Group Sustainability (Managing Director, Executive Director)

This is a group-level strategy and delivery role rather than a purely advisory one. The core mission is to help OCBC live up to its stated ambition of being Asia's leading financial services partner for a sustainable future, translating that ambition into priorities, policies, frameworks and measurable outcomes that business units and subsidiaries can actually act on. Concretely, that means supporting the development and review of the Group's sustainability strategy, embedding sustainability into lending, product and internal processes, and ensuring disclosures and reporting stand up to regulatory and market scrutiny. A second pillar is cross-functional orchestration. The role partners with business units, subsidiaries, risk and control functions across markets including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Greater China, so much of the work is convening, aligning and unblocking rather than doing everything alone. Expect to help shape sustainability policies and standards, monitor regulatory and industry developments, and convert those into implications for the Board and senior management. A third pillar is external representation and thought leadership. The role carries a mandate to engage regulators, government bodies, industry associations and ecosystem partners, and to help shape OCBC's positioning and messaging on sustainable and transition finance. Over the long term, success likely looks like a sustainability agenda that is credible, commercially grounded and visible in the region's financial sector conversation.

Few roles in the region offer this level of exposure to sustainable finance at scale. Working beside the Group Chief Sustainability Officer, the incoming hire could expect deep immersion in how a systemically important bank integrates sustainability across lending, risk, governance and disclosure, a perspective usually only visible from a group-level seat. The learning curve would likely extend into regional regulatory and taxonomy environments, particularly Singapore's frameworks and their interaction with Malaysia, Indonesia and Greater China requirements. Because the role briefs the Board and senior management, it also builds a specific skill that is hard to acquire elsewhere: distilling fast-moving, ambiguous sustainability topics into decisions senior leaders can act on. Beyond technical content, the role offers stakeholder craft at the highest level, regulator meetings, industry forums, roundtables and cross-cultural partnership building. For someone aiming at a CSO or board-adjacent career, this is effectively an apprenticeship in the full scope of the function.

The posting is explicit: a graduate degree and at least 15 years of relevant experience, with demonstrated success in banking, financial services, sustainable finance or a closely related field. That signals the bank wants someone who already understands how a financial institution actually works (balance sheet, risk appetite, product economics, regulatory rhythm) not someone learning the sector from outside. On the technical side, the ideal candidate likely brings in-depth familiarity with sustainability frameworks, taxonomies and regulatory developments in Singapore and the region, plus a working grasp of how sustainability considerations apply across banking. Experience with transition finance or sustainable finance products would be a natural advantage, as would prior exposure to disclosure and reporting processes. On the softer side, the brief repeatedly emphasises influence, simplification and execution discipline. The strongest fit is probably a pragmatic problem solver who can lead complex cross-functional initiatives, prioritise multiple workstreams concurrently, and earn trust across businesses, functions and cultures, someone who embodies OCBC's values of lasting value, integrity, forward-looking, respect and responsibility without needing to announce it.

Because this is an executive-level mandate, generic sustainability applications will not travel far. The strongest approach is to frame your track record around decisions and outcomes at institutional scale, a strategy you shaped, a framework you embedded, a regulatory conversation you led, a disclosure you improved. Use the 15-year benchmark as a prompt to show progression, not just tenure: what did you own, and what changed because of it? Do your homework on OCBC specifically. The bank operates across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Greater China, so demonstrate awareness of how sustainability priorities and regulatory expectations differ across those markets. If you can speak credibly to transition finance in an Asian banking context, rather than reciting global frameworks, you will stand out from candidates who only know the acronyms. Finally, prepare for a stakeholder-heavy interview process. Expect to be probed on how you influence senior leaders who do not report to you, how you handle disagreement between business and risk functions, and how you communicate ambiguity to a Board. A short, concrete story about a cross-functional initiative you delivered, including what nearly went wrong, will likely serve you better than a polished summary of your CV.

