Practice Leader, Financial Markets

**Practice Leader, Financial Markets (Digital, Distribution & Strategy), Legal**
- Permanent, Full-time opportunity
- Sydney/Melbourne based
- Hybrid working model

**How will I help?**

The Practice Leader - Financial Markets (Digital, Distribution & Strategy) Legal leads a team of Senior Lawyers, Lawyers and Paralegals and reports to the Practice Group Head for Financial Markets & International Legal, supporting legal and regulatory matters for Financial Markets Digital, Distribution and Strategy business teams and the Westpac Economics business team.

**Some of the key accountabilities are**:
To act as the direct people leader for their own team and contribute to leadership of the broader Financial Markets and International Legal team, principally by:

- Fostering a team culture of collaboration, open communication, accountability and continuous improvement
- Understanding development needs and career objectives of direct reports to enable the creation and maintenance of talent development plans
- Providing regular feedback on performance and assisting direct reports with identifying opportunities for improvement, including (where necessary) through active performance management
- Supporting Group people management processes, including completing performance conversations and contribution to talent-mapping and remuneration review discussions
- Liaising with the Practice Group Head over development and performance matters and the implementation of new people policies and process
- Managing day-to-day practical operation of the team, including work allocation, annual (or other) leave, compliance with relevant conduct policies and attendance at industry forums
- Leading recruitment for the team

To contribute to advising senior business leaders on the current and anticipated future legal risk profile of the business, principally by:

- Understanding the different types of legal and regulatory risks generated across the business, including emerging risks generated by regulatory or business changes
- Building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders the business, including senior business leaders and senior risk specialists
- Advising senior leaders in the business on the rating and prioritisation of legal and regulatory risks and the adequacy of existing or proposed arrangements to address those risks
- Developing and maintaining templates, processes and training to ensure the efficient preparation of trading documentation by Lawyers and Paralegals.
- Developing and maintaining a legal resourcing plan to ensure the provision of adequate internal and external legal support for the agreed upon legal risk priorities, including working with the Legal COO team on the Legal Panel and the Practice Group Head on cost management
- Representing Legal at leadership team and risk committee meetings for the business and deputising for the Practice Group Head when needed
- Escalating significant legal and regulatory risk issues to the Practice Group Head and supporting further escalation to a Divisional General Counsel or Group General Counsel where appropriate

To provide product support and other legal advice alongside other team members with the understanding that the nature and extent of the matters worked on will reflect the other responsibilities of the role

**What’s in it for me?**

You’ll play a significant part of the future of a business that has been around for over 200 years. Our purpose is to create better futures together. So, we’ll back you in the development of your career, internal career prospects, and flexible working. You’ll also keep learning to grow your career, backed by a fantastic team of people with a can-do, supportive structure. Whatever shape your family takes, we offer generous paid and unpaid parental leave for your nominated primary and support carers. This includes leave to organise adoptions, surrogacy, and foster care arrangements. And we continue to pay your super contributions while you take all the time you need to get your new family settled.

**What do I need?**
- Admitted as a Solicitor, minimum of 15 years PQE.
- People leadership experience in an in-house, regulatory, or private practice context desirable
- Substantial private practice or in-house legal experience supporting financial markets businesses (e.g., financial markets products or financial markets regulation)Experience communicating effectively with senior level stakeholders

**What’s it like to work there?**

We are a collaborative team of passionate people with a shared ambition to make a difference for our customers, our communities and each other. At Westpac, making a difference means creating impact, unlocking our own and each other’s passions, and transformative success stories to create better futures together.

As well as competitive remuneration and a great culture, joining the Westpac family gives you access to a wide range of employee benefits to help you manage your priorities - whether that mean