Assistant Secretary, Dublin Pike

Job Title:

Assistant Secretary, Director (Designate) of Criminal Justice International Co-operation, Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

Employer:

Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

County:

Dublin

About the Employer: Legislation currently being progressed (the‘Criminal Justice International Cooperation Office Bill 2025’) will establish the Director of CJIC as a corporation sole acting independently in the performance of their functions. The Competent Authority roles arising under the e‑Evidence Package will be legally vested in the Director of CJIC.

It is envisaged that the CJICO will comprise four main divisions aligned with the roles arising under the e‑Evidence Package and will also have Corporate Affairs and Legal Divisions to support these functions. Staff across these divisions will act with delegated authority to carry out the functions of the Director for International Cooperation, as delegated by the Director.

The CJICO is being set up on a phased basis. At full operation from 2028, it is anticipated that the office will comprise 150 staff working across its divisions.

The creation of the CJICO will provide a cohesive approach to digital regulation in the criminal justice space by centralising the necessary skills and expertise, providing a single point of contact for cross‑border judicial cooperation on e‑Evidence, and ensuring a streamlined regulatory framework. The CJICO must be ready to discharge its statutory obligations immediately upon commencement of the Regulation on 18 August 2026.

The Director will be expected to lead on recruitment and organisational preparation, as well as business process mapping and service provider registration, assisted by an already established Implementation Team within the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.

About the Role: Legal Responsibilities of Director The CJICO Bill 2025, which is currently being drafted, will designate the Director of CJIC as the competent authority for specified roles under the e‑Evidence Package, as follows:

(1) The Director will be designated as the Irish enforcement authority under the e‑Evidence Regulation.

(2) The Director will be designated as the Irish central authority pursuant to Article 4(6) of the e‑Evidence Regulation responsible for the transmission of European Production Orders and European Preservation Orders and of notifications.

(3) The Director will be designated as the Irish central authority responsible for ensuring the e‑Evidence Directive is applied in a consistent and appropriate manner pursuant to Article 6 of that Directive.

(4) The Director will have the responsibility of determining whether there have been infringements of the provisions set out in Articles 3 and 4 of the e‑Evidence Directive (requirements to designate and resource ‘addressees’) and may impose penalties where such an infringement is confirmed.

(5) The Director will have the responsibility of imposing pecuniary penalties on Service Providers of up to 2% of global annual turnover, in cases where an infringement of the e‑Evidence Regulation is confirmed, following an enforcement procedure under Article 16 of the e‑Evidence Regulation.

In carrying out their functions, the Director will be required to work with domestic judicial and law enforcement bodies and those of other Member States, EU institutions, and senior representatives of major service providers.

About You: Candidates suitable to fill this role should have experience working in an EU and international context at a high level, with a range of stakeholders, including industry leaders and senior officials. Candidates would also benefit from legal expertise, given the complex nature of the decisions that will be required of the Director (including on issues of fundamental rights and freedoms). The Director will be required to effectively engage and coordinate with other Member States’ competent authorities and the European Commission, particularly with regard to enforcement actions and the imposition of significant penalties. The judgement and decision‑making capability expected at Assistant Secretary grade, involving the ability to assess legal complexity, foresee future challenges, and make politically defensible, sound decisions are key to the role of CJICO Director.

Noting the significant challenge of operationalising an office from the ground up, as well as the challenge of managing the anticipated scale of work that will transpire from August 2026, the candidate filling the post of Director will require a strong focus on delivery of results. They must have the resilience necessary to embrace the challenges that will come with the post. The Director must be able to adapt to change, leading through uncertainty, and scale organisational capacity into the future, seeing the long‑term plan for the expansion of the office and strategically leading it accordingly.

The Closing Date for this competition is Thursday, 4th of June at 3pm.

We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity and encourage applications under all nine grounds of the Employment Equality Act.

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