Sonja Tepavac

Experience

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  Auckland City Council

  Apr 2006 - Sept 2007

  Social Policy Planner

  Responsible for developing the ‘Positive Ageing in Auckland’ plan guiding Auckland City Council’s long-term approach to addressing issues for older people. Conducted public events and consultations, worked with community and government agencies, budget management, provided policy recommendations to Council committees and community boards. Ran a successful and collaborative consultation with public, marae and community groups; this was recognised as an exemplary practice within Council.Headed establishment of Auckland City Council’s tertiary award for Maori and Pacific students, negotiating contracts with three tertiary institutions and providing recommendations to senior management and Councilors. Show less

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  Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand

  Oct 2007 - Jan 2009

  SPINZ Development Manager

  Developing and implementing SPINZ (Suicide Prevention Information New Zealand) services. Providing technical and analytical advice to SPINZ Director and MHF Chief Executive; managing service development initiatives; preparing reports internally and to the Ministry of Health.

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  Department of Internal Affairs

  Jan 2009 - Jul 2012

  Intercultural Advisor

  -Published ‘Riding the Wave’, a government manual providing practical tips on how to build diversity and inclusion capability across the organisations to maximise the benefits of ethnic diversity in the workplace. -Delivered intercultural awareness and communication training and public presentations nationwide to support various teams/groups to develop their diversity and inclusion strategies. -Provided regular updates to the Minister’s office. -Reviewed recruitment and selection workshop content with Human Resources Institute of New Zealand to embed inclusive recruitment practice. Show less

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  Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand

  Apr 2011 - Mar 2012

  Service Development Manager (Contract)

  Developed a future operating model for suicide prevention information services and integration into all aspects of the Mental Health Foundation’s work to optimise service outcomes. With reporting line to the CEO, this role involved development of organisational values, competency and training needs analysis, creation of new positions, Maori sector engagement strategy, digital service offering development, monitoring and evaluation framework and Ministry of Health contract management.

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  HealthAlliance

  Jul 2012 - Feb 2015

  Strategy, Performance and Risk Analyst

  -Led development and adoption of Balanced Scorecard performance framework and divisional performance alignment. -Reviewed vision and mission statement and led the development of strategic objectives. This included extensive stakeholder engagement with senior leadership, CEO and DHB(s) and Board members required for the change. -Developed FY14 business plan. -Conducted service review and process improvement initiatives within divisional business units.

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  ASB Bank

  Feb 2015 - Nov 2022

  Part of Retail Banking strategy and transformation; my role involves defining the retail bank’s approach to community engagement and implementation of community focused solutions.- Developed retail community engagement strategy applying IAP2 model within the retail banking context.- Nationwide rollout of the ‘Community Bankers’ including community banking strategy and operating model.- Established centralised ‘Extra Care’ support team for customers experiencing vulnerable circumstances. Show less Working within the Customer Outcomes and Advocacy centre of excellence; I am responsible for accelerating ASB’s capability to support customers in vulnerable circumstances (CiVC) via appropriate processes and practices.- Developed ASB’s two- year CiVC programme of work and the definition of customer vulnerability.- Identified key customer vulnerability segments, developed training module, guidelines and customer vulnerability online hub (resources and tips for staff on how to identify and support customers in vulnerable circumstances).- Leading customer disclosure, an initiative to improve ASB’s ability to capture sensitive information and inform staff at critical moments of customer interaction so that customers can be supported when they need it most.- Co-ordinating other CiVC programme initiatives including ASB’s activities related to industry wide guidelines on older and disabled customers’ needs. Show less Partnering with stakeholders and project teams to deliver strategically aligned business improvements and change across the Private Banking, Wealth and Insurance (PBW&I) division through planning, analysis and use of Lean, Six Sigma and HCD tools. - Drove automation of backend processes for ASB Securities client services, streamline of identification and verification (AML/FATCA) process and a simplification of on-boarding and customer maintenance functions receiving exceptional achievement performance rating. - Delivered significant improvements to ASB Securities on-boarding process leading to real-time processing and saving over 60,000 customer days in wait time, which won an ‘Unbeatable customer experience’ annual ASB award. Also improved ASB Securities corporate actions and compliance observations processes across the division. - Supported business strategy development reporting to the General Manager applying a strategic framework to translate insights into strategic choices. - Led the review of a reward & recognition project within PBW&I division using HCD principles. Show less Working with the Wealth and Insurance leadership team to develop and implement strategies that meet the medium and long-term goals of the division and align to the wider organisational strategy. -Conducted strategic reviews of KiwiSaver, General Insurance, ASB Securities and Aegis (market segmentation, trends and competitor analysis), helped develop Wealth and Insurance strategy (FY17). -Developed strategic KPIs (deep dive on metrics) and produced divisional metrics reports incl. customer satisfaction for the Board and the executive leadership forum -Produced strategic portfolio reports, and business cases to secure funding -Drove adoption of experimentation within W&I division. Show less

  • Senior Manager - Community

    Nov 2021 - Nov 2022

  • Senior Manager- Customer Vulnerability (Programme Manager)

    Feb 2019 - Jan 2022

  • Simplification & Automation (Project Lead)

    Aug 2016 - Feb 2019

  • Strategy Implementation Lead-Private Banking, Wealth and Insurance

    Feb 2015 - Aug 2016
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  Westpac New Zealand

  Nov 2022 - now

  Senior Manager - Sustainability

  My role involves supporting the Westpac New Zealand Executive Team and Board to meet their ESG obligations and be leaders in sustainability by strengthening sustainability governance and reporting. - Responsible for running and review of ESG Committee overseeing pan-bank ESG programme. - Organisation of ESG training for Westpac Board members and creating Board content on climate and sustainability. - Support preparation of Climate Related Financial Disclosures and Sustainability Report for Westpac. Show less