Earthjustice is among the leading national environmental groups in terms of diversifying its staff and increasing attention to racial justice in programmatic work in the environmental sector. We are committed to improving Earthjustice both internally (by creating an equitable and inclusive workplace) and externally (by fighting for racial justice through environmental work).

Earthjustice’s Clean Energy Program litigates and advocates in state and federal courts and before energy and environmental regulators across the country to advance an equitable transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, and to hold polluters accountable. Earthjustice presently has two programs focused on cleaning up the power sector and accelerating a clean energy transition — the Coal Program and Clean Energy Program. The former focuses on ending our nation’s reliance on dirty, expensive, and outdated coal-fired power, cleaning up coal’s toxic legacy, and blocking a rush to build new gas generation that would crowd out clean energy development. The latter focuses on breaking down barriers and increasing access to clean energy resources, including energy efficiency, solar, wind, demand response, and storage; advancing electrification; and opposing efforts to build new gas-fired power plants. Recognizing the synergies that exist across these dedicated teams, we are combining these highly effective programs into one Clean Energy Program, covering the work of both teams.

The Managing Attorney will lead and oversee the work of this new Clean Energy Program, providing leadership for a team comprised of roughly 40+ attorneys and professional staff. The Managing Attorney will directly supervise a team of four Deputy Managing Attorneys and other supervisors, who have responsibilities related to management, supervision, and/or program leadership. The Managing Attorney will manage, develop, and implement strategies that align with organization-wide strategic plans and programmatic and litigation priorities. They also will drive efforts to build and maintain effective working relationships with clients and partners, as well as with the news media, government officials, and supporters, and will serve as the primary public face of the program.

This is a significant opportunity for a dynamic leader to use their skills, the power of law, and the strength of partnership to deliver meaningful results for the environment, health, and communities across the nation. The Managing Attorney will lead a gifted, diverse team of attorneys and professional staff, and work with them to chart a course for a key program team of the largest public interest environmental law firm in the country. Program leadership and management are equally important skill sets for this position, and the successful candidate will be committed to excellence in both areas.

The Managing Attorney will be based in one of the following Earthjustice offices: Chicago, IL; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; San Francisco, CA; Washington, D.C., with a preference for Washington D.C. This is not a remote work position. However, Earthjustice has temporarily closed its offices and transitioned staff to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Any staff-wide return to Earthjustice offices will not occur before March 1, 2022.

The Managing Attorney will report to the Vice President of Litigation, Climate & Energy, who is based in Washington, D.C.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Program Leadership

• Leads the program in setting its vision, and in shaping its litigation and legal advocacy docket and related strategies that align with Earthjustice’s mission, strategic plans, core values, priorities, and other administrative policies and guidance.
• Provides litigation leadership by working collaboratively with attorneys in the program to maximize the quality and impact of the program’s total litigation effort.
• Builds and maintains effective working relationships with clients, communities, environmental groups, and other partners.
• Works closely and productively with other teams within the litigation department and with Earthjustice’s policy, communications, and fundraising teams to advance programmatic and institutional goals.
• Serves as an ambassador and spokesperson for the program and the organization by, among other things, working effectively with the news media, government officials, and supporters.
• Serves as an active member of the Managing Attorneys group, to help provide institutional leadership and set broader institutional priorities and direction.

Management

• Manages and leads a diverse team with emotional intelligence and cultural competency.
• Effects and manages organizational and program change, including the merging of the two programs, through strategic thinking and transparent communication.
• Manages and guides the development of program staff to ensure they have the training, mentoring, resources, feedback, and support to maximize their performance and skills development.
• Creates a learning culture, including by implementing practices related to delivering timely and high-quality feedback and by fostering growth through creativity and risk-taking.
• Provides staff with consistent and ongoing performance feedback, both positive and constructive, and acts as a coach and mentor.
• Ensures that direct reports are properly executing their supervisory responsibilities.
• Communicates effectively with staff and encourages them to provide ongoing feedback and raise concerns.
• Resolves interpersonal conflict among team members.
• Communicates institutional vision, policies, objectives, and initiatives to staff within the program, to keep them abreast of organizational changes and developments.
• Creates or identifies strategic opportunities for team building and individual and overall staff engagement with one another.
• Directly supervises staff and oversees the administrative functions of the program.
• Works to maximize employee satisfaction and the quality of the team’s work.
• Works with team members to celebrate successes and learn from setbacks.
• Fosters a work environment that aligns with Earthjustice’s diversity, equity, and inclusion goals and helps ensure the advancement of such goals.
• Develops and embraces practices and policies that promote a respectful and inclusive workplace and that foster community and teamwork among a diverse group of staff. Promptly addresses micro-aggressions, implicit biases, and other equity or inclusion concerns brought to their attention.
• Recruits and hires qualified candidates to support and grow a highly effective program team.
• Other duties as assigned.

Continued Personal Learning

• Participates in organization-wide initiatives and trainings that contribute to the creation of a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work culture that encourages and celebrates differences.
• Utilizes internal and external resources to support their personal and professional development in a way that increases awareness and sensitivity to the needs and concerns of individuals from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and orientations.