About the role:

This is an exciting opportunity to progress your legal career and obtain valuable experience working as a Supervising Lawyer with the Prosecutions Courts Branch, Legal Services Department at Victoria Police. 

Victoria Police's Legal Services Department is continuing to enhance its court advocacy response in an effort to meet the expansion of court networks and jurisdictions across Victoria. In order to address repeat victimisation, recidivism and offending across diverse demographics, the Specialist Family Violence Courts will be expanding across the Magistrates' Court of Victoria. Victoria Police is seeking to continue supporting the growing cohort of Police Lawyers with enthusiastic, skilled and dedicated leaders to support the delivery of prosecution services across a range of family violence and criminal related matters.

This role is located in the Prosecutions Courts Branch, reporting to the Managing Principal Lawyer of the Police Lawyers Group. The role offers the opportunity to provide legal supervision, professional development, mentoring & support to teams of highly valued Police Lawyers/Prosecutors & Legal Support Officers, all with varying skills and experience, deployed across regional Prosecutions Courts Branch units.

The role will require you to contribute to the development and implementation of processes and policies that underpin the services delivered by Prosecutions in various therapeutic court jurisdictions with a focus in the Family Violence & Drug Court portfolios. As a Supervising Lawyer, you will induct, train & mentor Police Lawyers/Prosecutors & Legal Support Officers in court advocacy, court etiquette and prosecutorial case management. You will also be required to provide data & statistical reports regarding compliance and processes, whilst also reporting on the performance and professional development needs of your designated regional work unit.  

The role will require you to develop and maintain collaborative internal relationships as well as work with external stakeholders across multiple agencies, as part of a broad network that will ensure cooperative and proactive approaches to addressing community harm.

Victoria Police is a professional, diverse and flexible workforce that continues to lead the way in victim centric support, whilst striving to prevent and reduce community harm.

Victoria Police is a contemporary and agile workplace and supports flexible working arrangements.

Your duties will include:

• Providing legal supervision, mentoring and professional development to Police Lawyers/Prosecutors & Legal Support Staff across the Legal Services Department, as directed.
• Engaging with & maintaining professional working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Reviewing & maintaining oversight of the services delivered by the Police Lawyers Group across the Family Violence portfolio and Drug Court portfolio across Regional Victoria or as directed.
• Developing and implementing processes and practices to support the prosecution of matters on behalf of Victoria Police.
• Developing and delivering legal professional training sessions for Police Lawyers, Legal Support Officers and Victoria Police members assigned to prosecuting and case managing Family Violence Intervention order matters and other areas of practice, as required.
• Providing legal advice to Victoria Police members and appearing in Court on behalf of the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, in matters involving complex intervention order applications and other matters across the Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction, with a predominant focus in the Special Family Violence Courts & Drug Court Jurisdiction.

As the successful applicant, you will have:

• Admission to practice as an Australian Lawyer (Unrestricted Practising Certificate).
• Ability to work in a team, in a developing and emerging work environment.
• High level of resilience and emotional intelligence.
• High level understanding and experience as a court advocate in the Family Violence jurisdiction
• Experience in coaching, mentoring and developing Lawyers to undertake legal advocacy work.
• A current and valid Drivers' Licence.

Requirements and relevant information:

• One (1) x Full time, ongoing position available.
• Your usual place of work will be at Prosecutions Courts Branch Head Quarters, 456 Lonsdale St Melbourne.
• You will be required to travel to regional and metropolitan Courts Branch units, as required to provide legal supervision and support to your team and to appear in Court.
• Applicants must be an Australian Citizen, Permanent Resident or hold a valid work permit or visa.
• The successful candidate will be required to undergo pre-employment checks which may include fingerprint checks and misconduct screening.
• In accordance with the Acting Chief Health Officer's Direction – COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination (Workers) Directions, you are required to be fully vaccinated (this includes the booster vaccination) and your employment with Victoria Police is subject to proof of vaccination.
• As a member of the Legal Services Department you will be located, on selection, at a specific office within a Division for a particular advertised opportunity.  However, given occasional legal service demand issues you may be required at times to undertake varied work within the Department.  This supports the Departments commitment to a flexible and deployable legal workforce and professional development opportunities in a range of legal domains.

Your application must include:

• Resume
• Completed application form – the word document (2. Application form) for you to complete and attach to your submission, is attached to the job advertisement. 
• A copy of your Australian Legal Practising Certificate.

Applications close on midnight Monday 30^th of May.

Please Note: All applications will need to be submitted through one of the following platforms; Jobs and Skills Exchange (JSE) the Victorian Government careers website (Careers.vic) website or Seek. Applications will not be accepted via other platforms or email.

All internal applicants must apply via Jobs and Skills Exchange (JSE).

For further information on this role please contact: Irene Chrisopoulidis on 0437629835 or via email irene.chrisopoulidis@police.vic.gov.au. No recruitment agency calls please.

If you have a disability/medical condition and require a copy of this advertisement and attached documentation in an accessible format or would like to discuss an access requirements/reasonable adjustment for the recruitment process, please contact VPS Recruitment via email VPSRECRUITMENT@police.vic.gov.au or on (03) 8335 8081.

About Us:

Victoria Police has a dedicated workforce of more than 22,000 employees consisting of police, protective services officers, police custody officers, and public service staff. Each employee plays a vital role in providing the 24/7, 365 days a year emergency response and public safety capability the organisation delivers to its community. As a Victoria Police employee, you have a dedication and commitment to community safety. 

Having a workforce that reflects the community we serve is important to Victoria Police. We want to attract and retain people of all genders, ages, religions, disability, sexual orientation, family and caring responsibilities, and cultures including people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage. If you are interested in a position, we encourage you to apply as we celebrate the benefit that diversity brings to our employees, our services, and our community.

Find out what it is like working as a Victorian Public Servant for Victoria Police: https://www.police.vic.gov.au/vps