Program Manager

About Leafgreenafrica Institute & The Project

At Leafgreenafrica Institute, we operate at the intersection of environmental sustainability, climate action, and legal justice. Through initiatives like our Pre-Trial Justice Project, we provide free, crucial legal services to indigenes in Nigeria who are suffering from systemic injustice and human rights violations.

Because our mission relies heavily on dedicated people, our volunteers are the backbone of our work. We are seeking a highly organized, assertive, and proactive Volunteer Program Manager to lead, structure, and nurture our volunteer workforce across all project streams.

About the Role

As the Volunteer Program Manager, you will be responsible for the end-to-end lifecycle of our volunteer operations. You will ensure that volunteers across grant management, research, legal advocacy, and administration are fully onboarded, engaged, supported, and meeting their commitments.

This is an execution-driven leadership role requiring someone who excels at communication, team accountability, and workflow management. We will provide all necessary technological tools, but you must be an independent self-starter who can run operations without needing constant supervision.

Key Responsibilities

• Volunteer Lifecycle Management: Oversee onboarding, orientation, role alignment, and offboarding for all volunteers across the institute.
• Performance & Accountability Tracking: Monitor volunteer engagement, track progress on deliverables, and proactively follow up to ensure team members stay on schedule and deliver quality work.
• Community & Engagement: Serve as the primary point of contact for volunteers, fostering a supportive environment, maintaining high morale, and resolving internal bottlenecks.
• Operations & Coordination: Work closely with department leads (e.g., Research Lead, Grants Lead) to identify staffing gaps, recruit new talent, and assign volunteer resources effectively.
• Meeting Facilitation: Coordinate team updates and enforce attendance for our mandatory 1-hour monthly strategy meeting held on the last Thursday of every month.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Leadership or Management Experience: Proven experience in program management, human resources, team coordination, or volunteer management (formal or informal).
• Strong Interpersonal & Communication Skills: Exceptional written and verbal communication abilities; able to set clear expectations and hold team members accountable with empathy and firmness.
• High Independence & Drive: Exceptional organizational skills with the ability to build systems, solve problems, and keep a distributed team moving forward independently.
• Tools & Tech Savviness: Familiarity with project management and communication tools (e.g., Monday.com, Slack, WhatsApp Communities, Google Workspace) is a strong plus.
• Commitment to the Cause: A sincere passion for social justice, human rights, or environmental causes in Nigeria.
• Technical Setup: Must reside in a place with stable access to electricity and high-speed internet (software tools will be provided by the organization).

What We Offer

• Full access to all software and management tools required to execute the role.
• 100% remote work flexibility from anywhere in Nigeria.
• High-level leadership experience building and managing remote operations in a mission-driven organization.
• Direct involvement in creating tangible legal and environmental impact for marginalized communities.

⚠️ Before You Apply: Please Read Carefully

This is a no-pay volunteer position that holds significant operational responsibility. Managing volunteers requires consistent communication, structure, and reliability.

• We are not looking for casual applicants or someone who will disappear mid-way through their tenure.
• We need a leader whose word means something, who takes ownership, and who can keep others accountable without needing to be micromanaged.
• You must be able to commit to and coordinate our monthly strategy meeting on the last Thursday of each month.

If you have any doubts about your time availability, leadership capacity, or commitment to this role, this position is not for you.

However, if you are an organized leader looking to sharpen your program management skills while driving a powerful social justice mission, we welcome your application.