The mandate

A deliberate change of pace is required to deal with public commitments requiring operational and financial ownership within a privately held diversified financial-services platform. The immediate arena is the payments portfolio during a new cross-border growth thesis. For mandate 050, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Chief Sustainability Officer operating perimeter covers approximately A$4,500 million in assets under oversight, with activity spanning several payments portfolio customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Chief Sustainability Officer Financial Services remit carries direct influence over roughly 225 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a Chief Sustainability Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the payments portfolio. The Chief Sustainability Officer Financial Services seat must resolve a new cross-border growth thesis, while preserving the underlying strengths of the payments portfolio. For mandate 050, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Chief Sustainability Officer’s first year on the payments portfolio is expected to end with auditable delivery, capital integration and credible stakeholder reporting. In mandate 050, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a newly created Chief Sustainability Officer — Payments Portfolio seat, established because a new cross-border growth thesis now requires one accountable executive rather than distributed ownership. The board has classified the appointment as urgent and intends to move from qualified shortlist to offer within 6–8 weeks. Interim governance protects the payments portfolio, but it is not a substitute for a permanent appointee. The external search remains confidential to avoid unnecessary disruption before the appointment is agreed.

What you will own

• Set the Chief Sustainability Officer value-creation thesis for the payments portfolio, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately A$4,500 million in assets under oversight, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Chief Sustainability Officer Financial Services organisation of about 225 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the payments portfolio economics and execution constraints created by a new cross-border growth thesis, with Chief Sustainability Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Chief Sustainability Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the payments portfolio; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have converted strategy into explicit capital and resource choices and then tracked execution through board governance in mandate 050.
• Build the Chief Sustainability Officer’s three-year succession and capability plan for the payments portfolio, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Financial Services organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the payments portfolio baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to public commitments requiring operational and financial ownership, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Chief Sustainability Officer portfolio and organisation choices for the payments portfolio, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable payments portfolio trend against auditable delivery, capital integration and credible stakeholder reporting, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the Chief Sustainability Officer’s agreed first-year payments portfolio value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Chief Sustainability Officer forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the payments portfolio’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Chief Sustainability Officer mandate’s highest-priority payments portfolio risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical payments portfolio talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Chief Sustainability Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Chief Sustainability Officer-owned improvement in the payments portfolio operating constraint behind a new cross-border growth thesis, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 050: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a Chief Sustainability Officer, Transition Executive or Operations Strategy Leader in a privately held Financial Services or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the payments portfolio, your Chief Sustainability Officer track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from banking, insurance, payments, wealth or regulated fintech will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this Chief Sustainability Officer brief.

As a Chief Sustainability Officer candidate, you bring 18–22 years of progressive Financial Services or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 18-22 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of A$2,600 million and led an organisation of at least 150 people.

For mandate 050, the board wants two transitions: a difficult payments portfolio portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a new cross-border growth thesis. As the prospective Chief Sustainability Officer for this payments portfolio, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 050 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Chief Sustainability Officer must be based in Sydney; international relocation is supported, but this Financial Services role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of Chief Sustainability Officer, Transition Executive or Operations Strategy Leader, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Financial Services governance forum.
• Proven Chief Sustainability Officer ownership of at least A$2,600 million and leadership of no fewer than 150 employees in a comparable payments portfolio context.
• One completed Financial Services or adjacent-sector example of public commitments requiring operational and financial ownership with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from banking, insurance, payments, wealth or regulated fintech; experience that is purely functional and lacks Chief Sustainability Officer-level payments portfolio consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Sydney location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 050.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Chief Sustainability Officer package is A$380,000–500,000 base + annual incentive, calibrated to the final payments portfolio scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 050 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Chief Sustainability Officer appointment in Sydney, centred on the payments portfolio, offers regular exposure to the chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 050.

Confidentiality

To protect the board, incumbent team and candidate, the organisation remains unnamed until a confidential conversation confirms mutual relevance for mandate 050. The operating facts have been rounded and blended expressly to remove identifying signals for mandate 050.

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