Associate Director, AI Performance

Optus is an Australian telecommunications company, delivering more than 11 million services to our customers every day across mobile, broadband and digital solutions.

Are you a seasoned AI professional who thrives at the intersection of innovation, risk, and measurable impact? Join us as the Associate Director – AI Performance, where you’ll shape how AI is measured and optimised across one of Australia’s largest customer‑facing AI portfolios.

In this senior role, you’ll define and drive the standards for AI performance, safety, and financial impact across the Intelligent Contacts portfolio. You’ll work with our technical AI teams to ensure our agents and models are effective, transparent, responsible, and deliver meaningful value for customers and Optus.

We are open to applicants in Brisbane, Melbourne, or Sydney.

The day to day

• Lead the definition, testing, and measurement standards for AI performance and experimentation.
• Ensure accurate financial impact measurement for reporting and portfolio decision‑making.
• Implement and maintain AI risk guardrails, controls, and operational intelligence aligned to Responsible AI frameworks.
• Diagnose and solve complex AI monitoring challenges across multi‑agent systems.
• Partner with Product Directors, Business Ops, Engineering, Finance, and Risk to maximise customer and financial outcomes.
• Drive adoption of experimentation frameworks and next‑generation AI monitoring tools.
• Champion AI transparency, continuous improvement, and responsible delivery across the organisation.

What makes you perfect

• Strong experience measuring quantitative or generative AI performance and financial impact. Experience in high impact environment like quantitative trading is preferred.
• Mathematics, statistical physics, or data science background. PhD preferred.
• Demonstratable experience building models and observability solutions on cloud platforms.
• Proven ability to measure risk and implement AI controls.
• Influential leader who drives strategy and alignment across stakeholders.
• Familiarity with a range of statistical and AI methods with deep expertise in at least one.
• Skilled at generating insights that lift customer, product, and financial outcomes.
• Effective leader who builds high‑performing, innovative teams.
• Comfortable navigating complexity and solving novel AI monitoring challenges.

What's in it for you?

• Competitive remuneration and employee discounts. Make life easier (and more affordable) with $80 monthly credit and 25% off Optus products and unique shopping discounts with our retail partners.
• Flexible working arrangements with opportunities to work three days in the office, two days remote or home.
• Competitive leave policies, including additional 'Connected’ days to focus on culture, family, health, community, or whatever’s important to you.
• We support growing families with inclusive, carer-neutral paid Parental Leave of up to 16 weeks.
• Direct your own development and build future-ready skills with Optus U’s industry-focused micro-credentials, developed with La Trobe and Macquarie Universities.
• Build meaningful connections through employee-led networks and diversity initiatives including Culture Connect, Elevate Women, Disability Network and Express Yourself (LGBTQIA+).
• Put your wellbeing first with free access to counselling and support services, 24/7 — in-person, by phone, SMS, or video.

At Optus, we are strengthened by others and that means valuing diversity and saying ‘yes’ to embracing individual differences. We are committed to ensuring that our application process provides an equal employment opportunity to all job seekers, including individuals from diverse gender, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, individuals with a disability, individuals identifying as being part of the LGBTQIA+ community, individuals who may have served in the armed forces or who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. We also want to do our best to make our recruitment process inclusive. If you require any adjustments or accessibility support to participate fairly and equitably in the recruitment process, please email AccessibleRecruitment@optus.com.au or call 1800 309 170. We're here to help. When you contact us, please advise your preferred method of contact and we will be in touch within 48 hours.

For more information on Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging at Optus, please visit https://www.optus.com.au/about/inclusion-diversity.