Chief Operations & Transformation Officer

Talenza; Sydney; On-site; AUD 250,000 - 450,000; Full time

Job summary

Talenza is seeking a Chief Operations & Transformation Officer to lead the company’s operating model transformation and enterprise governance, ensuring resilience, compliance, and sustainable earnings growth.

You will direct operations, transformation programmes, and governance to deliver operational resilience, regulatory compliance, productivity improvements, and ROI. This role requires executive leadership across regional operations and risk governance.

Responsibilities

• Executive Leadership and Strategy: Establish and direct transformation mandate translating strategy into an executable multi-year roadmap.
• Operating Model Transformation: Architect target operating models across functions to reduce cost-to-serve and scale capacity.
• Digital, Data, and Process Modernisation: Sponsor digital investments, leverage automation, analytics, and modern platforms.
• Portfolio Governance and Capital Allocation: Direct PMO and investment governance with accountability for ROI.
• Cross-Functional Executive Alignment: Partner with business units to arbitrate priorities and dependencies.

Job description

Chief Operations & Transformation Officer

The Opportunity

Serving as a core executive team member, you will hold ultimate accountability for shaping, funding, and executing the operating model required to scale the business.

You will direct core operations, transformation programmes, and enterprise governance to deliver operational resilience, regulatory compliance, productivity improvements, and sustainable earnings growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Executive Leadership and Strategy: Establish and direct the A&NZ transformation mandate, translating global and local corporate strategy into an executable multi-year roadmap that protects margins and drives market share.
• Operating Model Transformation: Architect and deploy target operating models across distribution, underwriting operations, claims, and shared services to structurally reduce cost-to-serve and scale capacity.
• Digital, Data, and Process Modernisation: Sponsor and steer digital investments, leveraging process automation, data analytics, and modernised core platforms to build operational resilience and improve customer retention.
• Portfolio Governance and Capital Allocation: Direct enterprise PMO and investment governance, maintaining rigorous accountability for delivery milestones, resource constraints, enterprise risk, and tangible ROI.
• Cross-Functional Executive Alignment: Partner closely with executive peers across business units, risk, finance, and regional leadership to arbitrate priority trade-offs, sequencing, and cross-functional dependencies.

Candidate Profile

• Executive background leading enterprise operations, core platform modernisation, and large-scale transformation within complex, highly regulated financial services environments, with insurance market depth strongly preferred.
• Proven experience architecting enterprise target operating models, digital capabilities, and multi-year change portfolios with clear P&L and cost-efficiency outcomes.
• Institutional-grade governance discipline, with a track record managing capital allocation, regulatory exposure, and operational risk at board and committee levels.
• Exceptional executive presence, with the ability to influence cross-functional business heads, drive execution accountability, and manage regional matrix structures.