Head of Operational Excellence

About us.

A unique life requires a unique bank.

Defence Bank is a member‑owned bank with a proud history of serving the Australian Defence community for over 50 years. With 26 branches across Australia and our award-winning app, Defence Bank is where our members need us – anywhere, anytime. 

The bank provides financial products and services to the Australian Defence Force and its unique community, reinvesting profits for the benefit of our members. We are a leader in our sector and our people led, technology enabled environment, celebrates the individual talents, personalities, interests and needs of our people. 

Recognised as an Australian HR Awards 2026 Excellence Awardee for Employer of Choice and Best Workplace Flexibility Program, Defence Bank combines a strong people-first culture with a commitment to innovation. From flexible ways of working to the adoption of AI-powered tools such as Microsoft Copilot, we empower our people with the technology, support and autonomy they need to do their best work and continue delivering exceptional experiences for our members. It's not just our employees who think Defence Bank is one of Australia's best places to work.

About the role.
 

This is not a role that inherits a finished model. It is an opportunity to shape, build and embed an enterprise capability that will make work clearer, simpler and more effective across Defence Bank.
 

Reporting to the Chief of Operations, you will lead the establishment of Defence Bank's Operational Excellence function and bring our Process Management Framework to life. You will connect strategy, value chains, member journeys, process ownership, performance, risk and continuous improvement into one practical enterprise approach.

You will lead and develop a small team of Process Analysts, setting clear priorities and quality standards while building the team's capability to map, analyse, improve and govern end-to-end processes. Just as importantly, you will mobilise leaders and process owners across the Bank so that operational excellence becomes part of how we work every day.
 

Key Responsibilities.
You will:

• Develop and lead Defence Bank's newly created Operational Excellence function. 
• Design and implement the Bank's Process Management Framework.
• Establish strong process governance, ownership and accountability across the organisation.
• Create a clear process hierarchy, common language and consistent modelling standards so processes are easier to find, understand, trust and maintain.
• Establish process governance that defines ownership, accountability, decision rights and how processes are approved, changed and standardised.
• Strengthen first-line ownership of operational risk, controls and process performance.
• Collaborate with the Data and Insights team to develop meaningful insights, metrics and reporting that support executive decision making.
• Partner with leaders across Operations, Technology, Risk, Product, Strategy and PMO to embed process-led change.
• Partner with the People team to build capability across the organisation through coaching, enablement and practical frameworks.

About You.

You are an energetic, inclusive and pragmatic leader who can move comfortably between enterprise design and hands-on delivery. You create clarity from complexity, bring people with you and turn frameworks into practical ways of working that deliver measurable outcomes.

You will bring:

• Significant leadership experience in operational excellence, enterprise process management, business transformation, process architecture or continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated success designing and embedding enterprise process frameworks, governance models and process ownership.
• Experience leading, coaching and developing process analysts or a comparable specialist team.
• Strong understanding of value chains, customer journeys, process hierarchy, process performance and continuous improvement.
• Experience in banking, financial services or another regulated environment, with a sound understanding of operational risk and controls.
• Strong executive engagement, facilitation and influencing skills, with the ability to build commitment across functional boundaries.
• A practical, collaborative approach and a track record of delivering measurable organisational outcomes.

Ideally, you'll also have:

• Tertiary qualifications in Business, Finance, Banking or a related discipline.
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification or equivalent continuous improvement expertise.
• Experience with process architecture methodologies and tools such as Signavio or Nintex.
• Exposure to banking operations, core banking systems, process automation or AI-enabled transformation

We count on you. And you can count on us.

Why Defence Bank?

At Defence Bank, we’re more than just a bank. We’re a purpose-driven organisation dedicated to serving those who protect us. You’ll be supported to grow your career, make a meaningful difference, and be part of a team that genuinely cares about its people, members, and community. It’s a unique opportunity to build a rewarding career like no other.

Interested? We'd like to hear from you. Click to apply.

Defence Bank is committed to providing equal opportunities for employment and seek to have a team that reflects our diverse community. We encourage anyone interested in our role and a career at Defence Bank to apply. 

All successful candidates will be required to complete employment checks prior to an offer of employment.

Applications will be reviewed as they are received, and the position may close at any time once a suitable candidate is identified. We encourage interested applicants to submit their applications promptly.