Lawyer, Value Chains, Trade & Investment

Position description

Salary: € 5.036 gross per month
Contract Type: Fixed Term
Contract Duration:12 months
Hours: Full Time
Closing Date: 10 September 2025
First Interview Dates: Starting from 18th of September
Expected Start Date: Preferred start date early November

About the role

This position is an excellent opportunity for a lawyer with 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 global value chains.

The primary focus of the role will be to support the team’s work on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the related Simplification Omnibus package. The aim of this work is to ensure that the CSDDD is not significantly weakened or postponed, and is meaningfully transposed and implemented at national level to provide a strong legal framework for corporate environmental, human rights and climate due diligence in the EU.

This is a new position created due to a newly received 3-year funding and will start with a defined employee contract of 12 months. We will of course inform the post holder about possible extensions to this initial 12 months ahead of time.

Meet your Manager

Michael Rice joined ClientEarth in 2021, working on deforestation-free supply chains and new laws on this 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

• Legal research and advocacy – Developing and maintaining a robust knowledge of the CSDDD and other due diligence legislation with particular focus on its provisions regarding climate transition plans;
• Strategic litigation and legal action – Contributing to the strategic direction of work to ensure that the CSDDD is implemented across EU Member States and that mechanisms are put in place for effective enforcement in EU Member States;
• Relationship and capacity building;
• Communication, learning and fundraising.

Role requirements

• Law degree or equivalent;
• Professional experience in a legal capacity (in an NGO, the public sector, private practice, or a relevant in-house role) with a focus on environmental, human rights, or corporate law in the EU;
• Experience in litigation or supporting strategic litigation and/or experience of advocacy with relevant stakeholders at EU institutions;
• Familiarity with corporate sustainability regulations and/or corporate climate transition standards.

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.

Application instructions

Please be sure to indicate you saw this position on geopolist.com