Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment is a non-profit organisation, specialising in human rights and environmental law, operating in several countries in Africa, at the pan Africa level and influencing global processes.  We are a team of progressive legal practitioners and activists who conduct comprehensive research on environmental and human rights law, stand behind communities and local organisations, provide technical advice to governments and intergovernmental organisations, engage in key campaigns and in key international processes in pursuit of social and environmental justice. Natural Justice is headquartered in Cape Town with and has three regional Hubs based in Senegal, Kenya and South Africa.

We’ve recently undergone a programmatic and operations strategy process, under the leadership of the current Executive Director, and with the involvement of its entire staff and key community partners.  This strategy process is culminating into an innovate strategic plan that will lead the way for our work during the next 3-5 years.  We are now looking for a new Executive Director who has the capacity, vision and dedication to take the lead in implementing this strategy, to lead a passionate team of lawyers and activists in their quest for social and environmental justice at a time when bold action in both is desperately needed.

Responsibilities and Skill Requirements

Natural Justice seeks an experienced, full-time professional, familiar with and passionate about the field of environmental justice and with proven management and not-for-profit leadership experience in Africa. The successful candidate will be based in one of the Hubs of Natural Justice (Cape Town, Nairobi or Dakar) with frequent travel within Africa and internationally.  

The successful candidate is expected to provide leadership and oversight on all of Natural Justice’s key functions (programmatic, financial and operations) to both scale its impact and ensure the organization’s sustainability. He/she/they will have the following personal and professional attributes:

• A postgraduate degree in law or other relevant social science discipline;
• Expertise in both environmental law (including natural resource and/or land law) and human rights law, especially with an African focus;
• 10 years of management expertise with at least 5 years in a leadership position; experience in managing organisations through a change process is a bonus;
• Experience with a broad spectrum of stakeholder engagement and management, ranging from partner communities to donors and government officials. In particular, a track record of working with indigenous peoples and/or local communities;
• Experience in government and international organisation advocacy;
• Familiarity with budgetary processes, monitoring and evaluation frameworks and the development of internal policies and strategic plans;
• Experience with managing and communicating with a board of trustees
• Ability to manage a diverse and geographically dispersed team and build consensus;
• Experience in fundraising is a must, with the ability to demonstrate fundraising success in previous professional setting;
• A track record in developing networks and setting up new collaborations and partnerships;
• Confident public speaking and excellent writing skills;
• A sense of humour;
• Fluency in English required, French an advantage; and
• Willingness to travel and work at the international level as well as with local organisations and communities in remote areas.

Natural Justice will offer a competitive compensation package in line with the successful candidate’s experience and qualifications.

Application Process

Deadline: 12 May 2023, 17.00 GMT

Please email your application for the attention of Allison van der Sandt, with the job title in the subject line by 12 May 2023 (17:00 GMT) to: allison@naturaljustice.org

Please, include a motivation letter that indicates why you feel you are the best candidate for this position, and a detailed CV with three contactable references.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Best of luck!

The Natural Justice Team