Simon Lehmann
Simon is our Chief Risk Officer and as part of our Executive team, is responsible for risk, compliance and regulatory governance for Southern Cross Credit Union (SCCU). After over 30 years in the banking and finance industry, Simon is recognised as a well rounded executive with a deep experience across retail and business banking.
Known for his ability to make decisions that can improve and even propel the business forward, Simon is also well regarded for the way he maintains and holds steadfast to the values of trust, integrity and respect. He has clearly demonstrated, across reputable banking and financial brands like Westpac, CUA and now SCCU, his ability to develop and successfully implement business strategies that create value for all stakeholders. Simon takes pride in making a real contribution and continuing to meet challenges head on. With that in mind, he is looking to set his sights on completing further studies in the near future. Intrinsically, Simon is driven to make a difference and to develop people and it’s these core principles that have guided him to make a big impact at SCCU.As a member of the Board Risk Committee and the Board Audit Committee, Simon is also SCCU’s point of call for all regulatory requirements, working with all regulators, APRA, ASIC, Austrac, AFCA and the privacy commission. Simon’s leadership in this area has seen SCCU continue to be vigilant on any changes while never losing sight on what that means for our customer, and ensuring our services remain easy to use and understand.
Simon has been instrumental in the growth of SCCU since he joined the team in 2015. Beginning his tenure as Executive Manager of Sales and Distribution, Simon driven positive transformation through his leadership and expertise across many areas of the business including, sales, consumer and business lending and the distribution footprint. Simon is an approachable leader who is readily available to his team for support and guidance. He understands the importance of clear communication, transparency and offers ongoing coaching and training so that they can achieve their goals effectively. He instils a confidence in his team that has seen many excel in new positions within the business and is the first to see the potential of team members, seeing that they’re ready for new challenges before they realise. Simon is proud of the visible impact that his roles within the Executive Management Team have had on the financial performance at SCCU.
“I like to make a difference so for me to be able to see these projects completed and execute them to a high degree of quality gives me a great level of satisfaction. I also love to develop people, so one of the other key things to me is the constant development of my team and reshaping processes to extend beyond the development of just my own team. It’s seeing the impact flow to the heart of our business, the customer.”
Simon has firmly set his sights on new goals and challenges since accepting the title of Chief Risk Officer. The last three years has seen him ‘reengineering the backend processes to support our front line teams and customers’, lead major regulatory projects and reinforce why we continue to be trusted and recommended by customers.
While there are hundreds of notable highlights and achievements, what has underpinned the comprehensive policies and procedures put in place is that the team at SCCU feel empowered and very clear in their roles and what they need to do.