The centre of gravity here is sustainable and transition finance within a major Southeast Asian bank. OCBC frames its ambition around being Asia's leading financial services partner for a sustainable future, which suggests the role will touch how capital is directed (lending, investment and product frameworks) as much as how the bank reports on itself. Expect a strong governance, risk and disclosure dimension. The brief mentions sustainability policies, frameworks, standards and reporting, plus monitoring of regulatory developments. In a bank, that work typically connects to climate risk management, taxonomy alignment, regulatory expectations in Singapore and the region, and the credibility of what is published externally. There is also a clear stakeholder and positioning layer: engaging regulators, government bodies, industry associations and ecosystem partners, and shaping messaging across markets. Taken together, the role likely spans both the 'inside' of sustainability, embedding it into processes and controls, and the 'outside', representing the bank credibly in the region's sustainability conversation.

The most obvious tension is pace versus prudence. A bank this size must advance its sustainability agenda while managing credit, reputational and regulatory risk across multiple jurisdictions, and those two imperatives do not always move at the same speed. A candidate used to fast, campaign-style sustainability work may find the institutional rhythm slower and more contested. Another challenge is regional heterogeneity. Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Greater China have different regulatory environments, market maturities and stakeholder expectations around sustainability. Building a coherent group narrative that still lands credibly in each market is genuinely difficult, and the role will likely absorb pressure from both global frameworks and local realities. The third is influence without authority. The role partners businesses and subsidiaries rather than commanding them, so progress depends on persuasion, credibility and sustained relationship-building with senior people who have competing priorities. Add the external-facing load (forums, regulators, media-adjacent positioning) and the challenge becomes one of bandwidth and judgment as much as expertise.

A typical day would likely be a mix of internal alignment and external engagement rather than deep solo analysis. Mornings might involve working sessions with business units or subsidiaries on a specific initiative, or reviewing a policy or disclosure draft with risk and control colleagues. Between meetings, there would be reading: regulatory updates, industry papers, competitor positioning, all feeding into a sharper view for senior management. Much of the week is stakeholder-shaped. Conversations with the Group Chief Sustainability Officer, preparation of materials for Board or executive discussions, and coordination across functions in different markets would be routine. Because the role represents OCBC externally, there would also be periodic industry forums, roundtables and regulator or ecosystem meetings, each requiring tailored messaging that holds up in that specific room. The variability is real: a regulatory development or market event can rapidly reorder priorities, and the multi-market scope means time zones and calendars rarely align neatly. The role likely rewards someone who plans carefully but can absorb disruption without losing the thread on delivery.

This seat is close to the top of the sustainability function, so conventional promotion is less the point than scope and visibility. Reporting into the Group Chief Sustainability Officer's orbit and regularly briefing the Board and senior management places the holder at the centre of decision-making, precisely the exposure that feeds CSO and broader executive trajectories in financial services. The role also builds a genuinely portable asset: a regional network spanning regulators, industry bodies and ecosystem partners across Southeast Asia and Greater China. That kind of relationship capital is durable and opens doors well beyond the current employer. On the skill side, sustained work across sustainable finance, governance, disclosure and stakeholder positioning creates a breadth that few single-market roles offer. For someone with long-term ambitions in sustainable finance leadership (whether group-level, regional or board-adjacent) this role reads as a platform rather than a stepping stone.

Internally, the closest working relationship is with the Group Chief Sustainability Officer and the sustainability team, alongside senior management across businesses, risk and support functions. Because delivery happens through others, business unit leaders and subsidiary teams across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Greater China would be constant counterparts, sometimes collaborators, sometimes negotiatees over priorities and resources. Governance-side stakeholders include risk and control functions, whose involvement is essential when shaping policies, frameworks and disclosures, and the Board and executive committees, who consume the strategic analysis and positioning the role produces. These interactions tend to be periodic but high-stakes, requiring concise, decision-ready communication. Externally, the role engages regulators, government bodies, industry associations and ecosystem partners, as well as peers in the wider sustainable finance community through forums, conferences and roundtables. In a small, highly networked market like Singapore, these relationships double as OCBC's franchise and reputation touchpoints, which makes the quality of each interaction matter well beyond the immediate agenda.