Principal Legal Officer

Principal Legal Officer (EL 2) - $150,189 - $163,620
- Chief Counsel
- Adelaide - SA, Brisbane - QLD, Canberra -ACT, Melbourne - VIC, Sydney - NSW
- Take a leadership role in a growing and exciting Commonwealth legal practice.
- Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide or Sydney based roles
- Ongoing position
- High profile Commonwealth department

**Who we are**
The Chief Counsel Division is managed by the Chief Counsel and is comprised of both lawyers and non-lawyers. Together we are responsible for all legal services required by the department. We partner with the business areas of the department, the Executive, and the Secretary to identify and manage legal risk across the department and facilitate excellent legal outcomes for our clients. As a member of the Division, you will be part of growing our legal practice and will be involved in interesting and important work which may span environment protection, energy, climate change and heritage, and on-ground operations in Commonwealth national parks and Antarctica. The Chief Counsel Division operates in a fast paced, exciting environment. We focus on ensuring our staff are supported and developed so that they are in the best position to take on and enjoy the challenges of the work. We provide competitive conditions and remuneration and provide opportunities for lawyers to either specialise or diversify their skills, while learning from and being supported by highly skilled senior lawyers.

Work we do includes:

- providing legal advice on a broad range of issues including statutory interpretation and administrative law, regulatory actions and investigations and commercial work and funding activities
- managing the department’s litigation across a broad range of matters including merits review, judicial review, regulatory enforcement, commercial disputes, and Work Health and Safety matters, in a range of Courts and Tribunals
- developing legal risk and mitigation strategies, particularly in areas of novel or complex work
- developing and coordinating legislation bids and processes, including drafting instructions for the department’s ambitious legislative reform agenda
- developing legal guidance resources and delivering training to the department
- coordinating freedom of information requests and privacy advice
- providing administrative and financial support services to the Division.

The Chief Counsel Division operates in a fast paced, exciting environment. We focus on ensuring our staff are supported and developed so that they are in the best position to take on and enjoy the challenges of the work. We provide competitive conditions and remuneration and provide opportunities for lawyers to either specialise or diversify their skills, while learning from and being supported by highly skilled senior lawyers.

**The Job**
Principal Legal Officers hold a leadership role in the Chief Counsel Division. They display honesty and integrity and help to drive the vision and strategic direction of the Division. There are multiple positions available across all legal practice areas including:

- litigation and dispute resolution
- corporate and commercial
- legislation development
- administrative law and statutory interpretation.

In this role you will:

- be responsible for motivating, mentoring, and leading a section to deliver on initiatives and goals whilst striving to create an inclusive, responsive and effective work environment
- use your technical expertise to provide complex and sensitive legal advice which identifies both legal requirements and areas of legal risk
- identify whole-of-government and department issues and work towards delivering quality government outcomes
- provide strategic legal advice to the Executive and the Minister
- mentor and guide junior lawyers, build the capacity of team members, manage performance and wellbeing, and identify development needs and opportunities
- liaise and engage with other internal or external professionals as necessary to exchange views, seek advice and ensure positive outcomes
- engage with the Senior Executive and key clients to understand their business and provide solutions-focussed advice
- participate in the divisional leadership group, provide input to management decisions and strategic planning, and contribute to the vision of the Division
- undertake corporate duties which may include reporting, responding to coordinators, and risk identification and mitigation processes
- take responsibility for maintaining your professional knowledge and expertise
- manage the staffing profile of your team, including overseeing and managing the use of service providers and contractors
- represent the department or Division as required at inter-agency, executive, or external meetings
- oversee and prepare a range of written material including parliamentary and ministerial documents.

**What we are looking for**

**Knowledge and experience**

**Skills and capabilities**
- have significant technical expertise in t