I built a new career

After a long career in financial markets, I joined Westpac Group in 2009 at the age of 46. I’d never worked at a retail bank or at an organisation as big as Westpac.

 

The focus on career development pathways at Westpac was striking to me. The latitude I had to try different roles has led to me building a whole new career.

 

For example, I started out as a bank manager in a Sydney CBD branch, where I learned all about retail banking. When I heard about the Women’s Markets team, I was immediately curious. Its focus on female customers was completely new to me. The Women's Markets team had been formed at Westpac in 1999 after research revealed a demand for information, education and networking opportunities among female customers. This was back at a time when women needed a guarantor to get a loan in Australia: there was a lot of systemic gender bias in society.

 

I was offered the role because of my relationship and business development skills.
 

I was part of the team that executed a strategy to attract and retain women’s business. It was part of Westpac’s overarching goal of becoming the bank of choice and employer of choice among women. My area of work was considered very innovative. I loved that role.

 

It also led me to becoming a mentor, facilitator and speaker for the Financial Alliance for Women, which advocates for women’s global financial inclusion. Westpac was a founding member of the Financial Alliance for Women in 2000. During this time, I also had the chance to join the Executive Committee of Women of Westpac.  

 

Although I have held four quite different roles across Westpac, my leaders have always supported me maintaining my involvement with Women of Westpac and the Financial Alliance for Women. I am proud to say that Women of Westpac has grown to 5000 members.

 

After six years in Women’s Markets, I had the opportunity to move to work in the Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) banking area working for the Chief Operating Officer responsible for representing the SME business in strategic transformation, sales effectiveness, and key business initiatives. I also worked to develop the change and training plans for our SME bankers. Through a change in leadership this role morphed into Customer Experience and Frontline Effectiveness looking after NPS (advocacy) and complaints for the then combined SME and Commercial banking area.

 

In my current role as Executive Manager Life Operations and Customer Experience, my focus is on managing the operational side of the referral agreement which includes risk management and working on the customer experience for new initiatives. In recent times, I’ve developed my skills in risk management and project management.

 

This October will mark 15 years since I first joined Westpac. Working in a variety of different areas has been rewarding in so many ways.

 

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