Service Prosecuting Authority RASODA Lead / Senior Prosecutor

Job summary

Note: This summary covers two G6 prosecutor roles within the Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA): Senior Prosecutor and RASODA (Rape, Serious Offences and Domestic Abuse) Lead.

The G6 prosecutor roles are senior legal posts responsible for leading or supporting the prosecution of serious, complex and sensitive cases within the Service Justice System (SJS), including rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO), serious violence, domestic abuse and high-risk or high-profile matters.

Senior Prosecutor: This role focuses on leading the prosecution of the most serious, complex and sensitive cases, providing strategic case direction and supporting wider prosecution performance, professional standards and continuous improvement. The post holder will be in court more regularly than the RASODA lead and be expected to conduct cases across the spectrum of criminal offending including serious violence and fraud.

RASODA Lead: This role has additional specialist responsibility for RASSO and domestic abuse casework. It supports SPA prosecutors in assessing and prosecuting RASSO and domestic abuse cases, benchmarks SPA casework against civilian justice best practice, and develops SPA training, guidance and policy on RASODA work. The RASODA Lead also supports concurrent jurisdiction issues, disclosure, and provides early advice to the Service Police Forces, including on reasonable lines of enquiry where required.

Both roles require independent prosecutorial judgement in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors, ensuring decisions are legally robust, fair, and in the public and Service interest. The post holder will conduct casework, make and review charging decisions, provide legal advice, and conduct advocacy in the Court Martial, equivalent to the Crown Court, and the Court Martial Appeal Court.

Both roles deliver strategic leadership across SPA. The post holder operates at senior level across Defence and the criminal justice system, contributing to policy development, and to SPA’s internal training programme for new and developing advocates.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week. The post holder reports to the Director of Service Prosecutions and works closely with the Deputy Director. The Deputy Director of Service Prosecutions (DDSP) will have operational accountability for the prosecutors’ day-to-day deployment, workload, priorities, and delivery of the business objectives of the team. The DSP and DDSP will work collaboratively to ensure operational accountability and formal line-management responsibilities remain aligned. The post holders will be the most senior prosecutors who routinely attend Court.

Job description

Prosecution & Case Leadership

• Conduct casework in the most serious and complex cases, including RASSO, serious violence, and sensitive or high-profile matters.

• Undertake advocacy in the Court Martial and appellate courts as required.

• Apply the Code for Crown Prosecutors rigorously, ensuring legally robust, fair and defensible charging decisions.

• Provide authoritative advice to Service Police on legal issues including reasonable lines of enquiry and case building.

Strategic Legal Advice & System Leadership

• Provide senior-level legal advice on complex and novel issues across the Service Justice System.

• Act as a trusted adviser to the Director of Service Prosecutions and senior Defence stakeholders on legal risk, case strategy, and public confidence.

• Support engagement with wider criminal justice partners (e.g. AGO, CPS where relevant).

• Contribute to legal policy development, ensuring SPA practice aligns with wider criminal justice.

• RASODA Lead: In addition to the shared strategic legal advice responsibilities, the RASODA Lead will work with Managing Prosecutors to provide advice and guidance to SPA prosecutors on casework, including early engagement and case-building with the Service Police Forces, and advocacy related to RASODA work. This includes providing legal advice and coaching prosecutors to develop their professional knowledge and skills. The RASODA Lead also provides advice and guidance to the Director of Service Prosecutions and Deputy Director of Service Prosecutions on RASODA and related work.

Case Management & Performance

• Oversee management of complex caseloads, ensuring compliance with statutory timelines and procedural obligations.

• Ensure that the interests of victims, witnesses and defendants are properly considered and safeguarded throughout proceedings.

• Maintain oversight of case progression, minimising delay and improving timeliness of justice.

• Escalate significant legal or reputational risks in accordance with SPA governance arrangements.

Professional Leadership, Standards & Capability

• Provide leadership, mentoring and professional oversight to SPA prosecutors, including junior lawyers.

• Develop specialist prosecution capability across areas such as RASSO, and complex fraud (where required).

• Lead internal legal training and contribute to capability development across SPA.

• Ensure adherence to SPA policies, legal standards and continuing professional development requirements.

• RASODA Lead: The RASODA Lead acts as policy and guidance owner for SPA guidance and policy related to RASODA work, identifies where improvements can be made in SPA processes, and assists in the design and implementation of new processes and procedures. The role develops specialist prosecution capability in RASODA, works with the SPA training team to identify training needs, helps develop learning events related to RASODA work and wider advocacy and casework, and undertakes learning events and presentations to upskill SPA employees.

Governance, Assurance & Continuous Improvement

• Ensure compliance with SPA policies, legal frameworks and professional standards across all casework.

• Support internal assurance, audit and inspection processes including quality reviewing decisions made and advocacy undertaken by other prosecutors.

• Identify and drive improvements in prosecution practice, including reducing delay and strengthening case quality.

• Contribute to broader SJS reform and continuous improvement initiatives where required.

• RASODA Lead: The RASODA Lead assists in developing statistics for reporting RASODA and other work, works with SPA and external stakeholders to identify best practice, and seeks to improve the service offered to victims, particularly in RASODA cases. This includes chairing or co-chairing RASSO scrutiny panels and mentoring the lead prosecutor for domestic abuse to ensure they are informed and supported to provide bespoke, trauma-informed operational support to the Service Police Forces in domestic abuse cases.

Person specification

Essential:

• Qualified barrister or solicitor in England and Wales with significant post-qualification experience in criminal law.

• Extensive experience conducting serious and complex criminal prosecutions, including advocacy in the Crown Court and, ideally, in the Appellate Courts.

• Experience in prosecuting rape and serious sexual offences, with the RASODA Lead expected to have particular expertise in this area.

• Deep understanding of the Code for Crown Prosecutors and criminal justice law and pr