Senior Legal Representative, Poland (President of the Management Board) (0830)

Job Description

Please note we are working with the agency Daryl Upsall for this recruitment. All applications will be handled by the agency and when you click on the apply button on this page you will be redirected to Daryl Upsall's website to apply

Background

ClientEarth Poland (ClientEarth Prawnicy dla Ziemi) is an environmental law foundation with a unique focus – using the power of the law to bring about systemic change that protects all life on Earth. Their vision is for a healthy planet where nature and all people can thrive together. A planet with resilient, species-rich ecosystems, a safe and stable climate, an environment that is free of toxins, with clean air, soil, and water – all underpinned by strong environmental justice and the rule of law.

Headquartered in London, with offices in Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Madrid, and Warsaw, their approach is increasingly global. With a staff of around 300 people, and with a wide network of strategic partners, they are dedicated to protecting life on Earth. Working in over 60 countries, using the law to create systemic change, ClientEarth focus on the most pressing environmental challenges because a future in which people and the planet thrive together isn’t just possible – it’s essential.

ClientEarth Poland is seeking a Senior Representative, Poland (President of the Management Board) who will act as their chief legal representative in Poland and will lead the Polish office.

Purpose of role

The Senior Representative, Poland will be responsible for providing leadership and developing and delivering ClientEarth’s work in Poland, with the potential to play a larger regional leadership role throughout Central and Eastern Europe. The post-holder will lead a team of Polish jurisdictional experts who work in partnership with other specialists and experts across ClientEarth to design and implement legal interventions in Poland that seek to achieve impacts under our regional and global strategies. The Senior Representative, Poland also has an important role to play in role-modelling ClientEarth’s values and rallying colleagues around a unified global strategy, while contributing to regional strategy implementation and decision-making.

The post-holder will be a legal expert, familiar with a wide range of relevant legal areas and a currently or formerly qualified lawyer (radca prawny/adwokat) in Poland. Ideally, the post-holder would be formally qualified to legally represent and conduct litigation on behalf of ClientEarth in the Polish courts.

The post-holder will work collaboratively both within the Polish office and with stakeholders across the organisation. Key relationships are with the following:

• Head of Brussels – The post-holder will work closely with the Head of Brussels, who oversees the coordination and delivery of our EU strategy of programmatic work, and ensures that local, national, and regional interventions are aligned with our overall EU strategy.
• Regional Director of Programmes, Europe – The post-holder will work closely with the Regional Director of Programmes, Europe, who is responsible for all programmatic work within Europe.
• ClientEarth Programme Teams – The post-holder will work closely with national Polish and wider regional programme teams on the design, prioritisation, and delivery of in-country legal activities aligned to regional (EU/CEE) strategies. You will work together to effectively make use of country relationships and jurisdictional expertise, identify opportunities for interventions or other initiatives in Poland, and help ensure the smooth resolution of issues that inevitably arise from having separately managed teams of geographic and programmatic experts working in a particular jurisdiction.
• Governance and Legal Services Department – The post-holder will work closely with ClientEarth’s Governance and Legal Services Department to ensure alignment with our global standards for governance and legal matters, drawing on their advice, support and expertise as needed, ensuring that our legal work and governance in Poland follows our global standards and best practice.
• Broader Business Services Global Directors and Heads – The post-holder will work closely with ClientEarth’s broader Businesses Services Directors, Heads, and teams (Finance, People, Operations) in overseeing the management and smooth operation of the Polish office and its staff, including by ensuring appropriate alignment with global policies and procedures and agreeing any necessary national variations.

Key responsibilities

Country representation & external leadership

• Acts as ClientEarth’s chief representative in Poland, and potentially wider Central & Eastern Europe.
• Represents the organisation in the media, press, and at events in Poland.
• Forges and maintains strong relationships with ClientEarth’s key partners, donors, policy and lawmakers and other key stakeholders in Poland.
• Oversees internal and external communications relating to the Polish office and works closely with communications and development teams to raise the profile of the office.

