About Rabobank
Rabobank New Zealand is part of a global co‑operative bank with a deep heritage in food and agribusiness. We combine the scale and strength of a global organisation with a locally focused approach, allowing us to stay close to our customers and deliver practical outcomes.
Our co‑operative roots shape how we work. We focus on building long-term relationships, supporting our customers and communities, and creating sustainable value. We aim to keep things simple, practical, and customer-focused, and we’re always looking for ways to improve how we work.
We are looking for an experienced, IT-savvy, data-confident Operational Risk Manager to join our second line team in a hands-on, trans-Tasman role supporting business units across New Zealand and Australia. This is an opportunity to step into a role with real ownership and influence, applying operational risk frameworks in practice, shaping how risk is managed day-to-day, and directly improving business outcomes.
If you enjoy working with systems, using data to generate insights, improving processes, and helping others make well-informed decisions, this could be a great fit.
About the role
As Manager, Operational Risk Advisory, you will provide advice, insight, and constructive challenge to support how operational risk is managed across the business.
You’ll play an important role in embedding and continuously improving our Operational Risk Framework, taking ownership of key activities and helping ensure it is applied in a way that supports the business and delivers real value.
This role requires a balance of practical thinking, analytical capability, and strong stakeholder engagement, along with the confidence to ask questions and challenge where needed.
Key responsibilities
Partner with first line stakeholders across New Zealand and Australia to identify, assess, and manage operational risks across business activities.
Provide second line review and constructive challenge on change initiatives, risk acceptances, and key decisions.
Provide risk input into business change and governance processes, ensuring alignment with risk appetite and framework requirements.
Monitor risk against limits and thresholds, taking ownership of insights and working with stakeholders to drive effective resolution.
Deliver control testing and assurance activities (including deep dives and reviews), ensuring control effectiveness and driving remediation through to closure.
Support the uplift of risk capability through coaching, workshops, and practical guidance to the first line.
Review and challenge incident reporting and root cause analysis, ensuring meaningful insights are captured and used to strengthen controls.
Play a key role in embedding and continuously improving the Operational Risk Framework, including policy documents, controls, and risk appetite measures.
Take ownership of maintaining and enhancing risk systems (including Archer), along with reporting, ensuring strong data quality and actionable insights.
Drive continuous improvement in operational risk processes, with a focus on simplicity, efficiency, and usability.
Partner with stakeholders to translate regulatory expectations into practical, fit‑for‑purpose risk and control solutions.
Promote the use of process mapping and end‑to‑end value chain thinking to strengthen risk identification and control design.
What you’ll need
Around 5–8 years’ experience in operational risk or a related risk role.
Strong ability to analyse data and generate clear, actionable insights.
A proactive, hands-on approach with the ability to take ownership and deliver practical outcomes.
Nice to have
Experience working in or advising the banking or financial services sector.
Experience working within a global organisation.
Exposure to process improvement methodologies (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma) or process engineering approaches.
Strong critical thinking and problem-solving capability, with attention to detail.
Ability to build relationships and collaborate effectively across the business.
A curious mindset and desire to understand systems and processes.
Strong organisational skills with a structured, disciplined approach.
Ability to balance regulatory and policy expectations with practical business outcomes.
At Rabobank New Zealand, you’ll be part of a collaborative, purpose-driven environment where you can make a practical impact on how risk is managed.
Please let our Talent Acquisition team know if you need any accommodations to make our opportunities more accessible to you.
Skills Required
- 3-5+ years in financial services, ideally in operational risk, audit, controls
- Solid understanding of operational risk management, CPS220, CPS230, Basel standards, & RBNZ expectations
- Strong capability in RCA facilitation, control testing, incident analysis, & data interpretation
- Experience using GRC tools (Archer ideal)
What We Do
Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A. is a full-range financial services provider that operates on cooperative principles. Its origins lie in the local loan cooperatives that were founded in the Netherlands nearly 110 years ago by enterprising people who had virtually no access to the capital market. Rabobank Group is comprised of independent local Rabobanks plus Rabobank Nederland, their umbrella organisation, and a number of specialist subsidiaries. Overall, Rabobank Group has approximately 61,100 employees (in FTEs), who serve about 10 million customers in 47 countries.
