Senior Director - Competition Enforcement
How to apply:
To apply for this position, candidates must submit an up-to-date CV that clearly demonstrates how your skills and experience meet the essential criteria Additionally, please submit a cover letter explaining your motivation for applying for this position and what you would offer in the role (maximum 300 words). Applications should be sent to seniorrecruit@ccpc.ie. Please note that canvassing will result in disqualification from the recruitment process.
Division Overview:
The Senior Director will lead on Competition Enforcement under the direction of the Commission. They will work closely with and report to a Member of the Commission and oversee the following divisions in the CCPC: Cartels, Antitrust, Competition Legal Division and Forensic Technology & Data Analytics Division. The Cartels and Antitrust Divisions are responsible for delivering the CCPC’s competition enforcement functions. Both Divisions operate a new administrative enforcement regime arising from the Competition (Amendment) Act 2022. The Cartels Division also operates a criminal enforcement regime in respect of certain horizontal breaches of competition law.
Cartels Division:
The Cartels Division is responsible for conducting criminal and administrative competition law investigations, primarily aimed at detection, deterrence, and prosecution of cartels. These include serious cartel offences such as price fixing, bid-rigging / tender collusion and dividing specific customers or geographic areas between competitors. The Cartels Division is also responsible for investigating other horizontal, anti-competitive practices and agreements, as well as merger gun-jumping investigations and investigating procedural breaches arising in merger and competition investigations. The Cartels Division carries out our surveillance function and also considers immunity and leniency applications, confidential whistleblower information and complaints received. It performs specific outreach in relation to our work to combat bid-rigging in public procurement.
Antitrust Division:
The Antitrust Division delivers the CCPC’s administrative competition enforcement function as it relates to vertical and unilateral conduct. The Division investigates suspected breaches of competition law relating to anti-competitive agreements and concerted practices between firms at different levels of the supply chain (i.e. vertical conduct) and abusive conduct by firms with a dominant position in the market (i.e. unilateral conduct). The Division operates a screening and case pipeline function to identify and review potential problems in markets which may require further action or investigation. The Division is also responsible for the CCPC’s functions arising from the EU Digital Markets Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/1925) (“DMA”) and the European Union (Contestable and Fair Markets in the Digital Sector) Regulations 2024 (S.I. No. 117/2024).
Competition Legal Division:
The Competition Legal Division comprises a specialised legal team with responsibility for advising and providing legal support on all matters relating to mergers and competition, including administrative and criminal competition enforcement. The two key areas of focus of the Competition Legal Division are (1) merger control and (2) competition enforcement.
Forensic Technology & Data Analytics Division:
The Forensic Technology & Data Analytics Division (FTDA) supports all other Divisions within the CCPC, particularly the Enforcement Divisions, in the areas of Digital Forensics, eDiscovery, Open-Source Intelligence and Data Analytics. The Division has recently undergone an expansion with the full transformation of laboratory systems and technical capabilities.
Please note that the exact divisional structure of the organisation may be subject to change over time.
The Role:
The Senior Director will play a pivotal role in driving the success of the CCPC in competition enforcement. They will have an active role in the organisation’s senior management team collaborating with others to ensure that the strategic vision of the Commission is implemented in an efficient and effective manner.
They will be accountable for delivering successful outcomes across the competition enforcement case portfolio and strategic projects. They will be a key player in driving the success of the new competition enforcement regime to deliver a strong pipeline of robust enforcement outcomes that sends a clear message, nationally and internationally, that breaches of competition law in Ireland will be identified and punished. The role will require strong decision making and case management skills in applying robust prioritisation principles to deliver efficient outcomes. The role will also oversee the legal defence of CCPC decisions and will require keen tactical and strategic abilities.
Senior Directors will be effective and visible leaders, capable of inspiring and motivating others and playing an active role as part of the CCPC’s senior management team in shaping and leading the organisation. This will include implementing effective performance management, coaching and supporting their direct reports to enhance their impact. It will also involve contributing to the CCPC’s strategic workforce planning, recruitment and L&D.
The role provides a leadership position as part of the international competition enforcement and forensic technology community and requires the ongoing nurturing of relationships with the European Commission, European Competition Network (ECN), International Competition Network (ICN) and academics, working closely with the Commission. The Senior Director will be both professional and credible, capable of anticipating strategic risks and responding in an informed manner. They will engage with a wide variety of stakeholders, be experienced in senior level communications and will represent the CCPC at national and international fora, conferences and on national media.
In addition to the immediate appointment from this campaign, an order of merit may be established. This may be used to fill any future vacancies in this Role.
Key Responsibilities:
- Building the CCPC into an internationally recognised body in cartel and competition enforcement through delivering a track record of successful enforcement outcomes, including progressing cases to adjudication with a view to the imposition of administrative sanctions.
- Working with the Commission and the Senior Management Team to develop and drive the strategy and annual workplan process, providing strategic leadership, managing risk and pro-actively contributing to the CCPC achieving its strategic objectives.
- Providing direction to cases and litigation and overseeing strong case management structures with a culture of solution focused debate, clear reporting on milestones and timely escalation of key issues when necessary.
- Acting as line manager to the Directors of the Cartels Division, Antitrust Division, Competition Legal Division and Forensic Technology & Data Analytics Division.
- Developing and managing capability and capacity across a diverse team of economists, lawyers, investigators, technologists and data analysts through effective delegation, coaching and mentoring.
- Overseeing strategic projects such as establishing Screening for Bid Rigging.
- Establishing a leadership role for the CCPC at national and international fora, such as the European Competition Network, International Competition Network and the OECD.
- Leading a culture of continuous improvement and innovation, reviewing and developing procedures and internal systems and setting high standards to drive the delivery of strategy. Fostering strong relationships with key stakeholders including within government, industry and international regulators and assisting in identifying opportunities for policy and legislative developments.
- Representing the CCPC on significant competition issues in national TV, radio and print media.
Closing date: 3pm, Monday, 29th September, 2025