This position is an excellent opportunity for a lawyer with commercial litigation experience and strong advocacy skills to make a key contribution to the work of our value chains, trade & investment (VCTI) team.  The VCTI team is part of our broader Financial & Economic group in Europe. It works to strengthen and enforce supply chain laws requiring companies to identify, prevent and mitigate adverse human rights, health and environmental impacts throughout their value chain, as well as report on and account for those impacts. 

The primary focus of the role will be to support the VCTI team’s work on deforestation-free supply chains, including defending the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free products (EUDR) against potential amendment in Brussels and supporting its implementation in key Member States, and advancing alternative legal strategies towards supply chain accountability.   

You will use your expertise to support and implement strategic legal interventions, including strategic litigation and advocacy with the objective of preventing products linked to deforestation entering the EU market and challenging unsustainable business practices linked to deforestation. Priority supply chains include beef, leather and soy supply chains originating in Latin America.  

This is a parental leave cover position (nine months) and the successful candidate will be expected – after a sufficient handover – to take on and progress an existing portfolio of work under the supervision of the VCTI team Lead. 

Meet your Manager

Michael Rice joined CE in 2021, working on deforestation-free supply chains and new laws on that topic being developed in the UK and EU. He is an Australian-qualified lawyer with a background in Indigenous land rights and major extractive projects. He has worked in the NGO sector on environmental, climate and gender justice agendas for over eight years. He now leads our Value Chains, Trade and Investment team supporting a broad range of supply chain and value chain accountability efforts..

Main Duties

• Help shape and deliver strategies to ensure the EUDR is properly applied and enforced across EU countries.

• Work on legal cases and interventions, including preparing materials for court or regulatory bodies.

• Build strong relationships with partners and represent our work in meetings and public discussions.

See the job description (below) for a full list of duties for this role.

Role requirements

• Fluent (CEFR level C2) in English
• Law degree or equivalent
• Legal experience (e.g. in a law firm, NGO, or public sector), ideally in environmental, commercial, or corporate law within the EU
• Experience working with EU institutions and engaging with key stakeholders

See the job description (below) for a full list of requirements for this role.

Note to candidates: We know that long lists of criteria can be daunting and that some candidates will not apply for a role unless they feel they are 100% qualified. If you feel you meet at least some of the essential criteria, we still encourage you to apply.

Further Information

Have a question about this job? Please visit our Careers site for advice on applying, FAQs, and more.

Flexible working:  We are proud to be a Flexa accredited Employer. Visit our Flexa Employer page for more information on our approach to flexible working. Our flexible working policy allows our people the choice to decide to work from home/another location in the country where their contract of employment is issued for 80% of their month, with the other 20% of their month being office-based  See our Benefits page for more as well as our flexible working FAQ.

ClientEarth values diversity and inclusion and the benefits this brings. We aim to appoint the most suitable candidate at all times and welcome applications from people from all different backgrounds. See our equity, diversity and inclusion journey page for more.

Please note that ClientEarth is only able to employ those who have the pre-existing legal right to work in Belgium.

ClientEarth is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice or legal services to third parties.