Lawyer jobs in oxford, oxfordshire

Title:  Legal Coordinator

Reports to:  Head of Legal 

Salary:  £30,000-40,000 (depending on experience) 

Contract:  Permanent

Hours:  37.5 per week over 5 days (Monday to Friday) 

Holiday:  25 days per year plus bank holidays 

Location:  Remote with regular travel to London and across the UK

Probationary period:  3 months

Benefits:  An additional 3 days holiday between Christmas and New Year, Flexitime policy, 5% pension contribution, Cycle to Work scheme

Start date:  As soon as possible

We are River Action

We are a campaign organisation on a mission to rescue Britain's rivers from the impacts of agricultural, sewage and industrial pollution. We take a creative and bold approach to campaigning, blending sharp strategy with positively disruptive tactics to inspire real action. We support grassroots movements, galvanise public opinion, influence government policy and drive industry change.

We are a small, dedicated and talented team of positive disrupters and community mobilisers who work collaboratively to deliver our strategy to urgently protect and restore our rivers for the benefit of people and nature.

Find out more about our mission and our team on our website. 

Who we’re looking for

Do you want to be part of a movement making waves to clean up the UK’s rivers? Are you passionate about using the law as a tool for change? Do you have the legal and research skills to amplify our impact? If so, we want you to join our team. 

We are looking for a highly capable, ambitious, well-organised, energetic, proactive and diligent individual with legal experience (academic or professional) to play an integral role in developing and delivering our growing legal, policy and advocacy work.

You don’t need to be a qualified or practising lawyer, but you do need to have a law degree or equivalent and familiarity with environmental law. You’ll understand the importance of winning in both courts of law and of public opinion. You’ll be passionate, eager to learn and committed to making change happen quickly. 

If you’re committed to River Action’s mission and want to be at the forefront of environmental law, policy and advocacy, we’d love to hear from you.

Essential experience and skills

• Demonstrable UK legal experience (academic and/or professional), ideally including environmental, public and administrative law. A law degree or equivalent is required.

• Excellent legal research, drafting and communication skills.

• Ability to translate complex legal issues into accessible and impactful messaging.

• Strong organisational and interpersonal skills with demonstrable experience of coordinating multiple projects, working flexibly and at a fast pace.

• Good understanding of strategic litigation and using the law as a tool for change.

• Proven ability to produce high quality work under pressure.

• Excellent IT skills. 

• Commitment to River Action’s mission and to working collaboratively across the sector.

Desirable experience and skills

• Qualification as a solicitor or barrister.

• Experience working in a similar role.

• Experience working in the UK’s environmental sector.

• Experience with strategic litigation and using the law as a tool for change.

• Experience with instructing and managing external lawyers. 

• Experience working with parliamentarians and of UK parliamentary procedures. 

• Media/spokesperson experience.

What you’ll be doing

As Legal Coordinator, you will play a crucial role in shaping River Action’s fight for cleaner rivers by acting as the link between legal expertise provided by external lawyers and River Action’s day-to-day campaigning, policy, advocacy and operational work. 

The role will involve working closely with River Action’s Head of Legal to use the law and legal strategies to strengthen and improve environmental protection of the UK’s rivers. This exciting role will include scoping, developing and managing strategic litigation to achieve systemic change as well as supporting River Action’s policy and advocacy work. You’ll also support the River Action team to build successful campaigns to challenge polluters, hold government and regulators accountable, and push for policy reform.

Key duties and responsibilities

• Support the Head of Legal in scoping, developing and managing River Action’s legal work, including commissioning legal services from external lawyers and providing instructions on legal matters. 

• Produce legal research and analysis to inform and support River Action’s strategic litigation, policy and advocacy work.

• Work with the campaigns team to develop impactful legal actions as part of creative and positively disruptive campaigns to deliver organisational goals.

• Work with the communities team to identify opportunities for River Action to support communities through legal action, including by developing the River Rescue Kit and other initiatives to extend impact.

• Engage with and obtain information and evidence from claimants, complainants, expert witnesses and other sources to support legal actions and campaigns.

• Develop an in-depth understanding of UK legal and policy frameworks relating to rivers and ensure colleagues are kept up to date with changes. 

• Monitor legal developments including caselaw and legislative proposals, working closely with the Head of Legal to understand the implications and opportunities for River Action’s work. 

• Ensure team members are well-briefed on the latest legal developments (both River Action’s work and wider developments) to support their external engagement. 

