National Director, Portfolio Management - Business Financing

Company description 

Export Finance Australia is the government’s export credit agency.

We provide financial expertise and solutions to drive sustainable growth that benefits Australia and our partners. Through our loans, guarantees, bonds and insurance options we enable Small Medium Enterprises, corporates and governments to take on export-related opportunities, and support infrastructure development in the Pacific region and beyond.

The Director, Portfolio Management – Business Financing is responsible for leading a team of account managers and driving the team to achieve successful outcomes in delivering the key credit analytical activity associated with originating and servicing Business Finance customer transactions and managing a portfolio of existing customers throughout the credit lifecycle. 

Your new role

Location: Sydney
Role Type: Full-time, Permanent

Position description 

Strategy

• Build and define the processes and procedures, as well as ways of working between Business Finance Risk and Legal teams and operationalising these processes to best support the customer experience, improve deal velocity, and effective use of the technology platforms.
• Work closely with the Head of Portfolio Management – BF, Lending Operations & Business Finance to create strategies to enhance PM - BF productivity through the introduction of new technologies to processes and risk mitigation, including through AI.

Business Leadership and Execution

• Work closely with key stakeholders in leading their teams to drive solutions, create efficiencies, and optimise workflows to achieve business objectives.
• Demonstrate and lead the team to achieve best practice, adapting the approach to credit analysis to balance management of risk with growth and providing good customer experiences.
• Provide support and be a point of escalation for high-risk customers and complex cases, work with Credit and the Head of Portfolio Management – BF, Lending Operations 7 Business Finance to apply workout solutions. Develop team skills in early warning signs of credit deterioration.
• Develop appropriate strategies for the early identification and management of high-risk and non-performing files, agreeing these with the Chief Credit Officer and Head of Portfolio Management – BF, Lending Operations & Business Finance.
• Partner with Credit to work through credit standards and complex customer discussions and negotiations.
• Proactively ensure annual reviews, covenants and arrears reports are updated and well managed regularly.
• Maintain ownership of the High-Risk and Non-Performing Loans report, ensuring teams are followed up for accuracy and finalisation, to be presented to Head of Portfolio Management – BF, Lending Ops 7 Business Solutions for final approval monthly prior to the due date.
• Assist Head of Portfolio Management – BF, Lending Operations & Business Solutions with annual budget preparation for the Portfolio Relationship team.

Culture and Leadership

• Create a culture of high performance, trust, transparency, and collaboration across each Director Portfolio Management team.
• Review and set in consultation with Head of Portfolio Management – BF, Lending Operations & Business Solutions annual KPI’s for the PRM team.
• Lead, direct, mentor and manage the team and their performance, with accountability for ensuring success of the team. Communicate matters across teams efficiently and effectively, with a focus on maximising workflows.
• Provide and facilitate regular coaching, mentoring and training of the Portfolio Management - BF team and assist Directors PM - BF to coach and mentor their team members. Co-ordinate and lead weekly Director PM - BF meetings to discuss team performance, areas of concern, feedback and/or direction from senior management.

About you

• Degree qualifications in Commerce, Economics, Accounting, Business Administration, Banking/Finance or Business and/or relevant technical disciplines.
• 12+ years financing experience across business and/or corporate banking or similar. Demonstrated ability to manage a portfolio balancing the interests of customers and the lender.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Demonstrated leadership capabilities through a track record of managing a diverse team. Proven capability to mentor and coach a team to improve performance.
• Ability to successfully influence others to achieve outcomes.
• Ability to manage a diverse range of stakeholders and their sometimes-conflicting priorities.
• Deep understanding of loan structuring and credit risk management across a range of financing products.
• Strong financial analysis skills to assess loan performance and perform stress testing. Proficiency in analysing borrower financial statements, cash flow, collateral values, and repayment capacity.
• Deep understanding of facility administration including operational risk. Strong understanding of facility and security documentation.
• Experience of credit restructuring and Non-Performing and high-risk loans.
• Strong non-financial risk awareness including KYC and financial crime risks. Ability to proactively identify, assess and mitigate risks
• Implementation of effective workflow processes in creating efficiencies and reducing bottlenecks.
• Strong credit analysis skills, understanding of complex transactions and credit risk assessments. Ability to identify good quality credit analysis approaches, assess and address gaps in capability. Strong understanding of the credit assessment requirements and documentation throughout the customer life cycle.
• Understanding of the importance and impact of data integrity, ability to measure quality in relation to data and implement assurance approaches.

Even if you haven’t ticked every box but this role resonates with you, don't rule yourself out just yet, we'd love to hear from you!

Our benefits and culture

We are small enough to have an impact, BIG enough to make a world of difference and it starts with our people.

We support flexible working and pride ourselves in fostering a culturally diverse, honest, collaborative and supportive team environment. We are proud to be certified as a Great Place to Work for the fourth year (including 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2020), recognised on the 2023 AFR BOSS Best Places to Work list, as one of Australia’s Best Workplaces for Women 2022 and 2025, and the Australian HR Awards 2021 Employer of Choice (NFP & Public Sector).

In line with our commitment to our people, we have a comprehensive array of benefits available to our employees:

• Generous leave provisions (e.g. Annual Wellbeing day) and leave purchase opportunities
• 18 weeks of paid parental leave for primary caregivers
• Thorough induction onboarding program
• Health and Wellbeing initiatives
• Gender affirmation leave
• Income Protection Insurance
• Community volunteering and donation matching programs
• and many more!

Our headquarters is based in Sydney CBD, and we have a national presence across Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Eligibility

Australian Citizenship - To be eligible to apply for this position, applicants must hold Australian Citizenship at the time of application.

Security Clearance - To be eligible to apply for this position, applicants must be able to obtain and maintain a Baseline security clearance.

How to apply

Applications close: Monday 7 July 2025.  

Interviews will occur in parallel, so please apply ASAP.
Enquiries: Careers@exportfinance.gov.au      
  
To apply, please email your CV to Careers@exportfinance.gov.au      

By choosing to apply, you agree to the recruitment privacy policy.

We invite and welcome applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from diverse cultural backgrounds, people with disability and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

If you are a candidate with a disability, let us know how we can provide you with additional support.

About us

Export Finance Australia is Australia’s export credit agency.  

We provide finance to support Australian export trade and overseas infrastructure development across the Pacific and Indo-Pacific. Through our loans, bonds and guarantees, we support businesses – from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to large corporates – foreign governments and infrastructure projects, to take on the world. 

Working with banks, other government agencies and our partners, together we are helping drive international success for Australian businesses.

The reason our people join us, stay with us and grow with us is because they wholeheartedly believe in our purpose. They can see the impact we create for our customers.

For more information about us, please refer to our website here. 

Applications from recruitment agencies will not be considered on this occasion.