Senior Specialist Operational Risk & Resilience

The role

The Senior Specialist is responsible for providing technical and strategic advice concerning current and emerging operational risk and resilience issues, including service provider concentration risk issues, and commensurate sound risk management practices. You will be based in our Sydney office and will play a risk leadership role in the assessment of operational risk and resilience management practices within regulated entities, providing a unique industry-wide perspective. Participation in the refinement of policy standards and guidance relating to third party suppliers provides a unique opportunity to influence cross-industry practices and industry change initiatives.

The team

The Non-Financial Risk (NFR) team is responsible for providing identification, insight and supervision strategies for managing non-financial risks including operational resilience at regulated entities and across the financial services system. This includes key risk streams such as Operational Risk and Resilience, Technology and Cyber Security Risks and Resilience, Climate Risk, Governance, Risk Culture and Conduct, and Accountability and Remuneration practices.

The NFR team brings specialist risk knowledge and skills to deliver APRA’s mandate and corporate plan in partnership with APRA’s frontline supervision, cross industry risk and policy teams to drive strategic outcomes and support strong prudential oversight across Banking, Superannuation and Insurance.  Each day is different and the team plays a critical role in ensuring that risks are identified and managed leading to more resilient organisations and a stable financial system.

Key responsibilities

• Bring a dynamic and informed approach to the provision of strategic risk insights and advice to APRA executive leaders on key issues relating to operational risk and resilience practices;

• Successfully influence regulated entity decision makers, as part of APRA’s supervision activities, to implement improvements to operational risk and resilience management practices;

• Keep pace with rapidly developing operational resilience technologies, products and services, with an understanding of how this changes the risk profile;

• Contribute to a high level of awareness across the NFR team in relation to operational risk and resilience analysis, including knowledge of risk profiles within regulated entities and within the Australian financial system, given the broad range of issues to consider;

• Provide high-quality analytical outputs and insights with a high volume, variety and complexity of work;

• Work with multiple key internal and external stakeholders and teams to partner on strategic uplift initiatives, ensuring that needs and requirements are understood and met;

• Develop external networks to support initiatives including government agencies, industry associations and key positions at regulated entities;

• Provide internal APRA staff, who may have non-technical backgrounds, with additional knowledge; and

• Align with APRA’s strategic plan to improve the operational resilience of the financial system.

About you

• Extensive experience in operational risk management in the financial services sector;

• Expertise in assessing the management of operational risk, incident response, and operational resilience by APRA regulated entities, such as organisation & governance, risk management frameworks and practices, strategic planning, critical operations identification and management, risk appetite settings including tolerance, service provider/supplier risk management, business continuity management and disaster recovery, outsourcing, and assurance;

• Strong communication skills and a proven ability to influence senior leaders including C-suite executives and Board members;

• Extensive experience in dealing with technical experts and representatives of APRA’s regulated entities;

• Strong personal integrity and an intuitive understanding of what is reasonable and prudent business practice;

• High level of organisation and negotiation skills; and

• Tertiary qualifications in a field relevant to Operational Risk and Resilience Management.

To work with us, you need to be an Australian citizen with eligibility to obtain and maintain Australian Government Security clearance.

About APRA

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) was established in 1998 as an independent statutory authority that supervises almost 1,200 financial institutions that manage $8.6 trillion in assets for Australians across the banking, insurance and superannuation sectors. APRA serves the Australian community by helping ensure that financial institutions deliver on the financial commitments they make, with a stable, efficient and competitive financial system.

In overseeing the safety, competitiveness and stability of the financial system, we seek to recruit, develop and retain highly skilled professionals, who want to help shape financial services and protect the financial wellbeing of the Australian community. Our employee base of almost 900 come predominantly from the commercial financial services industry or other government agencies; as such, we have the feel of a small corporate organisation that can work flexibly and with agility.

Why Work for APRA

We recognise the skills, experience and commitment that our staff bring to their professional lives, and we seek to reward them accordingly. We also recognise that for our staff to be able to perform at their best, we need to ensure that they are able to bring their best selves to work. Our commitment to wellbeing is having engaged people supported by resilient leaders within a values-aligned culture.

At APRA, we’re committed to providing an inclusive workplace where everyone belongs, feels valued and respected. We aspire to attract and foster diversity of background, thought, and experience, recognising that a broad range of perspectives, approaches and ideas makes us stronger, and better enables us to meet our obligation to protect the financial wellbeing of the Australian community. If you need any adjustments during the recruitment process, please inform at application stage so we can do our best to accommodate your requirements.