Legislative Director for Courts, Justice, & Administrative Law

## Founded in 1971

Founded in 1971, Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization, taking on the biggest, most precedent‑setting cases across the country. Partnering with thousands of groups, supporters, individuals, and communities, Earthjustice uses the power of the law to protect people’s health, preserve places and wildlife, advance clean energy, and combat climate change. Headquartered in San Francisco, Earthjustice maintains offices nationwide and has a distinguished record of achieving significant, lasting environmental protections through litigation and advocacy.

Earthjustice seeks a seasoned Legislative Director for Courts, Justice, & Administrative Law to lead its federal legislative and administrative advocacy related to court integrity, the justice system, and administrative law. Reporting to the Vice President of Policy and Legislation (PAL), this role provides strategic leadership, direct lobbying, coalition engagement, and team management within Earthjustice’s PAL division. This senior, externally facing leadership position represents Earthjustice before Congress, the Administration, coalition partners, media, and the public. Moreover, this role will oversee a small team and collaborate closely with litigators, other Legislative Directors, and organizational leadership to advance the mission of Earthjustice.

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## Responsibilities

### Legislative Strategy and Implementation
• Shapes and implements federal legislative and administrative advocacy strategies related to court integrity, justice system reform, and administrative law.
• Directly lobbies Members of Congress and Administration officials.
• Educates policymakers on legal developments, court rulings, and regulatory impacts.
• Within the PAL team, recommends organizational positions on policy, legislation, and presidential nominees for judicial and agency appointments.
• Develops, maintains, and builds trusted relationships with senior staff of key Congressional and Administration decision‑makers, including relevant Congressional Committees.
• Develops and oversees advocacy and educational materials for stakeholders and decision makers.
• Plans and oversees key advocacy events such as briefings, lobby days, and fly‑ins to educate decision makers.
• Proactively seeks opportunities for Earthjustice to advance policies in the federal legislative and regulatory arenas.

### Coalition Building and External Engagement
• Maintains an active leadership presence within the D.C. environmental and justice policy community, representing Earthjustice in coalitions and with partners.
• Serves as a key spokesperson on issues of court integrity, justice system, and administrative law, while supporting Earthjustice’s media and public engagement.
• Creates opportunities for partners and allies to engage, educate, and advocate on issues of court integrity, justice system, and administrative law to garner media, Hill, and Administration attention.

### Internal Coordination & Management
• Coordinates with litigation, policy, and communications leadership within Earthjustice to develop and implement department‑wide advocacy and efficiency strategies.
• Participates in strategic planning, budgeting, and fundraising support.
• Leads, mentors, and supervises staff (currently two direct reports).
• Fosters an inclusive, collaborative team culture.
• Serves as a liaison with Vice Presidents of Litigation, relevant Practice/Working Group chairs, litigators, as well as PAL and National Communications Strategists.

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## Supervision
• Cultivates and leads a cohesive and supportive policy team around court integrity, justice system, and administrative law issues.
• Occasionally substitutes for the V.P. of PAL when the V.P. is unavailable.
• Hires and supervises PAL staff on the Courts, Justice & Administrative Law team and fosters coordination and collaboration with PAL staff whose work intersects with the work of the team.
• Provides advocacy coaching, mentoring, and regular feedback to direct reports.
• Fosters a transparent and inclusive culture within the team and PAL.
• Supervises projects and other efforts performed on assigned issues by Legislative Assistants, Interns, or contractors.

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## Management
• Recruits and hires qualified candidates who fit position requirements and the work environment.
• Promotes change in terms of the expected benefits, as well as removing or lowering the impact of potential obstacles.
• Sets clear team direction that aligns with Earthjustice strategy, mission, and vision.
• Develops staff by identifying and encouraging training and professional development opportunities appropriate to role and creating development plans for all staff.
• Provides staff with consistent performance feedback — both positive and constructive — and acts as a coach and mentor.
• Creates a learning culture by encouraging debriefing after completion of significant stages of projects.
• Resolves interpersonal conflict among team members and brings in outside facilitators as needed.
• Communicates regularly with existing employees and encourages staff to raise concerns and provide ongoing feedback.
• Creates or identifies strategic opportunities for team building and individual and overall staff engagement to strengthen teamwork, interaction, and collaboration.
• Values and uses individual differences and talents to improve employee satisfaction and the quality of collective work.
• Celebrates successes and helps team members understand and manage setbacks.

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## Qualifications

This role requires a proactive, mission‑driven leader with significant cross‑partisan political fluency, social intelligence, and a strong desire to make progress on critical policy issues. The successful candidate will be highly collaborative, empathetic, pragmatic, and detail‑oriented, and thrive in a team environment while also possessing:

• Eight years of combined federal legislative and administrative advocacy experience
• Some experience with U.S. environmental law
• Strong communication, leadership, relationship, and coalition‑building skills
• Ability to mentor, coach, and develop others with excellent communication skills
• Flexible and agile with strong organizational skills
• Experience working with traditional and social media

### Education
J.D. highly preferred

### Travel
Approximately 5–10%.

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## Salary & Benefits
Base salary range: $168,900 – $187,700 plus comprehensive benefits package.

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## Location
This is a hybrid position based in Washington, D.C., with a minimum of two days per week in the office.

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## How to Apply

Please submit a resume and letter of interest as a Word document to:

**Darren DeGioia**
JDG Associates, Ltd.
Executive Search Consultants
702 King Farm Boulevard
Rockville, MD 20850
[email protected]
(301) 340‑2210

JDG Associates, established in 1973, is a leading provider of executive recruiting services to nonprofits, trade associations, professional societies, Fortune 1000 corporations, the Federal government, and a broad array of government contractors.

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Earthjustice is driven by a passion for justice, partnership, inclusion, and excellence. Our core values lead us to seek a broad range of perspectives and backgrounds to achieve our mission and to maintain an inclusive environment where all staff are valued and respected. As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to employment practices that ensure that employees and applicants for employment are given equal opportunities without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, or any other factor not related to the position.