Lawyer - Advocacy and Campaigns

To be considered for an interview, please make sure your application is full in line with the job specs as found below.

12-month Fixed Term Contract, full time (35 hours) Up to £56,350 + Excellent benefits Woking, Surrey GU21 4LL / Hybrid Working (minimum 40% in person collaboration per month)

About the role

We’re excited to be recruiting for a Lawyer – Advocacy and Campaigns to help WWF use the law as a powerful tool to advance our advocacy and influencing agenda. At WWF-UK, we’re working to tackle the greatest environmental challenges facing our planet and build a future where people and nature thrive together. The future of our world is in our hands and it’s time to accelerate the action urgently needed to restore nature.

In this role, you will lead and support the use of legal strategies to strengthen WWF’s campaigns, policy work and business advocacy interventions. You will help identify opportunities where the law can drive meaningful change and support our strategic objectives, including tackling deforestation and supporting more sustainable supply chains and financial systems for climate and nature. Working across priority portfolios and alongside colleagues in the UK and across the WWF network, you will provide and commission strategic legal advice that helps shape and strengthen our advocacy work. You will also identify and manage impactful legal interventions that advance WWF’s public interest objectives, while ensuring legal, reputational and strategic risks are effectively managed. You will play a key role in ensuring WWF remains up to date with legislative and regulatory developments relevant to our influencing priorities and will build and maintain strong relationships with external legal counsel to support advocacy and campaigning work. This role will act as WWF’s primary internal expert on how the law can be used to support and accelerate our strategic advocacy goals. We are open to the possibility of this role being on a job share basis.

Skills and experience

• Essential
• Qualified solicitor or barrister holding a current UK practising certificate, or equivalent relevant experience or qualifications
• Significant post-qualification experience relevant to WWF’s aims, including experience supporting advocacy, campaigning or policy work
• Detailed knowledge and experience of advising on environmental, public or international law, with strong litigation skills
• Experience commissioning and managing external legal advice
• Sound legal judgement, with the ability to identify opportunities for legal advocacy to support influencing priorities
• Strong strategic and systems thinking skills, with the ability to see how legal interventions can drive wider systemic change
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex legal issues clearly to non-expert audiences
• The ability to work collaboratively across multiple teams and priorities, including in matrix environments in the UK and globally
• A proactive, organised and adaptable approach, able to respond to changing priorities while maintaining focus on strategic outcomes
• Commitment to the mission and values of WWF
• Desirable
• Knowledge and experience of ESG, financial services regulation and company law
• Understanding of legal issues relating to climate and nature-related risks and opportunities for companies and financial institutions
• Experience supporting legal interventions connected to environmental campaigns or public interest litigation
• Experience working in or alongside NGOs, advocacy organisations or mission-driven organisations

What we offer

We believe in rewarding our team with more than just a salary. Here’s what you can expect:

• Annual leave starting at 26 days a year pro-rated, rising one day each year to 31 days plus bank holidays
• Flexible working options, to support your work life balance
• 5% employer contribution to pension, rising to 10% with employee contribution
• Learning and development opportunities to help you grow
• Regular wellbeing initiatives to support your health and happiness.

This is a UK based contract, and you are required to have the Right to Work in the UK. Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer sponsorship and any offer of employment will be subject to evidence of your Right to Work in the UK. This role is hybrid with a minimum 40% of your contracted hours spent at our beautiful UK head office, the Living Planet Centre in Woking, Surrey, where you’ll hot desk among trees and gardens.

About WWF-UK

We're a global conservation charity with millions of supporters and hundreds of projects around the world. At WWF-UK, we’re bringing our world back to life. Protecting what’s left isn’t enough. We’re racing to restore nature and prevent catastrophic climate change. And it’s a race we can win with everyone’s help. We’re courageous, passionate, and driven by science. For more than 60 years we’ve been at the forefront of global efforts to protect wildlife and the natural world. We work with integrity, collaboration and deep respect for those we partner with.

How to apply

Click the link to apply via our website. You’ll be asked to complete an application form and upload your CV and a supporting statement that tells us why you’ll be a great addition to WWF-UK. Application closing date - 04/06/2026

Our Diversity Promise to You

At the heart of our mission is a simple truth: the planet needs everyone. That means you - in all your uniqueness, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marital status, race, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, or how you choose to express yourself. We don’t do stereotypes. We work together with purpose, driven by passion and enhanced by respect, courage, and integrity. We pull together from all walks of life to fight for a better future, and we want you to feel supported every step of the way. We’re proud to be a Disability Confident employer and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels they belong. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and identities. So, if there’s anything we can do to make your application or interview experience more comfortable or accessible, just give our Talent Acquisition Team a shout via our website.

Safeguarding Commitment

Just as we celebrate diversity in all its forms, we are equally dedicated to creating a safe environment for every person we work with or encounter. Our commitment extends to children, adults at risk, and individuals experiencing any form of vulnerability, whether temporary or permanent. We proudly stand behind CAPSEAH (Common Approach to Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Sexual Abuse and Sexual Harassment) and put this commitment into action through clear policies, thorough training, and recruitment checks tailored to each role, which may include external vetting. If you ever have a concern, however big or small, know that there are confidential channels ready to support you at WWF-UK. We promise to respond promptly and with care, because protecting every individual is at the heart of everything we do.