Zaheeda has spent more than twenty years in risk, compliance and audit inside Australian banks — across enterprise risk management, credit risk, controls assurance and regulatory engagement, spanning all three lines of defence for both consumer and commercial businesses.
Career
Newcastle Permanent — Head of Transformation Risk & Compliance, from February 2020. Developed and implemented the enterprise risk management framework across multiple business units, aligned to ISO 31000 and APRA, ASIC, AFCA and OAIC requirements; delivered the anti-money-laundering diagnostic and action plan; prepared executive and board reporting on risk and compliance maturity, including transformation status updates to the Board and APRA.
Classic Funding Group — Group Head of Risk, 2019. Led the enterprise risk management strategy end to end; chaired the Credit and Risk Committees; developed the three-lines-of-defence framework and the board-approved Risk Appetite Statement; remediated 100% of long-standing regulatory and control items within six months.
Westpac Group — Head of Credit Risk, Specialist Finance, 2014–2019. Drove credit risk strategy, policy and analytics for the specialist finance business; led a team of 18; delivered credit policy and security documentation simplification and obligations under legislative change, from mandatory data breach reporting to responsible lending and the Banking Code of Practice.
Westpac Group — National Manager Audit, 2012–2014. Independent assurance over the internal control environment for business and institutional clients, leading a national team of 12 across all states and Westpac brands; integrated the St George and Westpac audit teams into one, and cut audit arrears from 179 to 26 in five months with no added resources.
St George Group — Senior Manager Audit, 2007–2012. Started the internal audit team for St George Bank, delivering cost savings in excess of $1m in its first year; wrote audit policy and trained key personnel.
St George Business Finance — Head of Operations (Melbourne), 2006–2007.
Commonwealth Bank — Risk Manager, 2003–2006; State Client Service Manager, 2001–2003. Led the Sarbanes-Oxley implementation for the business unit and the design of its operational risk framework.
Career details above are drawn from Zaheeda's February 2021 CV — roles since then to be added once supplied, and the profile to be confirmed by Zaheeda before this marker is removed.
Qualifications
Certified Practising Accountant (CPA Australia, Deakin University); Certificate of Executive Leadership, UNSW Business School; Graduate Certificate in eCommerce and Bachelor of Financial Administration, University of New England.