Manager - Financial Risk

About Avant
Avant is Australia’s leading medical defence organisation with a proud heritage of protecting Australian medical professionals for over 125 years. It was established by a small group of doctors in 1893, who wanted to “protect themselves from actions arising out of the practice of medicine”.
Avant now represents 82,000 health practitioners and medical students across every state and territory, delivering market leading products and services to meet their professional, personal and practice needs. Building on this heritage, our vision is to be the most trusted professional partner in supporting doctors throughout their lives and careers.
As a mutual organisation, owned by members and run purely for their benefit, our members are at the centre of all we do. As well as providing products and services to our members, we play a broader community role by advocating for improvements in the healthcare system and in quality, safety and professionalism in medicine, through delivering education and research activities.
The commitment to members and the profession from our ~950 staff has resulted in over 50% of Australia’s doctors choosing to be Avant members, delivered annual revenues of $445 million and net assets of ~$2 billion.
About the Role
We are seeking an experienced Financial Risk professional to join our Governance, Risk and Resilience team as a second line of defence specialist. This pivotal role provides oversight and challenge across our Group Finance and Avant Finance divisions, ensuring effective management of our material risks including Capital, Liquidity, Investment, and Credit.
As Manager, Financial Risk, you will be responsible for maintaining robust risk oversight frameworks, challenging risk-taking activities, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and internal risk appetite. You'll work closely with business units to embed sound risk management practices while providing independent oversight and reporting to senior management and the Board.
This role offers the opportunity to make a significant impact on our risk culture and contribute to the strategic direction of our risk management capabilities across the Avant Group.
Key Responsibilities
- Risk Oversight and Challenge: Provide independent second line oversight of financial risks across the Avant Group’s financial risks.
- Risk Framework Management: Embed and enhance Risk Management Frameworks, ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
- Risk Appetite and Limits: Monitor adherence to risk appetite statements, tolerances and limits, escalating breaches and recommending corrective actions.
- Regulatory Compliance: Ensure compliance with prudential standards, including APRA requirements for capital adequacy, liquidity management.
- Risk Reporting: Deliver comprehensive, timely risk reporting to Risk Committees, Management, and Board, including regular risk dashboards and deep-dive analysis.
- Policy and Procedure Development: Develop and maintain risk policies, procedures, and controls to ensure effective risk management across all material risk classes.
- Business Partnership: Partner with Group Finance and Avant Finance teams to provide risk guidance, challenge risk decisions, and support business objectives within acceptable risk parameters.
- Risk Culture and Training: Promote strong risk awareness and culture through targeted training, communication, and embedding of risk considerations in business processes.
- Emerging Risk Management: Identify, assess, and monitor emerging financial risks, developing appropriate mitigation strategies.

Qualifications & Training
- Tertiary qualifications in finance, economics, commerce, or related field.
- Professional risk management qualifications (CRM, FRM, PRM) highly regarded.
- Additional qualifications in banking, insurance, or financial services preferred.

Experience
- Minimum 5+ years’ experience in financial risk management, preferably in insurance, banking, or financial services.
- Previous experience in second line risk functions with demonstrated oversight capabilities.
- Strong understanding of capital management, liquidity risk, investment risk, and credit risk frameworks.
- Experience with prudential regulation and APRA requirements preferred.
- Proven track record in risk framework development and implementation.

Skills & Capabilities
- Technical Expertise: Deep understanding of financial risk concepts, regulatory frameworks, and risk measurement techniques.
- Analytical Skills: Strong quantitative and qualitative analysis capabilities, with proficiency in risk modelling and stress testing.
- Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including ability to present complex risk concepts to diverse audiences.
- Stakeholder Management: Proven ability to influence and challenge across all levels of the organisation while maintaining collaborative relationships.
- Regulatory Knowledge: Sound understanding of pru