• Prepare and contribute to legal and policy briefings for River Action and its eNGO partners and for public and political audiences.

• Contribute to River Action’s policy and advocacy work, ensuring our positions are considered and evidenced. 

• Contribute to shaping River Action’s positions and key messaging so they are relevant and accurate. 

• Provide legal support for River Action’s campaigning and operational activities, including by researching relevant laws and by commissioning external legal advice on non-contentious matters. 

• Support colleagues to ensure River Action’s campaigning and communication activities and outputs are legally compliant and help to protect the charity from defamation, copyright infringement or other claims. 

• Write articles and act as spokesperson for River Action in owned and earned media.

• Work across the team to track, record and report impact.

• Support River Action’s fundraising activities including contributing towards funding proposals, pitching and reporting.

• Review and respond to legal queries that come to River Action, escalating to the Head of Legal or other colleagues as appropriate.

• Administrative duties including developing and maintaining River Action’s legal documentation, processes and systems on the organisation’s shared drive. 

• Build relationships and partnerships across the legal sector and environmental sector to inform River Action’s work and contribute to the wider movement. 

General duties and responsibilities

• Follow all charity policies and procedures.

• Actively participate as part of the team.

• Help to promote a positive, healthy and happy work environment and team culture.

• Actively engage in professional development and training.

• Work collaboratively with colleagues across River Action, external lawyers and stakeholders to deliver our mission.

• Undertake any other duties as reasonably required. 

As a small and agile team, we value flexibility. While these are the core responsibilities, staff may be asked to take on additional tasks as needed. If any task becomes a regular duty, the job description will be updated in consultation with the staff member. 

Location

You will work from home with some travel required to London and across the UK. 

The full team meets in person at least four times per year. These are multi-day meetings held in different locations in the UK. Additional UK travel will also be required. The fast-paced nature of our work and small size of our organisation means we are in very regular contact, ensuring a strong connection across the team. 

Diversity and inclusion

We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace. We welcome and encourage applicants from all backgrounds. We particularly welcome applications from candidates who are underrepresented in the environment sector. 

Don’t meet every single requirement? We know that long lists can be daunting and that some candidates will not apply for a role unless they feel they are 100% qualified. If you like the look of this role but your past experience does not align perfectly with everything in the job description, we’d still love to hear from you. You may be just the right person for this role.

How to apply

To apply, please submit to jobs at riveractionuk dot com with the subject ‘Legal Coordinator’:

• your CV (2 pages), and 

• a cover letter (2 pages) explaining why you want to work for River Action and how your experience and skills meet the requirements of the role.

Only applications including both documents will be accepted. Please provide your documents in pdf format. 

Application process

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until 23:59 on Monday 29 September 2025.

Should your application be selected during sift, the next stage will involve an initial 15-minute interview. You may then be invited to attend a second interview with a panel. 

Initial interviews will be held on 1 and 2 October 2025 and panel interviews will be held in w/c 6 October 2025, all via video conference. For panel interviews, some questions will be provided in advance for equity and to give you the opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge, skills and experience most effectively. 

Please indicate in your covering letter or in a covering email your availability for interviews.

If you have any questions about the role or your application, please contact us on jobs at riveractionuk dot com.

Would you like to support a dynamic annual conference that brings together a diverse group of people to learn, be inspired and collaborate to achieve workplace justice and fight poverty and discrimination?

Workplace Justice is a new company limited by guarantee that has been created to take forward the annual New Organising Conference. The New Organising Conference is unique in bringing together a diverse group of participants - trade unions established and new, community organisers, not for profits, academics, lawyers and journalists, with a shared interest in worker rights. In September 2025 60 people will deliver 40 different sessions to an audience of 135 people.

Overview of the role

This role, which will be largely remote, with regular online supervision and periodic meet-ups, offers the opportunity to support an important social justice initiative which has received hugely positive feedback from participants. You will have a high degree of autonomy, and a varied and interesting workload, as well as the opportunity to interact with and meet inspiring activists and educators.  Because of the annual cycle of the conference, you will ideally be able to flex your working hours across the year, with the opportunity for a four week break after the conference.

Job description

To provide operational support for Workplace Justice and the New Organising Conference with a particular focus on outreach and social media but also covering finance, website, participant database, registration, and governance.

