The OPD is seeking a passionate, organized, and strategic leader to join its executive leadership team! As the Assistant Director of the Columbus Office, you will provide the vision, leadership, strategic direction, personnel, and operations management for our Columbus Office Divisions, which include Appellate Services and Policy and Outreach. Internally, you will report to the Director (the State Public Defender) and help advance the agency’s mission, vision, and objectives and inform policy decisions that impact the indigent defense community in Ohio. You will assist the Director by leading legislative and internal agency communications. You will work closely with all levels of OPD staff and various external stakeholders in the county indigent defense community and justice system. You will be instrumental in assisting the Public Defender with adopting the recommendations of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Indigent Defense Task Force and those from the HB150 legislative Task Force, as they are examining the present funding and structure of indigent defense in Ohio. You will communicate regularly with the agency Director, Trial Services Assistant Director, Chief Fiscal Officer, Human Resources Director, and other members of OPD’s leadership team. You will also work directly with external members of the justice system, private attorneys serving as contractors, and county commissioners. You may also carry a limited caseload of direct client representation. You will directly supervise the Deputy Director of the Appellate Services Division, the Deputy Director of the Policy and Outreach Division, and an Executive Program Administrator. Appellate Services is the agency’s largest division and focuses mainly on an individual’s post-conviction rights and advocacy in the criminal justice system and it contains six departments (appeals and postconviction, death penalty, intake and prison legal services, mitigation and investigation, wrongful conviction, and youth defense). The Policy and Outreach Division supervises the compliance of county indigent defense systems with the Public Defender Commission’s standards and guidelines, processes millions of dollars of reimbursement to Ohio’s 88 counties, manages legislation and public information, provides technical aid and assistance to local indigent defense service providers, and serves as main point of contact for all indigent defense system stakeholders in Ohio’s 88 counties. To be successful, you will have prior leadership experience in public defense and will demonstrate the ability to communicate clearly, connect employees to a shared mission, vision and values, and innovate within complex systems to continually improve client service and reduce inequities.

Contactperson

Joshua Barton

Phone

6144665394

Email

joshua.barton@opd.ohio.gov