Who is Natural Justice

Natural Justice is a non-profit organisation rooted in the struggle of communities in Africa. As a team of pioneering lawyers and legal experts, we specialise in human rights and environmental law in the pursuit of social and environmental justice.

Natural Justice (NJ) strives to strengthen the collective rights of people and protect the sacred relationships that indigenous peoples and local communities have with nature. Our work builds on the values, knowledge, and self-determination of the communities with whom we stand. Through legal empowerment, research, policy influence and litigation, and through coalitions and campaigns, we help communities to know, use and shape the law. Natural Justice’s work is based on three main pillars: asserting and securing rights to land, resources and knowledge; defending rights against environmental and social impacts; and standing in solidarity with communities. NJ is present in a number of African countries with three regional offices in Cape Town, Nairobi and Dakar.

To find out more about NJ’s work, please visit www.naturaljustice.org.

What we are looking for

As part of its expansion into West Africa, NJ is looking to expand its work in Nigeria. This will include working with local communities who are experiencing environmental and social impacts from fossil fuel projects, extractive projects and supporting a just energy transition. We support communities through legal advice, legal empowerment approaches, environmental litigation, and facilitating participation in the development and/or review of legal frameworks.

We are looking for a full-time Programme Manager to represent NJ in Nigeria and lead the organisation’s activities in the AACJ project. The successful candidate will be based in Nigeria and will regularly travel nationally and, occasionally, internationally. He/she will be expected to start the position as soon as possible.

What we offer

Natural Justice is a small, close-knit and nurturing collective with a focus on facilitating opportunities for professional and personal growth for its members. Natural Justice will offer a nationally competitive salary commensurate with skills and experience. The successful candidate will join a small but growing team of legal experts in our Dakar Hub. The contract period will be two years full time, with the intention of a longer term arrangement. By joining Natural Justice, the successful candidate will also have the chance to work with a passionate and professional team in a fast-paced environment and gain valuable national and regional experience.

Main roles and responsibilities

The Programme Manager will work with the Hub Director and AACJ Lead in our Dakar Hub to develop, maximise the impact and expand NJ’s work in Nigeria on both the programmatic advocacy side, including through environmental and climate litigation, and the community solidarity side. They will participate in strategy development and in the planning, implementation and management of projects and activities (including timelines, deliverables and budgets). They will be responsible for the management and development of a team of CELOs. They will also be responsible for developing partnerships and also fundraising. The Programme Manager will also contribute to our work with Environmental Defenders and also the Environmental Lawyers Collective.

Technical and legal support

• Support local communities affected by extractive, infrastructure and other large-scale projects, by providing technical and legal advice, developing and implementing legal empowerment approaches.
• Develop litigation strategy for Nigeria, support and build environmental and climate litigation cases with communities and partners.
• Linking litigation to advocacy campaigns and legal empowerment activities in communities
• Use lessons learned from legal empowerment and litigation work to provide technical advice to national governments and advocate for improved legal and policy frameworks.
• Drafting proposals on legal frameworks, writing opinion pieces on the results of programmatic work. 

Management

• Represent NJ in Nigeria.
• Contribute to the supervision of a small team of community environmental legal officers in Nigeria.
• Manage with Senior Finance Officer the financial and administrative reporting of projects under the programme.
• Prepare technical reports and assist in reporting to donors on projects
• Report to the Dakar Hub Director.

Strategic planning and implementation

• Develop and ensure the implementation of a strategy and plan for our work in Nigeria.
• Build partnerships with relevant local, national and regional organisations.
• Facilitate the transfer of successful approaches, exchange of experiences and lessons from our work in East and Southern Africa to Nigeria.
• Contribute to the overall advocacy programme and strategy.

Minimum qualifications and experience required:

• A Master’s degree and or Master II in Law or equivalent.
• At least 5 years of professional expertise and demonstrated interest in environmental law, including natural resources law, energy and related law and extractive industries issues.
• Understanding and proficiency in the Nigerian legal system and institutional arrangements.
• Experience in conducting fieldwork and working with marginalised communities.
• Experience in environmental, climate or human rights litigation
• Experience in conducting research and preparing clear and analytical reports (with evidence of published work).
• Strong oral and written communication skills, including through online platforms.
• Strong project cycle management skills, including experience in team supervision and M&E.
• Experience in writing proposals and reports to donors.
• Fluency in English.
• Fluency in French would be an asset as most of the Dakar Hub is French speaking.

Personal profile

• A history of advocacy for social and environmental justice.
• Highly motivated, proactive individual able to work under minimal supervision.
• Critical and analytical thinking.
• Reliability and attention to detail.
• Ability to work in a team in a diverse multicultural setting.
• Experience in communicating complex legal issues in a manner accessible to communities.
• Willingness to travel and work with local organisations and communities in remote areas.

Application process:

Deadline: 10 January 2022

Applications should be sent by email to admin.dkr@naturaljustice.org with “Programme Manager Nigeria” in the subject line.

Attach a cover letter stating why you think you are the best candidate for the position, a detailed CV with two references and a maximum of three samples of your past work (e.g. articles or research reports). Please ensure that your application package matches the skills and experience required and the desirable traits and attributes listed above.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Good luck!

The Natural Justice team