Program Risk & Controls Lead

• Job Title: Program & Risk Control Lead
• JRN: 173930
• Business Unit: EB
• Reporting to: Hassan Safavi
• Location: OCM
• Talent Acquisition Partner: Anika Chauhan

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

This 12 month Fixed Term Program Risk & Controls Lead is a critical role responsible for identifying, analysing, and managing risks across complex programs and strategic initiatives. Working within a structured risk management framework, this role partners closely with business, technical, commercial, and delivery stakeholders to ensure risks are clearly defined, assessed, and mitigated in alignment with organisational risk appetite.

With a strong focus on data-driven insights, the role involves hands-on analysis of information from multiple systems to produce clear risk reporting, dashboards, and executive-level presentations that inform decision-making. The Program Risk & Controls Lead also supports the development of mitigation strategies, cost estimates, and business cases, enabling informed and evidence-based investment decisions.

Operating with a high degree of professionalism, integrity, and discretion, the role proactively anticipates challenges, provides actionable insights, and ensures robust governance practices. Through effective stakeholder engagement and strong analytical capability, the position plays a key role in supporting successful program delivery and achieving organisational objectives.

What You’ll Do

• Own and manage day‑to‑day risk operations across programs, maintaining risk registers, controls, and treatment plans while ensuring all artefacts are accurate, current, and decision‑ready.
• Proactively identify and assess emerging risks by working closely with cross‑functional stakeholders, clearly defining risk statements, ratings, and escalation thresholds before impacts materialise.
• Conduct hands‑on data analysis using inputs from multiple systems to uncover trends, risks, and insights, translating complex data into clear, actionable intelligence and leading indicators.
• Define, challenge, and implement effective controls and mitigation strategies, partnering with accountable owners to ensure actions are practical, proportionate, and aligned to risk appetite.
• Create and deliver high‑quality risk reporting, including dashboards, executive presentations, and decision papers that provide clear, data‑driven insights to support senior leadership decisions.
• Act as a trusted advisor to stakeholders and leaders, driving accountability for risk treatment delivery, guiding cost‑benefit decisions, and embedding strong risk management practices across programs.

What You Bring

• Extensive experience in program risk, controls, or governance roles within complex environments, with a strong track record supporting large‑scale transformations and strategic initiatives.
• Advanced analytical capability, with proven experience interpreting delivery, financial, and operational data to identify trends, root causes, and emerging risks.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, including leading cross‑functional workshops and translating complex risk concepts into clear business impacts.
• Expertise in developing high‑quality, data‑driven reporting and executive‑level insights, including dashboards, presentations, and decision papers.
• Proven ability to design and assess effective controls and mitigation strategies, aligning treatments with risk appetite and balancing cost, impact, and outcomes.
• Strong leadership and communication skills, with experience advising senior stakeholders, presenting to governance forums, and coaching teams to uplift risk capability and maturity.

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.

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