Senior Ombudsman - Banking and Finance

Job Description

Lead with impact. Shape fair outcomes. Influence industry standards.

Why This Role Matters

Every decision you make, individually or as part of a panel, is grounded in AFCA’s rules and fairness principles. These decisions don’t just resolve disputes; they shape industry behaviour. When accepted by complainants, your determinations become binding on financial firms, meaning your influence is both real and lasting.

AFCA’s Banking & Finance team is looking for a Senior Ombudsman.  The successful candidate will join our busy and collegiate decision-making team to help resolve standard and complex banking and finance disputes.  This role reports into our Lead Ombudsman, Banking & Finance Natalie Cameron.  The Senior Ombudsman will lead and inspire a team of Ombudsman and Adjudicators, provide technical advice and professional coaching to ensure independent, fair and consistent decision for complaints between financial firms and consumers and contribute to the running of the team.

The role will suit senior legally qualified professionals with a strong track record of significant achievement and particularly with experience relating to the the banking and finance sector. You are likely to be at a stage of your career where you have an interest in using your well-developed skills and experience in a role which contributes to good community outcomes in the banking and finance sector.

You will also have the opportunity to provide professional and technical leadership across AFCA and to coach and mentor Adjudicators, case workers and others. There may also be opportunities to develop AFCA approaches, contribute to government and regulatory policy consultations, and to present at external conferences as a subject matter expert. The role also involves supporting AFCA’s relationships with small business and consumer groups, government bodies, regulators, AFCA members, member organisations and other Ombudsman networks.

Key accountabilities include:

• Manage:
  • personal monthly decision allocations
  • an effective and sustainable pipeline and overflow to decision makers in your team 
• Actively coach, guide and develop direct reports to:
  • deliver performance and personal growth including conducting QA
  • provide support with difficult or contentious escalated cases
• Support: with the
  • the work and initiatives of the Lead Ombudsman (Banking & Finance), acting as delegate as directed
  • collaborative working approaches with other Senior Ombudsmen and their teams
  • management of the team budget, workforce planning and resource management to achieve functional business plan and goals
  • engaging and influencing members, industry associations and consumer groups to improve industry standards
• Contribute to:
  • shaping the team’s business plan to enable the overall AFCA strategy
  • shaping and implementing new ways of working that promote accountability, performance, engagement and collaboration to deliver fair and consistent decisions and sustain business performance
  • continual improvement of policy, procedural documentation, investigation and decision support resources

This is a permanent, Board appointed role. 

Qualifications

To be successful in this role, you will need:

• Relevant legal qualifications and significant Banking and Finance experience are essential
• Sound knowledge of relevant financial services law, practice and/or other regulation
• Demonstrated experience operating in an independent capacity and with individual accountability for outcomes
• Demonstrated leadership experience or proven success in leading and coaching senior professionals to build capability and drive change
• Demonstrated level of analytical skill, coupled with the ability to draft documents which explain complex legal concepts in a manner which can be readily understood
• Demonstrated high level communication, consultative and interpersonal skills in dealing with a broad cross section of the community

Additional Information

• Gold AWEI Accreditation 2025 – Recognised for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion.
• Accredited Family Friendly Workplace – Supporting work-life balance and inclusivity.
• Hybrid working – Flexible arrangements with two days a week in our modern offices designed for collaboration and wellbeing.
• Additional and inclusive leave options – Flexible public holidays, gender affirmation leave, women’s health leave, and bonus paid time off over the end of year holiday period.

To apply

If you’re passionate about fairness and believe your skills align with this role, we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every single criterion.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, cultures, abilities, sexual orientations, and gender identities. If you require any accessibility support during the recruitment process, please reach out to our team at [email protected].

We believe fairness starts with people. That’s why we don’t use AI or automated tools to screen candidates. As a result, our processes may take a little longer, and we thank you for your patience.

About AFCA

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) was established in 2018 as a private not-for-profit ombudsman service providing free, fair and independent help with financial disputes. The original team has grown to over 1600 dedicated professionals. Since 2018, AFCA has received more than 634,000 complaints, helping to secure $2.1 billion in compensation for consumers. 

AFCA is a 2026 Circle Back Initiative Employer - we are committed to responding to every applicant.