Assistant Director (Digital Transformation), Public Defender’s Office

What The Role Is

The Public Defender’s Office (“PDO”) is established as a department in the Ministry of Law to enhance access to justice to accused persons of limited means through the provision of criminal defence aid.

As an Assistant Director (Digital Transformation) in PDO, you will drive digitalisation initiatives that bridge technology, legal practice and operations, enhancing our service delivery while ensuring alignment with Singapore's legal tech ecosystem and operational practices.

What You Will Be Working On

• Develop and maintain the system enhancement roadmap, including conceptualisation and design of the next phase IT system
• Analyse existing workflows and systems to identify opportunities to streamline, optimise and enhance user experience in PDO’s application and case management processes
• Identify and evaluate emerging technological trends (e.g. generative AI, automation) that can drive innovation in legal service delivery and operational efficiency
• Develop and implement use cases for AI and generative AI within legal workflows and case management processes, ensuring alignment with business needs
• Work closely with business users and external agencies to conduct requirements gathering, and evaluate requests according to business priorities
• Coordinate with vendor team and IT team to ensure deliverables meet specifications and monitor system performance
• Champion system adoption through change management strategies, including establishing communications plans, maintaining user guides and change documentation
  
  
  

What We Are Looking For

Key Competencies

• Legal Tech Expertise: Understanding of legal technology trends and solutions in Singapore's legal sector
• Industry Knowledge: Understanding of legal sector operations and workflows
• Stakeholder Management: Experience in working with legal professionals, technology vendors, and government agencies.
• Strong Communication: Able to facilitate cross-functional collaboration to co-create practical and innovative solutions.
• Change Management: Ability to driver user adoption, manage stakeholder expectations, and guide teams through transitions using structured change management approaches
• Project Management: Able to manage and lead IT project involving complex, multi-stakeholder transformation projects from concept through implementation.
• Business Analysis: Strong analytical skills to identify business needs, evaluate solutions, and develop pragmatic solutions that align with stakeholder needs and operational constraints.
  
  
  

Requirements

To be successful in this role, you must have:

• Qualifications in any discipline
• 5 – 7 years of experience in digital transformation, with at least 2 years of exposure to legal tech or legal sector technology implementation
• Strong understanding of Singapore's legal tech landscape and common technology platforms used in law firms
• Demonstrated experience in implementing legal tech solutions or case management systems
• Familiarity with Singapore court filing systems and legal document management practices
• Experience in project management and stakeholder engagement within the legal sector
• Strong systems thinking and analytical skills to understand the interdependencies and optimise end-to-end processes
• Comfort in operating within the complex, ambiguous and fast-evolving AI landscape
  
  
  

The following are not necessary, but will be an added advantage:

• Qualifications in Law
• Experience in public sector digitalisation projects
• Experience working with or within Singapore law firms
• Familiarity with data security, privacy laws, and legal compliance pertaining to digitalisation / digital transformation
• Experience and interest in AI/ML technologies, including generative AI
• Experience in Agile methodology with demonstrated success in project delivery
• Track record in system design and architecture, including database design, enterprise integration, and deployment of secure legal systems
  
  
  

The successful candidate will be appointed on a one-year contract in the first instance, renewable till 2029.

The Public Defender's Office (PDO) is established as a department in the Ministry of Law to enhance access to justice to accused persons of limited means through the provision of criminal defence aid.