Deputy Director of Policy & Outreach Division

You will provide the vision, leadership, strategic direction, personnel, and operations management for our Policy and Outreach Division. You will report to the Assistant Director of the Columbus Office and help advance the agency’s mission, vision, and objectives and inform policy decisions that impact the indigent defense community in Ohio. You will manage administrative functions of the Policy and Outreach Division to ensure the smooth and efficient day-to-day operations of the Ohio Public Defender’s legislative, agency legal counsel, training, reimbursement, data reporting, public relations, and outreach work, and serve in an advisory capacity to the State Public Defender and Assistant Directors.

The Policy and Outreach Division serves as the main point of contact for county indigent defense systems, 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, and is responsible for the agency’s work with media, social media, legislation, training, data analytics and research, administrative policy, legal services, technical aid and assistance to county indigent defense system partners, and overall agency outreach. You will directly supervise two managers - the Administrator of Indigent Defense Funding and Agency Legal Counsel, as well as the agency Training Program Manager and the division’s Administrative Professional 4.
Essential Functions of the position include but are not limited to:
• Lead the Division staff to carry out the agency and division mission, vision, strategic initiatives, goals and assignments.
• Serves to advise and assist the State Public Defender and Assistant Directors on matters of policy, personnel, and budget. Represents agency on assigned committee, boards, and commissions.
• Serves on executive and managing leadership teams to help direct, lead, and promote unity and collaboration in and amongst the agency divisions and with outside stakeholders.
• Sets division goals, independently, or collaboratively with division staff.
• Directly manage assigned staff: approve work schedules; respond to questions and concerns and resolve problems; disseminate and interpret policies and procedures and best practices; provide coaching and training, and complete timely performance reviews; complete succession planning and position reviews.
• Manage division budget and financial resources in support of the division/agency strategic initiatives and goals.
• Plans and directs agency public information activities (e.g., manages media activities; drafts, reviews, and edits media releases, public statements, speeches; manages social networking platforms, serves as agency official point of contact).
• Administers agency county outreach program; oversees the representation and services provided to the public defense community, reviews county public defender systems for legal compliance pursuant to O.R.C. 120.04(B)(3), drafts and explains proposed legislation, recommends changes to agency standards and guidelines.
• Promotes, coordinates, and supports cross agency/department activities such as research efforts, funding sources, joint seminars, divisional speaker series, and other division activities.
• Provides technical aid and assistance to indigent defense system partners.
• Applies a high level of technical and legal skills to formulate innovative strategy that effectively and successfully helps lead the agency.