Senior Manager Quality and Compliance Assurance

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The Senior Manager Q&CA will have responsibility for leading the leading the Retail Quality & Compliance Assurance function, providing strategic direction and oversight of the Retail Quality & Compliance Assurance framework to strengthen compliance, governance and customer outcomes across the Retail business. This role is responsible for uplifting compliance across the Retail business by deploying an effective control & QA framework to ensure the Retail business unit is fully compliant with all relevant obligations and legislation.

The role partners closely with Executives, Senior Managers and Operational Leaders to identify compliance risks, influence strategic decision-making and drive continuous improvement through effective quality assurance, risk prevention and assurance activities. By identifying systemic trends and opportunities, the role supports the Retail business to strengthen compliance capability, improve operational performance, enhance customer experience and reduce internal and Ombudsman complaints. There is also a strong focus on identifying trends and opportunities to help the Retail business uplift customer experience and reduce internal and Ombudsman complaints.

The role has accountability for: 

• Developing, maintaining and continuously improving an effective controls and QA framework across the Retail business.
• Partnering with Operational leaders to understand key risk areas provide strategic oversight in the design, implementation and ongoing effectiveness of preventative and detective controls.
• To ensure that Retail staff follow the process for investigation and escalation of any potential compliance risks with the Regulatory Transformation and Legal teams.
• Reporting to senior management in the Retail business high-risk areas and recommending effective solutions for better compliance and customer experience outcomes.
• Being a trusted business partner across the Retail business by influencing strategic decision-making on quality, compliance assurance and customer outcomes.

This role is responsible for: 

• Building implementing and continuously reviewing the Line 1 QA Framework, including implementing feedback mechanisms and using assurance outcomes to drive continuous improvement across the Retail business. Proactively identifying emerging compliance risks, systemic issues and potential roadblocks, helping us reach compliance goals in a harmonious way.
• Ensure effective controls are designed, implemented and tested to support ongoing compliance and comply with Pacific Blue risk appetite limits.
• Work with Regulatory Compliance on potential high-risk incidents, leading root cause analysis of breaches/failures and preparing inputs for responses to Regulators and/or other industry bodies.
• Build strong relationships with sponsors and stakeholders, influence decision-making, and keep the business aligned and informed through tailored change and communications plans, ensuring stable BAU operations are maintained.
• Leading initiatives that strengthen compliance awareness and a compliance culture across Retail.
• Leading the implementation assurance of new regulatory changes to support effective operational adoption and ongoing compliance.
• Reviewing transaction level process adherence and end-to-end process assurance reviews
• Report on QA performance and develop plans with key stakeholders to address key issues and trends while providing strategic insights to support business improvement.
• Ensure that the Company’s compliance obligations are actively maintained, managed and kept up to date with particular focus on the compliance obligations allocated to the position title as identified in the Company’s Register of Compliance Obligations (as set out in the Compliance Procedure and as amended from time to time).
• Identify opportunities and trends that enable senior stakeholders and operational Retail leaders to reduce failure demand, re-work and improve operational effectiveness.
• Be a champion for our customers by identifying and recommending initiatives that improves their experience and reduces internal and Ombudsman complaints.  
• Document and keep up to date all role-based processes
• Develop and maintain the Retail Quality & Compliance Assurance strategy, ensuring assurance priorities align with regulatory obligations, business risks and organisational objectives.

• Communicating complex issues to stakeholders in a clear and uncomplicated manner.
• Working on challenging regulatory responses, and other matters under time pressure.
• Balancing commercial objectives and risk.
• Prioritising competing demands on time.
• Building close working relationships without compromising on objectivity or the company’s values.
• Managing internal stakeholders to hit tight deadlines.
• Being comfortable dealing with ambiguity in an ever-changing industry and regulatory environment.

• Understand regulatory obligations and can interpret business processes for compliance
• Judgements regarding high-risk processes and assessing customer detriment
• Can build comprehensive, detailed data collection plans to achieve efficient investigatory outcomes
• Detecting and making risk-based judgements relating to potential deviations from compliant processes and systems

Knowledge and experience:   

• 5+ years in a Line 1 compliance, regulatory, legal or retail energy operations role in the energy sector.
• Relevant tertiary qualifications in Law, Commerce, Business, Risk Management or a related discipline,
• Strong understanding of the Energy sector and regulatory environment is essential.
• Experience in leading operational process management and improvement.
• Experience in uplifting compliance through QA and working with external parties.
• Experience in responding to regulators and other Government departments on matters of compliance.
• Experience leading senior business leaders to achieve compliance outcomes.
• Experience leading senior business leaders to achieve enhanced customer experience outcomes.
• Able to efficiently diagnose issues and recommend effective actions to rectify.
• Passion for continuous improvement.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Analytical mindset, with a strong ability to solve complex problems.
• Adaptable and proactive, ready to tackle challenges in a dynamic setting.