Chamber Manager, Clerk Grade 11/12

**Ongoing (35 hrs. per week)**: - **Sydney CBD - primarily On Site **with flexible working arrangements available**: - **Clerk Grade 11/12, Base Salary ($134,411 - $155,445), plus employer’s contribution to superannuation and annual leave loading** Are you passionate about ensuring access to legal representation for socially and economically disadvantaged people in the criminal justice system? **YES >** Public Defenders are salaried barristers, independent of government, who appear in serious criminal matters for legally aided clients within NSW. Public Defenders may be briefed to advise or appear in a matter through the Legal Aid Commission, the Aboriginal Legal Service, a private solicitor, or any community legal centre. Do you like a role that is highly independent and challenging? **YES >** The Chambers Manager role is a great way to bridge the gap between the public service and private legal practice and use all your skills as a manager, communicator and innovator. The role involves spanning the management responsibilities for statutorily appointed Public Defenders and public sector support staff and meeting public sector reporting, policy, and procedure requirements, such as annual reports. It involves working with key personnel in the department on the structures, tools and policies to improve the administrative support to the Chambers. Would you love to build a breadth of senior administrative experiences and the expert skills to prepare you for senior executive roles? **YES >** The Chambers Manager is a strategic leader, responsible for a budget of $12m; a staff of between 8-10 people (and assisting 29 Public Defenders); policy and service initiatives to continually improve our services; business planning and risk identification and mitigation; and for 11 sites across the state. **Your role** Provide strategic leadership and direction in the management of the chambers for the Public Defenders, including a wide range of management, administrative and support responsibilities to ensure the efficient and effective operation of Public Defenders chambers. This is achieved through ensuring Public Defenders receive all the necessary assistance to enable them to do their work effectively, to develop and manage improvements to service delivery within chambers and for external clients, information management, financial management, business planning, and staff engagement including provision of development opportunities. The role is integral to managing the well-being of Public Defenders. The Chambers Manager supports and maintains the Public Defenders chambers as an independent entity pursuant to the _Public Defenders Act, 1995._ **What you’ll do** The successful applicant will manage, engage and develop administrative staff to ensure work quality is maintained for both staff and Public Defenders. Ethical work practices and performance planning and development agreements are required to be in place for each staff member. You will also: Manage a range of projects and administrative responsibilities to support the Public Defenders, particularly through the development and monitoring of information technology, business, risk and other plans, coordination of resources, management of the budget and monitoring and reporting of service delivery by working cooperatively with senior management, stakeholders and staff. Balance the dual reporting aspects of the role between the Senior Public Defender and the Director Division Support and Public Accountability (DSPA) for the administrative reporting functions, including human resource responsibilities, information technology and business planning and accountability. Manage continuing education seminars and conferences for the profession; and provide internships and other legal training for law students, including practical legal training (PLT) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander law student cadetship and law graduate programs. **What we’re looking for** - A great people leader, with experience supervising staff to perform at high levels through periods of change. - Good understanding of the role of Public Defenders and of the criminal justice system; understanding of machinery of government - The ability to acquire knowledge of the operations of the Public Defenders and the Department of Communities and Justice. - Strong organizational, strategic, communication, time management and analytical/reporting skills - The ability to work independently is critical as this role is highly independent. A dual reporting structure between the public sector accountabilities and independent statutory officers provides some great challenges and opportunities. - Demonstrated ability to write and speak in plain English and to communicate with all audiences through a variety of mediums **Essential requirements** Tertiary qualifications in law or business management or equivalent experience. - National Criminal History Record Check in accordance with the D