Firm: Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) is seeking a senior lawyer to fill the permanent position of Senior Principal Prosecutor – Cork Region.
This is a new role, and the successful candidate will have the unique opportunity to work with the ODPP Regional Office project team to play a key part in establishing and developing our new Regional Office in Cork. The Regional Office is the latest Unit of the ODPP, and it is required to allow our Office to directly deliver prosecution service within Cork.
The Role
The Senior Principal Prosecutor is a key senior leadership position for the ODPP as they will play a key role in establishing and operating our new Regional Office. The establishment of the new office is essential to the ODPPs growing influence within the criminal justice sector. The role requires a highly experienced senior lawyer with strong strategic leadership and project management skills to drive the successful implementation of the project while ensuring business continuity.
The successful candidate will become a member of the ODPP’s Management Board, a position which will enable them to contribute to strategic decision making and ultimately participate in implementing our strategy. They will also be responsible for implementing ODPP policies and procedures.
The Senior Principal Prosecutor will be responsible for leading and managing a team of legal professionals and support staff who will enable the ODPP to directly deliver prosecution service within Cork. The Regional Office will be initially dealing with the Circuit Court sittings and District Court appeals and selected District Court prosecutions to include Revenue Offences.
The team of legal professionals will be supported onsite by a team of legal administrative staff and other support staff to assist with office services. The Regional Office will sit within the ODPP’s Solicitors Division, and the role holder will report directly to the Chief Prosecution Solicitor. As with all our Units within the ODPP, the Regional Office will be fully supported centrally by the Head Office in Dublin for data protection, research, policy, knowledge management, and corporate services functions including as finance, HR-OD, governance and strategy.
The Regional Office will also operate as a base for staff from the Serious and Sexual Offences Unit who are servicing the sittings of the Central Criminal Court in Cork. They will share the administrative and logistical supports of the Regional Office as needed. The Senior Principal Prosecutor will work collaboratively with a number of key stakeholders to complete significant planning in advance of launching the new office. This requires the successful candidate to be available to build relationships and to lead in ensuring the efficient and effective prosecution practices in the Regional Office. This will involve the Senior Principal Prosecutor spending time in Dublin to get acquainted with ODPP systems, practices and procedures.
The Senior Principal Prosecutor will be required to maintain a strong link with the Head Office, necessitating excellent communication and interpersonal skills from the successful candidate. The ability to communicate effectively upwards is crucial, as the role involves regular interaction with senior management and stakeholders.
As detailed above this position will play a key role in establishing the new office before then being responsible for the overall management of operations for the office when it is in place. This ultimately means the main roles and responsibilities for this role will develop overtime and can be divided as follows:
Immediate:
- Drive project delivery as the senior lawyer of the Regional Office project team, leading on-ground efforts in the local region and overseeing business continuity to ensure that optimum work practices are put in place to support the effective delivery of the prosecution service in Cork into the long term.
- Build and maintain productive and positive working relationships with current State Solicitors and staff to ensure ongoing engagement and progression with business continuity plans for the transfer of knowledge, procedures, processes and systems.
- Build and lead in senior stakeholder engagement with the Judiciary, An Garda Síochána, Courts Service, Probation Service, Sea Fisheries, Revenue Commissioners, defence practitioners and the wider criminal justice sector.
- Work collaboratively with HR-OD to progress the Strategic Workforce Planning and resourcing of the new regional team.
- Liaise with Facilities, ICT and where needed OPW locally to progress the set-up of the physical office.
- Lead a small team during the business continuity phase of the ODPP working collaboratively with the current State Solicitors Offices prior to establishing the new Regional Office.
- Attend Dublin as required for meetings and to learn and participate in the wider Management Board functions and attend SMT as required.
- Provide Strategic Leadership in the Regional Office through the development and implementation of key ODPP practices.
- Develop a full understanding of ODPP strategic goals, operational policies and case management practices.
- Build strong relationships with colleagues across the ODPP.
- Lead and manage a team of legal professionals and support staff within the Regional Office, including file assignment and case work.
- Develop and maintain strong strategic relationships across the Criminal Justice Sector, e.g. State Solicitors, An Garda Síochána, the Court Service and victim groups.
- Manage a personal caseload.
- Manage governance for the Regional Office in line with ODPP standards, ensuring adherence to current office policies, procedures and practices.
- Liaise with centrally provided services in Head Office including HR-OD, Finance, Knowledge Management, Data Protection, ICT and Facilities.
Please note that the above list of responsibilities is not exhaustive. As Senior Principal Prosecutor responsibilities within the Office may be reassigned, the person appointed must have the capacity to perform other roles and responsibilities which are appropriate to the level of this grade in the ODPP.
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