Chief Risk and Legal Officer

Medical Assurance Society NZ – Wellington Central, North Island

Looking for a job where you can thrive and make a real impact? At MAS, you’re in good hands.

As a mutual, our focus is 100% on doing what’s best for our Members. We’re combining over 100 years of experience with a bold new technology journey and a refreshed strategy to redefine what it means to deliver for our Members.

To help us achieve this, we’ve created a Chief Risk and Legal Officer role that will sit on our Executive Leadership Team to champion innovation, foster growth, and play a key role in shaping MAS’s future direction.

We’re looking for a forward-thinking, strategic leader with strong business acumen who will naturally partner with the Board, Executive team, and the wider business to champion strong enterprise risk management across MAS and set the standard for navigating strategic opportunities and challenges through robust risk management. If this aligns with your values and vision for your next opportunity, we would love to hear from you.

Please reach out to our Talent and Performance Lead, Sarah Trass (

• @mas.co.nz) or to our Chief People and Transformation Officer, Andrew Steele (
• @mas.co.nz), for a confidential discussion or a detailed briefing document.

What your day might look like

Lead enterprise risk : design, implement, and continuously evolve our enterprise risk management framework and risk appetite, while setting the standard for how MAS navigates strategic opportunities and challenges by partnering with the Executive and the Board.

Governance oversight : own the overall governance models and frameworks for MAS, including company secretarial, procurement and legal support work.

Regulatory : assess and support adaptation in the regulatory environment ensuring solid engagement with our regulators.

Compliance : maintain robust obligations register ensuring compliance-related controls are in place and relevant assurance reporting is undertaken for the business.

Leadership : support the development of a culture of agility and growth, inspiring teams and our people to deliver creative solutions for emerging risks by reshaping processes and systems to adapt to a dynamic environment.

What you’ll bring

Extensive experience, 12 + years in risk management within insurance or a broader financial services role, where you have also led an ERM function or equivalent second-line team.

Demonstrated experience in developing and implementing new risk frameworks for emerging risk areas.

Experience as part of an Executive Leadership Team or equivalent second-line leadership role, with a proven record of leading successful, high-performing teams.

Strong ability to partner with the business to deeply understand opportunities and challenges and provide effective support and solutions.

A track record of leading change initiatives, with the ability to reshape processes and systems in an adaptable manner.

Certifications in risk management, for example, FRM / PRM, ANZIIF, CIA / CRMA, with additional certifications in climate risk, e.g., CCA, GARP SCR or data privacy, CIPP, CIPM, are a plus.

Why MAS?

We're a New Zealand-owned insurance and investment company with a difference. As a mutual, we're owned by our Members – not shareholders. We invest in our people, our communities and our MAS Foundation. We’re a boutique mutual with a big heart and bold ambitions.

At MAS, you'll join a team that's :

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