General Counsel

Office of the Children’s Guardian

General Counsel

• Exciting opportunity to join a dynamic workplace and play a role in keeping our children safe.
• Join a supportive and collaborative team culture with learning & development opportunities and access to wellbeing programs.
• One full-time, temporary role located at Strawberry Hills with hybrid / flexible working arrangements.
• Senior Executive Band 1- Total Remuneration Package (TRP) $247,865 - $272,811 per annum

About the Office of Children’s Guardian

The Office of the Children’s Guardian (OCG) upholds NSW children and young people’s right to be safe by overseeing, regulating and monitoring organisations and individuals that provide services to children.  We are guided by our values of integrity, trust, service, accountability, respect and empathy. 

To find out more about the Office of the Children’s Guardian, visit our website.

About the role

The role provides high quality professional legal services to assist the Children's Guardian perform the statutory functions and exercise the statutory powers of the office in a lawful and accountable manner. The role leads the provision of legal services in all legal matters involving the Children's Guardian and delivers expert, accurate and timely advice and representation, particularly in relation to complex, sensitive and high profile legal matters.

We are seeking a motivated and resilient person to: 

• Lead, direct and manage the delivery of expert, accurate and timely professional legal services to the Office of the Children's Guardian. Consult with the Children's Guardian on significant legal matters and devise strategies for dealing with those matters.
• Act as the primary legal representative of the Office of the Children's Guardian in legal proceedings and instructs solicitors or directly briefs counsel to advise and appear for the Children's Guardian. Review and advise on proposed contracts and business agreements and develop or draft model contracts and business agreements as required.
• Manage the Office of the Children's Guardian's legislative amendments program, consulting senior staff as appropriate as well as other legal staff of the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Parliamentary Counsel's Office.

Key knowledge and experience

• Taking the initiative on matters within the role's area of responsibility having regard to accountability standards, performance measures and critical risks. This requires high level critical thinking and analysis to effectively deal with the complexity and range of decisions that need to be made.
• Keeping abreast of the key legal and policy issues relevant to the Office of the Children's Guardian as well as maintaining a good understanding of current priorities and areas of focus. Regular advice should be provided to the Children's Guardian and other senior officers in relation to significant policy developments, particularly in those areas directly relevant to the Children's Guardian's jurisdiction.
• Managing complex and sensitive issues and providing informed advice and delivering options and solutions often within short timeframes. This will require the balancing of competing interests, including weighing up the short term and long-term goals of the Office. This role is expected to provide independent advice and recommendations at all times and make decisions of a legal and policy nature.

Essential Requirements

• Tertiary qualifications in law with admission as a legal practitioner and holding, or eligible to hold, an unrestricted NSW practising certificate.
• All roles within the Office of the Children's Guardian are required to have a current Working with Children Check.
• Employment at the Office of the Children’s Guardian is subject to the satisfactory completion of security and vetting checks

For further information about the role, please view the role description.

Our commitment to Diversity

We welcome and encourage applications from people across our diverse community, especially from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants. We believe everyone has the right to feel safe, respected, valued and heard regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity or disability.

The OCG encourages applications from people with disability and will provide reasonable adjustments in our recruitment processes and in the workplace.

If you require an adjustment in the recruitment process, please contact the OCG People and Culture team on (02) 8219 3661 or OCG.HR@ocg.nsw.gov.au and advise of your preferred method of communication.

How to apply

When applying you will need to attach a cover letter (maximum 2 pages) which also addresses the two targeted questions below and an up-to-date resume (maximum 4 pages) in either Word or PDF format.

We are looking for you to demonstrate your competence in the focus capabilities as outlined in the role description, so please develop your response with this in mind.

Targeted questions

1. Describe how your skills and experience align with the role
2. Outline your interest in the role

 Note: the selection process will include a range of assessment techniques to assist in determining your suitability for the role.

We encourage you to please email our contact Rachael Ward, Children's Guardian via Cassandra.Woodfield@ocg.nsw.gov.au to discuss the role.

Applications closing date: Friday, 5 June 2026 at 10:00am

A talent pool may be created through this recruitment process. A talent pool is a group of applicants who have been assessed and identified as suitable for this role, and who may be considered for a range of similar roles, including temporary, term or ongoing roles, over the next 18 months.