Open Finance and Industry Standards Lead

Westpac New Zealand Ltd; Auckland; On-site; NZD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

4 weeks holiday + wellbeing leave

Banking benefits

Career growth opportunities

Job summary

Westpac New Zealand Ltd is seeking a senior leader to drive payment rails strategy and industry engagement across Open Finance, Digital Identity, Domestic and International Payments. You will provide governance and oversight of industry obligations and standards, while aligning with the bank’s payments strategy and future-state objectives.

You will lead a team of payment professionals, influence regulators and industry bodies, and co-ordinate change across payment networks and ecosystems to

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in payments and transactional banking governance.
• Strong knowledge of Open Finance, Digital Identity, and payment systems.
• Proven ability to engage regulators, industry bodies and standards organisations.
• Track record of shaping enterprise payment strategy and industry positions.

Responsibilities

• Lead Westpac New Zealand's payment rails strategy and industry engagement across core payment domains.
• Provide executive oversight of governance frameworks, industry obligations and regulatory changes.
• Develop and mentor a high-performing payments team to deliver strategic outcomes.
• Represent the bank with regulators and industry forums to influence standards and participation.

Skills

Payment governance

Open Finance

Digital Identity

Regulatory engagement

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Job description

About the Role

Lead Westpac New Zealand's industry participation, ecosystem engagement and payment standards activities across Open Finance, Digital Identity, Domestic Payments, Consumer Payment Systems and High Value and International Payments. Lead the development and coordination of payment rail strategies and industry positions, ensuring alignment with Westpac's enterprise payments strategy and future-state objectives. Provide leadership and oversight across payment rail domains, ensuring effective governance, industry representation, management of industry obligations, and coordinated delivery of industry, regulatory and standards change. Lead Westpac New Zealand's enterprise strategy and industry position across Open Finance, Digital Identity, Domestic Payments, Consumer Payment Systems, and High Value and International Payments, ensuring alignment with the bank's broader payments strategy and future-state objectives. Establish and operate governance frameworks for payment rails, industry standards and participation obligations, ensuring regulatory requirements, industry commitments and payment-system obligations are identified, understood, assigned, monitored and met across the organisation. Lead Westpac's engagement with regulators, industry bodies, standards organisations and ecosystem participants, ensuring effective representation and influence across Payments NZ, Open Finance, Digital Identity, SWIFT and other relevant industry forums. Oversee the assessment, prioritisation and coordination of industry, regulatory and standards change, ensuring impacts, risks, opportunities and delivery requirements are understood and translated into clear business, technology, operational and strategic outcomes. Provide executive oversight of payment rail strategies, industry positioning, standards development and ecosystem evolution, ensuring Westpac is well positioned to respond to emerging industry trends and future payments-system developments. Lead and develop a team of high-performing payment industry professionals, ensuring strong domain expertise, effective industry representation, consistent strategic alignment and delivery of outcomes that improve customer experience, strengthen resilience and reduce risk across Payments. Perform related duties as assigned, within the scope of role and as required by senior leadership.

What will you bring?

Experience in payments, transaction banking, Open Finance, Digital Identity, financial services or a related regulated industry. Deep understanding of payment systems, industry standards, participation frameworks, regulatory obligations and payment ecosystem governance. Demonstrated experience representing an organisation with regulators, industry bodies, standards organisations, payment networks and ecosystem participants. Experience developing enterprise strategies, influencing industry outcomes and shaping organisational positions on regulatory reform, standards development and ecosystem change. Strong leadership capability, including leading teams of specialist subject matter experts and delivering outcomes through others. Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build alignment across executive leaders, business units and external stakeholders. Strong strategic thinking and analytical capability, with the ability to assess industry developments and translate them into enterprise recommendations and priorities. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience preparing executive papers, Board materials, consultation responses, submissions and strategic recommendations Westpac

Working at Westpac

Immersing yourself in a supportive team environment, and receive some of the best banking, and lifestyle benefits in the market.

• 4 weeks standard holiday + 5 additional days of wellbeing leave to support you to be your best
• Additional purchased leave options up to 4 weeks per year
• Banking benefits, insurance discounts and superannuation scheme
• Career growth – we promote internal capability; we have programmes that recognise star performers
• Generous parental leave – and top up government paid parental leave
• School holiday subsidy - help you balance work and family during school holiday
• 2 Volunteer days per year

Our Organisation

At Westpac, we’re working together to build a fairer and stronger New Zealand for our people, customers, and communities. For over 160 years we’ve been driven by our purpose to Create Better Futures Together. What makes us unique are the incredible people we’re lucky enough to have walk through our doors every day. The giant ‘W’ on our building doesn’t just stand for Westpac – it says, double you. We’re a place that values, rewards and recognises individuality. Where you can be your whole self, your true self, and your best self. We’re recognised as a place where talent is developed, where passions are fuelled and where ambitions of all shapes and sizes thrive. And it all starts with you! Tono mai ināianei!

Together Greater Applications close: 11 November 2026

Our culture is rich with stories of how our people like to help, our customers, our community and each other. This is reflected through flexible working arrangements to ensure that our people have a balance in their life with those things that are important to them. Through ensuring that we provide opportunities to everyone regardless of what society throws at them, we are a safe place to work where you are treated equally and appreciated.

We encourage people from all walks of life to apply, including those who are neurodivergent, have chronic health conditions or disabilities – your attitude and passion are as important to us as your experience, qualifications and capabilities.