Vulnerable Customer Standards Manager - Fixed Term Full Time

At Optus, we don’t sit back and let the future happen to us - we’re out there making it. By expanding into new technology and relentlessly improving every day, we’re creating a better tomorrow for all Australians.

We believe in the strength of a vibrant, diverse and inclusive workforce where backgrounds, perspectives and life experiences of our people help us innovate and create strong connections with our customers.

The Vulnerable Customer Standards Manager plays a key role in ensuring Optus provides sensitive, proactive, and effective support to customers experiencing vulnerability. With expectations growing around trauma-informed care, extended service availability, and tailored case management, the role is central to building trust and reducing barriers for customers in need. This includes leading efforts to minimise distress, reduce customer effort, and report on meaningful outcomes, while ensuring interactions are handled with care and outmost importance.

Reporting to the Associate Director of Vulnerable Customers, this vital role is responsible for implementing and maintaining governance frameworks and controls that uphold the quality of vulnerable customer care across the organisation. It requires strong expertise in compliance, risk management, and operational governance, alongside the ability to collaborate cross-functionally and translate regulatory obligations into practical, measurable standards.

Please note, this is a full-time temporary opportunity offered for up to 10 months.

The day to day

• Champion Vulnerable Customer Advocacy: Lead with purpose to reduce customer effort through thoughtful care, champion better experiences, and influence leadership decisions that improve outcomes for vulnerable customers.
• Design and Monitor Controls: Develop, implement, and continually improve control frameworks that align with regulatory and internal standards to safeguard vulnerable customers.
• Drive Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with teams across the business—Operations, Legal, Risk, Privacy, and frontline—to embed vulnerability protections and maintain alignment on responsibilities.
• Ensure Governance, Risk and Compliance: Maintain and improve Optus policies related to vulnerable customers, conduct impact assessments, and ensure compliance with relevant standards and regulations.
• Leverage Data and Insights: Analyse trends and data to identify risks and advise the design of controls, training, and process improvements, in collaboration with insights and analytics teams.
• Supervise Performance and Report Outcomes: Define and monitor success metrics, produce regular reports for senior leaders, and provide evidence-based recommendations to drive continuous improvement.

Why you are our next Vulnerable Customer Standards Manager

• Relevant professional qualifications (preferably in Business, Commerce, or Management) with at least 10 years of contact centre and/or retail operations experience, and 5+ years in telecommunications or essential services, including team leadership.
• Deep understanding of industry-specific legal and regulatory frameworks, particularly relating to vulnerable customer protections such as DFV, Financial Hardship, and the TCP Code.
• Proven track record in aligning to governance, risk management, and compliance practices with operational needs to protect vulnerable customers effectively.
• Skilled in business planning, transformation delivery, developing business metrics, and analysing customer data to identify risks and improvement areas.
• Experienced in leading transformation initiatives, motivating organisational change management plans, and applying consulting or diagnostic techniques to drive improvements.
• Strong leadership, mentoring, stakeholder engagement, influencing, and facilitation skills, with the ability to encourage senior business partners and achieve operational outcomes.
• Strong IT skills, particularly in Microsoft tools and systems used to support reporting, analysis, and process management.

What’s in it for you?

• 3 days in the office, 2 days remote – with flexible hours to suit!
• Inclusive paid parental leave, up to 16 weeks for the primary care giver
• All Optus employees have access to resources, webinars and support via the ‘Parents at Work portal’
• Own your own growth by accessing an extensive online and facilitator led learning catalogue.
• Connect at work through our employee-led volunteer groups: Culture Connect, Elevate Women, Disability Network, Express Yourself (LGBTQIA+), United Veterans, Yarn Network, Wellbeing Network and Young Professionals.
• Vibrant campus life, variety of facilities including restaurants, cafes, gymnasium, GP, and post office
• Free Optus bus from Macquarie University Metro Station (every 6-8 minutes); morning and afternoon!

Keen to see what it’s really like to work at Optus? Search #OptusLife on LinkedIn to go behind the scenes!

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.

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