Programme leadership

• Ensures coherent and ambitious Polish legal intervention strategies designed to enable the Polish office to contribute to our regional, the EU and Central and Eastern Europe, and global strategies and priorities.
• Identifies opportunities to use in-country relationships, interventions or expertise to create impact in line with ClientEarth’s regional and global programme objectives.
• Leads a team of Polish programmatic and communications experts to work in close partnership with ClientEarth’s regional and global teams in implementing interventions in Poland.
• Applies strong jurisdictional legal expertise to contribute to the further development and delivery of in-country programmatic strategies and acts as a strategic legal advisor on all Polish programme work.
• Provides line management to local programmatic staff where appropriate.

Office Leadership

• Acts as the President of ClientEarth Poland’s Management Board, working closely with the Board to oversee the good governance and sound management of ClientEarth Poland, drawing on support from and working closely with ClientEarth’s global Governance & Legal Services Department.
• Operates as the formal legal senior-most legal representative of ClientEarth Poland, for example, signing contracts and other legal or governance documents (as authorised).
• Is accountable for the provision of business services in Poland to global standards, and oversees Polish business services, working closely with global business services teams to enable ClientEarth’s teams to operate smoothly in Poland.
• Supports Polish risk management, statutory and internal compliance, drawing on support from and working closely with ClientEarth’s global Governance & Legal Services Department.
• Builds a strong cohesive culture aligned to ClientEarth’s values within the Polish office and between the office and other ClientEarth offices, where and, as appropriate, with support from ClientEarth’s global People & Culture team.
• Embodies ClientEarth’s values and behaviours, listens to and offers support to colleagues as an approachable and engaging leader.

Financing and fundraising

• Leads the budget setting process, develops and implements financial strategy related to the Polish entity, including some Polish-specific programme work.
• Responsible for monitoring budgets and ensuring financial probity in the use of financial resources in Poland, supported by ClientEarth’s global Finance team and local Finance Business Partner.
• Makes fundraising efforts focusing on retaining and stewarding existing global and regional funders and supporting ClientEarth’s Global Development Team in actively pursuing new donors, as required.
• Supports fundraising for Polish programme work with potential global and regional funders, led by the ClientEarth global Development team.

Person specification

The following offers an aspirational view of our ideal candidate profile; however, we encourage applications from candidates with a wide range of experiences and backgrounds, especially those from underrepresented groups.

Experience and knowledge

• Currently, or formerly, qualified legal practitioner in Poland (preferred) or another European jurisdiction, or master’s or PhD in Law.
• Broad knowledge of and/or expertise in a range of legal areas relevant to ClientEarth’s areas of work under Polish law, such as EU and Polish environmental law, EU and Polish corporate law, energy and transport law, etc.
• Knowledge of and/or expertise in public policy, litigation, or public interest law practice.
• Demonstrated and relevant previous experience performing a management and supervisory role, leading by directing, motivating, and enabling others.
• Experience working on in-house legal matters and on corporate governance (desirable).
• Relevant experience in fundraising (desirable).
• A demonstrated track record of network and relationship development and engaging with a wide variety of external stakeholders (desirable).

Skills and competencies

• Strong legal skills across relevant legal areas to ClientEarth.
• Excellent creative, critical, and lateral thinking, analytical skills, and ability to grasp quickly new concepts and areas of law with an openness to learning and new ideas.
• Motivated to achieve results and ability to spot and take advantage of opportunities to achieve change.
• Strong financial management skills, including budget preparation, analysis, decision making and reporting.
• Highly organised and systematic in juggling multiple project and competing priorities; able to set priorities for self and team.
• Practical, creative, and solutions-focused problem solver.
• Excellent commercial, political, and practical judgment and diplomacy.
• Ability to balance appropriate risk management with the need to empower ClientEarth staff to be creative and to take calculated risks to maximise its impact.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to look at legal and governance issues holistically and see, and connect others to, the big picture.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build and maintain strong trusting relationships and networks both internally and externally.
• Ability to interact with people in a multi-disciplinary and multicultural environment.
• Strong commitment to ClientEarth’s vision, mission, and values.
• CEFR level C2 in English and Polish, another language is also desirable.
• Strong governance skills across relevant legal areas (desirable).

Terms and conditions

If you have any questions about the role or organisation and would like an informal chat ahead of submitting a formal application, please reach out to Zoe Oldham at zoeoldham@darylupsall.com. An applicant's pack is available on request.

The deadline for application is Sunday 3rd November 2024