Director, Policy

About Council of Australian Life Insurers

The Council of Australian Life Insurers (CALI) is the leading voice of life insurance in Australia. We support Australians to make informed choices about their future and help them live in a healthy, confident and secure way over their lifetime.

Our members' products and services give people peace of mind when making important decisions and provide a financial safety net during life's biggest challenges.

We work closely with our members, policy makers, and key stakeholders to advocate for national policy settings that expand Australians' access to the life insurance protection that suits them when they need it most.

About this role

Reporting to the General Manager, Policy, the Director, Policy holds senior-level accountability for the end-to-end delivery of key components of CALI's strategy, including priority strategic projects.

The Director is responsible for leading high-impact policy work that aligns with CALI's mission and strategic priorities. This includes independently scoping, developing, and executing complex projects; managing senior stakeholder relationships; and delivering outcomes that strengthen the life insurance sector and its regulatory and public policy environment.

The role requires strategic leadership, professional judgment, and policy expertise. The Director plays a key role in translating strategy into action, working closely with members, government, regulators, and key partners to influence reform and strengthen the life insurance sector's role in Australia's broader risk protection and health systems. The Director also plays a key role in building team capability, assisting Associate Directors, and contributing to cross-functional collaboration across the organisation.

This is a 12-month contract for a parental leave cover.

Key responsibilitie
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STRATEGIC OWNERSHIP AND DELIVERY

• Take full ownership of the design, development and delivery of key strategic projects and policy initiatives that form part of CALI's strategy.
• Lead the delivery of industry-led initiatives and reform efforts, ensuring they are evidence-based, strategically aligned, and reflect CALI's values and member priorities.
• Lead stakeholder engagement conversations, representing CALI and its members in priority policy areas.
• Collaborate with the General Manager, Policy to set priorities, allocate resources, and track progress against CALI's strategic objectives.

GOVERNANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT

• Monitor and report on strategic project milestones and outcomes, contributing to CALI's Board activity reporting, and strategic performance tracking.
• Identify and manage risks associated with policy positions and public engagement, escalating issues where necessary.
• Ensure compliance with CALI's competition law obligations and internal policy frameworks.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND INFLUENCE

• Build and maintain trusted relationships with senior stakeholders across member organisations, regulators, government, and other external bodies.
• Act as CALI's lead representative in high-level working groups, consultations, and external engagements on assigned policy areas.
• Facilitate alignment across a range of member views and technical perspectives to shape well-supported and influential industry positions.
• Support and deliver (as required) member services initiatives and enhancements, including delivering agreed services to CALI partners.

LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE

• Provide strong leadership and professional development for others in the team, including project direction, coaching, and mentoring.
• Foster a collaborative and high-performing team culture that is consistent with CALI's values and strategic intent.
• Actively contribute to the leadership of CALI's broader media, communications, and advocacy function.
• Provide strategy expertise during the annual process of refreshing CALI's strategy.
• Develop processes and approaches that can be used by other team members, e.g. workshop structure, policy document templates.

POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND EXECUTION

• Oversee the development of high-quality policy content including submissions, guidelines, codes, and advocacy materials.
• Manage the full lifecycle of key policy initiatives, from issue identification and stakeholder engagement through to delivery, reporting and review.
• Collaborate to deliver external communications, publications, media and events to further CALI's advocacy objectives.
• Ensure work is rigorous, timely, and meets legal, regulatory, and reputational standards.

Knowledge, experience and skills required

• At least 10 years' experience in public policy, government relations, regulatory affairs, or relevant industry roles, with a proven track record in end-to-end policy delivery.
• Demonstrated ability to take ownership of major strategic projects and deliver high-impact outcomes in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with experience engaging at senior executive and government levels.
• Strong leadership capability, including mentoring and developing others.
• Demonstrated experience in strategy development and execution.
• Demonstrated ability in effective project management. Ideally skilled in agile processes.
• High-level written and verbal communication skills, with experience drafting complex policy documents, submissions, and advice.
• Demonstrated experience of effective contract management and working with external service providers.
• Strategic and analytical thinking, with the ability to anticipate risks and drive results.
• Proven evidence of developing and embedding best practices for a team around approaches such as for workshops, strategic documents and process management.
• Tertiary qualifications in law, public policy or financial services, as well as experience in the financial services and/or life insurance industry, are highly regarded.

What we offer

This exciting opportunity will see you at the forefront in supporting the life insurance industry and to deliver value to our membership and the wider industry.

CALI offers:

• A competitive salary.
• A flexible approach to work.
• Challenging and diverse responsibilities.
• An organisation with strong foundations in its values, purpose, and strategic priorities.

Interested?

Don't delay – click apply and submit your CV and cover letter
.

For more information on the position or to schedule a confidential chat, please email

Only applicants with Australian working rights will be considered. Due to the number of applications, only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.