Associate Director, Portfolio Design

At AustralianSuper, we truly care about our colleagues. We know work and life are intertwined. That’s why we support the diverse needs of everyone and have policies that enable us all to thrive and be truly flexible. We ensure diversity is celebrated for the opportunity it provides us all to learn and grow, and deliver better outcomes for members.

**Your New Role**

Portfolio Strategy plays a pivotal role in designing and managing the Balanced Option - the fund’s core investment offering - and providing portfolio oversight across all Investment Options. The purpose of the team is to ensure each Option is optimally positioned to meet its investment objectives, delivering strong, sustainable returns for members.

Reporting to the Director - Portfolio Design, this role is focused on shaping the investment strategy for the Balanced Option while influencing how asset class strategies are structured. The overarching objective is to maximise outperformance within constraints for our Options and asset class strategies.

Key responsibilities include:
**Portfolio Design**
- Developing and formalising the Total Portfolio Framework, ensuring alignment with long-term objectives;
- Assessing and positioning the Balanced Option to ensure it meets its outperformance objectives whilst managing risk effectively;
- Influencing the direction of asset class strategies, ensuring each asset class is structured to maximise outperformance within constraints.

**Research and Innovation**
- Leading benchmarking activities to define appropriate objectives and performance targets for internalised asset class strategies;
- Identifying and recommending new scalable investment opportunities, with a focus on value-add at the Option level;
- Researching and validating investment strategies to deliver alpha at scale.

**Management and Reporting**
- Monitoring Options and asset classes to ensure sufficient risk-taking aligned with the investment opportunity set and risk appetite;
- Taking ownership of assumptions and inputs within the fund’s risk model, ensuring robustness and accuracy in risk assessments;
- Building the team’s capabilities by automating recurring reporting tasks, improving efficiency and data accuracy;Developing high-quality committee papers and presentations for the Portfolio Management Group and Investment Committee.

**What You’ll Need**
- Significant experience in multi-asset class investing with foundational knowledge in portfolio construction, risk and performance analysis;
- Strong collaborative mindset with the ability to engage effectively with a range of stakeholders to achieve shared goals;
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain complex investment concepts in simple terms;
- Tertiary qualifications in Economics, Finance or a related field;
- Post graduate qualifications in finance or investing (e.g. CFA, FIAA, PhD etc) desirable;
- Coding proficiency in Python, R or a similar language an advantage;Strong asset class knowledge and experience influencing the management of multi-asset portfolios a distinct advantage.

**Life at AustralianSuper**

AustralianSuper is committed to colleague development, and we support our people with ongoing learning, coaching and training, as well as career opportunities across our expanding global organisation. We offer generous leave entitlements and promote a blended working environment in which all roles can flex, and we’re happy to discuss what this looks like for you.

We cultivate a workplace that champions safety, respect, inclusiveness and diversity. We are committed to supporting our diverse workforce in a way that is inclusive and embraces diversity in all its forms. If you require any reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process or the role, please let our recruitment team know.

**What’s Next**

Australian or New Zealand citizenship or Australian permanent residency status is required.

**_Progress powered by purpose.
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Agencies please note: this vacancy is being managed directly by AustralianSuper’s Talent Acquisition team. We will contact our preferred agency partners should we require additional support. Thank you.

**The AustralianSuper Story
As a profit-to-member superannuation fund, AustralianSuper is run only for members, and is here to help members achieve their best possible retirement outcome. We don't pay profits or dividends to shareholders, so the money we make goes back into the fund.

We’re an organisation of talented, inspiring colleagues and passionate leaders. As we continue to grow in size and complexity, we need people who will challenge our thinking, deliver outstanding outcomes and most importantly, share in our purpose.