Legal Counsel Campaigns - Greenpeace International

Permanent role* / full time

• offered on a 12 month contract basis initially, with possibility of extension and move to permanent contract, subject to local labour laws.

Location: The successful candidate should be based at Greenpeace International (GPI) in Amsterdam or at one of the locations where independent National/Regional Greenpeace organisations (NROs) are present (see the locations here). Please note that we are currently unable to support hosting in Africa, Colombia, Belgium, Germany, India, Italy, MED, MENA, Spain, UK and US. The recruitment team may reach out to you to provide an update as necessary, depending on your location.

Salary and benefits: We offer competitive NGO level salary and benefits, the specifics of which depend on the location where the successful candidate will be based. This information will be shared with candidates individually prior to interviews.

Are you an experienced lawyer who wants to use your skills to support environmental campaigns with defensive and proactive legal strategies? Are you ready to work for the planet rather than profit? Then this might be a role for you.

Greenpeace International (GPI) is seeking a Legal Counsel Campaigns to provide independent, campaign-related legal advice and support to GPI, and to advise the independent National and Regional Organisations (NROs) as requested. The role is likely to focus on a range of campaigns which may for example relate to food, forests, plastics, nuclear energy and peace.

Reporting to the Senior Legal Counsels Strategic Defence / Strategic Litigation, in this role you will:

• Support or develop and implement strategic litigations for campaigns at the domestic, regional and international levels;
• Conduct legal risk assessments of actions and investigations, advising on how to mitigate risk without compromising campaign impact, and communicating this advice to relevant stakeholders;
• Provide legal support to the Programme Department and the relevant NROs during the unfolding of activities and find opportunities to turn threats into campaigning opportunities;
• Handle campaign-related legal disputes involving GPI or its staff as defendants, including overseeing the development and implementation of legal strategies for defensive litigation;
• Ensuring proper legal representation of GPI and NROs, their staff and volunteers, when facing campaign-related proceedings;
• Support development of strategies that advance fundamental rights conducive to the functioning of a vibrant civil society and the protection of public watchdogs, including freedom of expression & assembly, freedom of association, transparency and accountability of governments and corporations at a systemic level.

For further information about this role, please see the full job description HERE.

Job requirements

What we’re looking for:

Remember, no one has every skill or experience needed for this role, and you’ll have the opportunity to learn a lot from the team. We believe someone who has a few of these is well suited to succeed in this role:

• Advanced university degree in law
• Admission and good standing with a bar association that confers attorney-client privilege for advice given by in-house counsel
• Substantial and demonstrable experience working as a professional lawyer (preferably at least 5 years, including in an international context)
• Knowledge of and experience in one or more of the following fields: (international) human rights law, tort law, criminal law, law of the sea, (international) environmental law
• Experience in litigation (whether civil, administrative or criminal)
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Ability to develop and implement complex projects
• Ability to communicate complex legal issues to non-lawyers
• Demonstrable commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and ability to lead and collaborate with cross-cultural teams
• Ability to work under pressure, with the flexibility to work with colleagues across multiple time zones and to travel internationally if required
• Ability to follow instructions, work independently, communicate and collaborate with a diverse team, virtually and in person
• Experience working across different cultures
• Strong influencing, conflict resolution, communication and presentation skills
• Commitment to Greenpeace’s mission and values
• Reasonable digital literacy

Preferred:

• Experience of using law in a campaigning context, ideally including strategic litigation
• Experience in freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly litigation
• Proficiency in languages additional to English

What you can expect:

You’ll be encouraged to develop both personally and professionally, taking advantage of the wide range of learning and development opportunities available to our staff. Staff can also access various wellbeing initiatives and also have the opportunity to join our global Equity, Diversity & Inclusion staff communities.

Please visit the careers site here, to learn more about working for Greenpeace.

About us:

Greenpeace is a global campaigning network. It comprises 25 independent national/regional organisations and a coordinating organisation, Greenpeace International. Greenpeace uses peaceful, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems and develop solutions for a green and peaceful future.

Our goal is to ensure the ability of the earth to nurture life in all its diversity. That means we want to:

• Protect biodiversity in all its forms.
• Prevent pollution and abuse of the earth’s ocean, land, air, and freshwater.
• End all nuclear threats.
• Promote peace, global disarmament, and non-violence.

To Apply:

If you share our vision, please click 'apply for this job' to begin your application.

To apply for this role, we require you to answer questions from a selection of key criteria and upload your CV (no longer than 3 pages) and a writing sample (no more than 4 pages, on any legal subject) via our online application form. All documents must be in English.

Addressing the key criteria is an important part of your application. We will be looking for evidence that demonstrates your skills and experience in these areas. Use examples where possible, to draw attention to experience, knowledge, achievements, and skills gained in past employment or voluntary/leisure activities, provided they are relevant to the post.

It’s advisable to prepare your responses to the key criteria before starting your online application, as you are unable to save and return to it at a later date.

At GPI, we understand the benefits of using open AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT); however, for the purpose of this application, we prefer to see answers that were tailored by candidates themselves, without relying too much on these tools, so we can get a good impression of your thinking.

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please email us at recruitment.int@greenpeace.org. Please note that all applications have to be filled out via the website and can't be submitted via this email.

We welcome everyone to apply for our positions. We understand that some candidates hesitate to apply unless they meet 100% of the criteria. However, we strongly encourage you to apply if you meet some of the key criteria for our roles. We’d love to know how your unique experience can bring value to our team. We believe in people power and having representation from many different communities to effect change.

Greenpeace International is an equal opportunity employer with a longstanding commitment to providing a work environment that respects the dignity and worth of each individual. We recognise and value the benefits and strengths that diversity brings to our employees and the whole organisation, and we thrive in an environment that encourages respect and trust. We do not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of age, ancestry, citizenship, colour, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, and would like to invite you especially to apply!

CLOSING DATE: Monday, 2nd of December 2024, 23:59 (CEST)