Create your best future and join Westpac as Head of Financial Institutions & Government (FIG) and Financial Markets (FM) Credit Risk
Head of Financial Institutions & Government (FIG) and Financial Markets (FM) Credit Risk
- Permanent
- Location : Sydney or Melbourne
- Information worth noting: Senior leadership role where as Head of FIG and FM Credit, you will lead a team of Credit Officers and provide strategic risk leadership, senior credit decisioning and constructive challenge across both the FIG portfolio and the FM product suite.
How will I help?
This is a rare opportunity to shape risk strategy at the heart of Westpac Institutional Bank (WIB).
As Head of Financial Institutions & Government (FIG) and Financial Markets (FM) Credit Risk, you'll provide strategic risk leadership and hold end-to-end accountability for one of WIB’s most strategically important credit portfolios, spanning Financial Institutions, Government and the growing Financial Markets product suite. You'll lead a team of senior Credit Officers, exercise significant delegated credit authority and provide trusted risk advice on some of the bank’s most complex and material transactions.
The portfolio supports a global client base across Banks, Insurance, Non-Bank Financial Institutions (including Private Credit and Subscription Finance) and Government sectors. It requires deep expertise, commercial judgement and a forward-looking approach to identifying emerging risks, market shifts and regulatory developments. You'll work alongside senior leaders across Corporate & Institutional Banking, Financial Markets, Global Transaction Services and Commodities, Trade & Transition, helping drive sustainable growth while maintaining strong risk discipline. Beyond individual transactions, you'll influence portfolio strategy, policy settings, risk frameworks and the broader Credit agenda across WIB.
This is a role for a leader who thrives in complexity, ambiguity and change, and who can provide robust and constructive challenge, and is comfortable representing the bank in executive forums and with regulators. You'll be a visible leader of risk culture, developing high-performing teams and helping shape the future direction of Institutional Credit.
If you're passionate about balancing risk, growth and long-term portfolio sustainability, this is an exceptional leadership opportunity.
Key responsibilities include:
- Leading the strategic risk oversight of the FIG and Financial Markets portfolios, providing independent challenge, shaping portfolio strategy, policy and risk frameworks, whilst ensuring alignment with Westpac's risk appetite, regulatory obligations and growth ambitions.
- Building and leading a high-performing team of Credit Officers, fostering a strong risk culture, developing capability and succession pipelines, and creating an environment where challenge, accountability and continuous improvement thrive.
- Partnering with senior leaders across CIB, Financial Markets, GTS and CTT, influencing business strategy, supporting disciplined growth and ensuring emerging risks are identified and managed proactively.
- Exercising senior delegated credit authority on complex and material transactions, including structured finance, subscription finance, securitisation warehouses and Financial Markets exposures, delivering robust and commercial credit decisioning.
- Representing Credit Risk in executive, governance and regulatory forums, articulating clear risk perspectives on sector trends, portfolio performance, policy matters and market developments while maintaining strong relationships with regulators and auditors.
These responsibilities elevate the role beyond transaction approval and position it as a strategic portfolio leadership role at the heart of WIB Credit Risk.
What’s in it for me?
You’ll play a significant part of the future of a business that has been around for over 200 years. Our purpose is to create better futures together. So, we’ll back you in the development of your career, internal career prospects, and flexible working. You’ll also keep learning to grow your career, backed by a fantastic team of people with a can-do, supportive structure.
Whatever shape your family takes, we offer generous paid and unpaid parental leave for your nominated primary and support carers. This includes leave to organise adoptions, surrogacy, and foster care arrangements. And we continue to pay your super contributions while you take all the time you need to get your new family settled.
What do I need?
You’ll bring significant experience in credit risk and decisioning within financial services, with a strong understanding of regulatory frameworks and commercial outcomes. You’ll be an experienced leader who can operate at an executive level and influence across complex stakeholder environments.
Key experience and capabilities include:
- Extensive institutional credit leadership experience, ideally gained across Financial Institutions, Financial Markets, Structured Finance, Funds Finance, Private Credit, Subscription Finance or Securitisation, with a proven track record exercising significant delegated credit authority.
- Strategic leadership capability, with the ability to shape portfolio strategy, influence policy settings and make sound decisions in complex, evolving and ambiguous environments.
- Outstanding stakeholder management and communication skills, with the credibility to influence Executive leaders, challenge constructively and represent Credit Risk in senior governance and regulatory forums.
- Strong people leadership experience, with a demonstrated ability to lead, coach and develop high-performing teams while fostering a disciplined and customer-focused risk culture.
- Deep regulatory and risk expertise, supported by a tertiary qualification and a commercial mindset that balances risk, return and sustainable growth across complex portfolios.
What’s it like to work there?
We are a collaborative team of passionate people with a shared ambition to make a difference for our customers, our communities and each other. At Westpac, making a difference means creating impact, unlocking our own and each other’s passions, and transformative success stories to create better futures together.
As well as competitive remuneration and a great culture, joining the Westpac family gives you access to a wide range of employee benefits to help you manage your priorities—whether that means family life, work/life balance, ambition to grow or all the little perks in between.
We’ll empower you to shape your career path. Through personalised upskilling, mentoring, and training opportunities, you’re in control of where you start and how you’ll grow.
As an equal opportunity employer, we are proud to have created a culture and work environment that values diversity and flexibility—and champions inclusion.
Hear from some of our people and their experiences working with us.
How do I apply?
Start here. Just click on the APPLY or APPLY NOW button.
At Westpac, we’re all about creating a supportive culture and ensuring our workplaces, branches, products, and services are accessible and inclusive for everyone—our customers, employees, and the wider community. If you’re interested in discussing workplace flexibility, please feel free to mention it in your application.
We invite candidates of all ages, genders, sexual orientation, cultural backgrounds, people with disability, neurodiverse individuals, veterans and reservists, and Indigenous Australians to apply. If you have questions about the recruitment process, please email [email protected] .
All roles at Westpac Group can be considered for flexible working arrangements, such as flexible hours, working remotely, part time work, or job sharing.
Do you need reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process?
We can provide reasonable adjustments for individuals with disability and/or neurodiversity. If you require an adjustment to be made during the recruitment process at any stage, please email [email protected] .
