• Location: In EDO’s Darwin office, remote travel required (open to candidates Australia wide)
• Seniority: 7+ years PAE desirable. We will consider candidates with 5+ years PAE
• Salary: Circa $100k – commensurate with experience. Package includes personal use of the office’s Toyota Hilux
• Full-time preferred; part-time considered - 12 month maternity leave position

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are encouraged to apply.

The opportunity:

To be the EDO’s lead lawyer in the Northern Territory for 12 months.

Northern Territory Office:

This is a hugely exciting opportunity to gain experience and grow in one of Australia’s most challenging and unique environments. It is the chance to work in one of Australia’s most important and challenging environmental law and leadership positions.

Your job is to help people use the law to defend the Northern Territory’s spectacular environment, heritage and culture. You will educate people about their rights and advocate for laws that deliver more effective environmental protection and justice, and have the chance to run exciting and ground-breaking strategic litigation.

You will have the support of a talented solicitor and part time legal admin, as well as being part of a strong national team formed following the 2019 merger of EDOs. You will have the opportunity to work on and direct national resources to the biggest issues facing communities across the Northern Territory including fracking, mining, water, biodiversity and climate change.

Candidate profile:

We are looking for an independent and strategic thinker, a skilled communicator, and someone who can demonstrate an ability to think outside the box and deliver effective results for clients. You will need to be enthusiastic, flexible and have the maturity to work autonomously, supervise multiple competing pieces of work and build relationships with diverse client groups and stakeholders.

At a personal level you will be comfortable working with diverse communities, and in remote and isolated areas. You will have resilience, tenacity and compassion. You will also be a team player and comfortable in collaborating nationally, working with our distributed team across Australia and reporting to the Director of EDO’s Jurisdictional Program.

You are:

• A lawyer (unrestricted). Experience in environment/planning/public law beneficial.
• Passionate. About environmental justice and about the environment.
• A people person. You relish working in remote and spectacular place with amazing clients. You are good at advocating and empathising. You foster great relationships.
• A communicator. You convey complex ideas and issues clearly. You respect and listen to other viewpoints. You speak with purpose and compassion.
• Motivated. You’ve got get up and go. You’re going to take ownership of this role and truly make a difference.
• Creative. You think outside the box. You have the courage to make change and deliver outcomes.
• Visionary. Seeking to use your talents to address issues of great purpose.

Perks:

• The chance to work on the major environmental issues facing the Northern Territory, including by undertaking critical outreach activities in some of the most remote communities across the Territory.
• A flexible and family-friendly workplace.
• Extra leave over the Christmas period.
• Ongoing professional development opportunities, including media training, as required.
• Personal access to and use of the office’s Toyota Hilux.
• Darwin’s tropical lifestyle and proximity to the Territory’s diverse and unique landscapes

About us:

We are a national, public interest environmental law organisation, the largest in Australia Pacific. Over our 30-year history we’ve developed a formidable track record of empowering communities and delivering effective protection of the environment through legal services.

With the 8 Environmental Defenders Offices around Australia merging in late 2019, we are now entering a period of substantial growth necessary to meet the growing demands of the public for public interest legal services to address environmental and public health issues such as climate change.

Our Values:

• Commitment – We are committed to; a united organisation, to each other, to collaboration, to justice, to our communities and to creating a world where nature thrives.
• Diversity – We are respectful of and welcome diversity of; staff, volunteers, offices, environmental regions, communities, stakeholders.
• Integrity – We work effectively, efficiently, strategically, professionally and ethically; “justice is in our nature”.
• Visionary – We lead change and environmental empowerment using innovation, creativity, and courage.

For further information, contact Nicole Sommer, Director, Environmental Justice, on 0492 149 912 or via email at [email protected], using the subject line: Managing Lawyer enquiry via EthicalJobs.

A position description is attached.