Lord Advocate James Wolffe is expected to step down from the crisis-hit Crown Office.
Scotland’s most senior prosecutor is understood to be planning to leave his post after the Holyrood election in May, sources claimed.
His successor will inherit an organisation facing the fall out from the Salmond Inquiry, compensation claims of up to £100million over the Rangers takeover probe and lawyers threatening to strike in a pay dispute.
Wolffe refused to comment on speculation he will retire from the job.
However, a source said: “It’s well known within the service that he wants to go in May. He will say it’s always been the plan but the last few months have been pretty bruising.”
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) solicitors are threatening to strike over pay as they are earning less than lawyers working directly for the Scottish Government.
A ballot for industrial action is planned.
Businessmen involved in the administration of Rangers have sued the service over botched attempts to prosecute them.
The compensation bill is already more than £20million and could rise to £100million.
Senior Crown Office staff are also facing allegations they obstructed MSPs investigating how sexual harassment complaints against former first minister Alex Salmond were handled.
Wolffe has been Lord Advocate since 2016 and was previously Dean of the Faculty of Advocates.
A COPFS spokesman declined to comment on Wolffe’s future but on the pay dispute said: “The Scottish Government continues to consider our business case on pay coherence which we agreed jointly with the trade unions and which we continue to support.”
On the Rangers case, he added: “The Lord Advocate accepted in a statement to Parliament that this case represented a failure in the system of criminal prosecution.
"He explained why this was wholly exceptional.
“The Crown is committed to releasing further information when it is possible to do so, and to a transparent and independent process of inquiry once all related legal proceedings have concluded.”
Salmond has accused the Crown of misrepresenting the law in a way that “strikes at the heart of the parliamentary system of accountability”.
A Crown Office spokesman said: “Mr Salmond has stated the Crown has tied his hands in respect of his use of information he holds.
“It is the law, not the Crown that stays his hands.”
Scottish Tory Murdo Fraser MSP, said: “This revelation suggests an illogical inconsistency by the Lord Advocate and the Crown Office.”
