Legal Secretary

Public Defence Service - New Zealand; Hamilton; On-site; CAD 49,000 - 62,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

22 days holiday leave

Flexible work hours

Online professional development portal

Inclusive professional networks

Job summary

Public Defence Service - Hamilton is seeking a diligent Legal Secretary for a fixed-term 9-month role in our busy office. Based with the legal team, you will provide professional secretarial and administrative support to ensure efficient case handling and client service.

The successful candidate will be experienced in administration, typing and data entry, a self-starter with initiative, and eager to learn criminal defence law within a supportive team.

Qualifications

• Experienced and efficient in a range of administration functions, including typing and data entry.
• A self-starter with proven initiative and the ability to take control of a busy workload.
• Keen to learn about the world of criminal defence law.
• Forward thinking and action orientated.

Responsibilities

• Ensures the PDS legal team are supported in a professional, effective and efficient manner.
• Has a proactive approach to the provision of legal secretarial and general office and administration services.
• Is also proactive in identifying opportunities to enhance service delivery.

Skills

Typing

Data entry

Self-starter

Criminal defence knowledge

Proactive

Job description

Te Haeata/The Opportunity

Ready to move to an interesting criminal defence environment? Want to show case your excellent legal secretarial and technical skills? Love working in a supportive team environment?

Job Description

Public Defence Service - Hamilton

Legal Secretary – Fixed Term 9 months

Ready to move to an interesting criminal defence environment? Want to show case your excellent legal secretarial and technical skills? Love working in a supportive team environment?

Based at our busy PDS Hamilton office, you will be reporting to the Support Services Manager. A PDS legal secretary:

• Ensures the PDS legal team are supported in a professional, effective and efficient manner.
• Has a proactive approach to the provision of legal secretarial and general office and administration services.
• Is also proactive in identifying opportunities to enhance service delivery.

Ō Pūkenga/Skills And Experience

To be successful in this role you will need to be:

• Experienced and efficient in a range of administration functions, including typing and data entry.
• A self-starter with proven initiative and the ability to take control of a busy workload.
• Keen to learn about the world of criminal defence law.
• Forward thinking and action orientated.

Strong written and confident verbal communication skills are critical - both in terms of the work you will do with the lawyers and also for our clients.

Mō Mātou/About Us

At Te Tāhū o te Ture - the Ministry of Justice, we're committed to strengthening people's trust in the law of Aotearoa, New Zealand.

The PDS is part of the Ministry of Justice and the wider justice sector. The Ministry provides centralised business services, infrastructure, and support to the work of the PDS.

The Public Defence Service (PDS) provides high-quality legal advice and representation in a full range of criminal cases. Aimed at helping people access justice, the PDS promotes the values of respect, integrity, service and the delivery of excellent service to its clients.

Joining Te Tāhū o te Ture means you will become part of an organisation that welcomes and supports people of all gender identities, ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, disabilities, and religions.

Ngā painga o tēnei wāhi mahi/What's great about working here

Benefits

We offer you a range of benefits to support your wellbeing and help make the Ministry a great place to be. These include:

• 22 days holiday leave per annum, pro-rated for the term on offer
• flexible work hours where possible
• an online professional development portal
• access to a variety of inclusive and proactive networks

See our full range of benefits here.

With a wide range of jobs, you also get the chance to gain a variety of skills and experience while developing your career.

Utu ā-tau/Salary

The rappointing salary for this role is $60,729 to $77,043 – while the appointing salary will be based on skills and experience, we are willing to pay higher in the band to attract strong candidates into this role.

Applications close on 19 October 2026.