Outreach and Operations Support Manager, New Organising Conference

3/4 days/week circa £33,000 f/t/e/

Background

Workplace Justice is the organisational home of the annual New Organising Conference, now in its third year, with support from the Network for Social Change The New Organising Conference, held over a weekend, is unique in bringing together a diverse group of participants - trade unions established and new, community organisers, not for profits, academics, lawyers and journalists, with a shared interest in worker rights and community organising. Participants learn, get inspiration and form new collaborations. In September 2025, 60 people delivered 44 different sessions to an audience of 130 people. You can see videos of past conferences here.

Overview of the role

This role is largely remote, with weekly online supervision and monthly meet-ups with the Coordinator, and twice yearly Board meetups. It offers the opportunity to support an important social justice initiative which has received hugely positive feedback from participants. You will have a high degree of autonomy, and a varied and interesting workload, as well as the opportunity to interact with and meet inspiring activists and educators.  Because of the annual cycle of the conference you will ideally be able to flex your working hours across the year, with the opportunity for a four week break after the conference. You are unlikely to be able to take more than one week’s holiday during July and August.

Summary job description

To provide operational support for Workplace Justice and the New Organising Conference, focussing on marketing and communications including social media but with responsibility in addition for finance, the participant database and governance.

The role offers 5 weeks paid holiday. PAYE or self-employed status for discussion.

Key tasks

• Raising the profile of NOC and attracting participants and session leaders through social media, email communications and networking

• Responsibility for ensuring the website evolves in line with the needs of the Conference

• Maintaining and operating a database of participants, past and present

• Managing the registration of participants to the conference including taking payment and where necessary issuing invoices, and recruiting volunteers to assist at the conference

• Supporting the Board led process to select sessions and plan the programme

• Attending the conference and trouble shooting as necessary

• Operating a simple finance system

• Support as needed for initiatives arising from the NOC

• Any other support tasks that may be required

Person specification

Essential

• At least three years experience in a similar role

• Contacts in and understanding of the trade union movement, UK or international

• Proven track record of using outreach on social media to achieve results

• Experience of working independently

• Close attention to detail in data handling

• Persuasive and constructive manner in dealing with other people

• Familiarity with website editors e.g Squarespace

• Experience of basic financial management

Desirable

• Experience of using the Action Network system

• Experience of event management

• Ability to accommodate peaks and troughs in workflow

• Experience of using graphic design software e.g. Canva, Adobe

• Experience of website design

• Experience of managing projects or operations with multiple stakeholders

Online interviews will be on October 10th with final in person interviews held in London on October 14th. If selected for an interview, we will email the interview questions ahead of the interview. As well as interviews there will be tests of competencies. All non AI generated applications with an email address will be acknowledged. If selected you will be expected to attend a 24 retreat with the Board on 5/6 December.

We especially welcome applications from people who are or have been marginalised in society on the basis of their class background, income, ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexuality, or other characteristics. 

Key dates

• The closing date for applications is midnight on October 4th

• Online interviews will be on October 10th with notification on October 8th.

• In person interviews will be held in London on October 14th with notification on October 11th.

About us and our ecological work

We are a small but growing UK-registered charity which undertakes projects that protect and restore wild landscapes, helping to provide a future for all life on earth. We use the skills and expertise of our multi-disciplinary team (spanning science, law, economics, technology and culture) to develop projects that protect and restore wild, natural landscapes. 

Our ecological work spans two exciting fronts: restoring missing species through projects like The Missing Lynx, Pine Marten and White-Tailed Eagle reintroductions in Northern England; and securing the protection of ecological restoration sites as a Responsible Body for conservation covenants through which we aim to set the gold standard, supporting ambitious, mission-aligned projects such as Nattergal’s High Fen site.

About the role

We are seeking to hire a dynamic and passionate Senior Ecologist to join The Lifescape Project, to play an integral role in the restoration of charismatic species to the UK and in landscape scale habitat restoration.

As a Senior Ecologist, your work will cover two distinct areas which are broadly: BNG-associated site assessments; and practical planning and feasibility aspects of species reintroductions.

Salary: £40,000 - £42,000 per annum, depending on experience + benefits.

Hours: Full-time, 40 hours per week.

Contract: Fixed-term contract for 12 months initially.

Location: Remote working with site survey work and some UK and international travel.

Please refer to the job description for further information about the role.

To apply, please email a CV and covering letter (each no longer than 2 pages of text) outlining how you meet the person specification and why you should be considered for this role.

Closing date: 9.00am on Monday 20 October 2025.

The role will commence as soon as possible.