist with event logistics for bootcamps (scheduling, coordination)

    • Help prepare internal reports on program outcomes

  • Role summary: Owns the project's day-to-day public presence — social media, website, and newsletter — and supports media visibility around key moments, especially the report launch.

    Core responsibilities:

    • Plan and manage the social media content calendar (LinkedIn, Instagram, Bluesky)

    • Maintain and update the Our Rule of Law website

    • Coordinate the newsletter (content gathering, drafting, sending)

    • Support drafting of press releases and key messaging around the project 

    Supporting / as-needed:

    • Assist with 1–2 flagship public events (e.g., bootcamp, report launch webinar)

    • Light media outreach support (not full relationship-building/pitching)

About the project

This autumn, we are launching our new flagship project. Without giving too much away just yet: it will follow our research-to-impact model, bringing together young researchers from across Europe who will study a pressing question for European democracy under the guidance of expert mentors, meet in person at a bootcamp in Warsaw, and turn their findings into public-facing action. We will brief you in depth about the details of the project at a later stage of the recruitment process.

To get a sense of how our programmes work in practice, here are some examples of our previous projects:

  • The Our Rule of Law Academy: an academic mentorship programme bringing together 45 students from across Europe and beyond, guided by 23 professionals in the field, to develop policy proposals on how the EU should better protect the rule of law. The proposals were pitched to policymakers during a bootcamp in Brussels and published in the report “How to Save European Democracy”. The Academy was recognised as a national winner of the Charlemagne Youth Prize.

  • The Vote4OurRuleofLaw Fellowship: launched ahead of the 2024 European Parliament elections to engage young first-time voters, with a cohort of 44 fellows representing 15 nationalities and 19 universities. The Fellowship resulted in the “First-Time Voters Handbook”, highlighted in Politico’s Brussels Playbook newsletter.

  • The Our Democracy Report: our most recent flagship project, in which over 60 Democracy Rapporteurs from 17 countries assessed the strengths and weaknesses of their national democracies. ORoL was invited by the European Commission to present the Report’s findings and methodology to representatives of all 27 EU Member States and candidate countries, and the Report was recognised as a national winner of the Charlemagne Youth Prize in 2026.

How we work

  • We work fully remotely, with flexible hours and regular online team check-ins.

  • The expected time commitment is around 3 to 4 hours per week.

  • This is a voluntary role, as are all roles in the Foundation at this stage. In return, we offer hands-on experience in running a pan-European project, close collaboration with the Core Team and our partners, and visibility of your work in the final report, its public launch and our social media. 

Who are we?

Our Rule of Law (ORoL) is a youth-led, pan-European foundation working to make democracy and the rule of law accessible and engaging for young Europeans. Founded in 2021 by law students, we are today a fully remote, volunteer-run team spread across Europe. Our work has twice been awarded the European Charlemagne Youth Prize (2024 and 2026), most recently for the Our Democracy Report.

Q&A

  • The application closes on 21.07.2026 at 18:00 CEST. We will not consider any late applications.

  • We are a #forstudentsbystudents organization that values giving people at the start of their careers opportunities to grow and develop. Additionally, what we value above all in our work in accessibility, therefore, we do not require you to be enrolled in a university when working with us, you may be a student or a recent graduate (1-2 years from graduation).

  • No you do not have to be studying, or have studied, law. We accept applications from individuals of all backgrounds as long as you can prove you are passionate about democracy, rule of law and youth participation!

  • You will be working together with the Core Team - Anna Walczak, Zuzanna Uba, Elene Amiranashvili and John Morijn (you can learn more about us on the ‘Our Team’ page!). Alongside us you will be working with the other Project Assistants, and the participants and mentors of our newest project!

  • Our Rule of Law runs as a completely voluntary organisation at the minute, and therefore we unfortunately cannot provide any remuneration for working with us.