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Lendi Group has promoted Christopher Parker, its current general manager of credit and operations, to the position of chief operations officer.
Parker moves into the newly expanded role from his previous position and effectively fills the operational vacancy left by Sebastian Watkins, who was elevated to the position of CEO on 1 January 2026.
Based in Sydney, Parker will now take accountability for Lendi Group’s end-to-end operations engine across both its Australia and Philippines-based hubs.
His remit has been broadened to consolidate several core functions under a single operating model, including client solutions, broker administration, commissions, customer contact centres, the tech service hub, corporate services, and people and culture.
The promotion is designed to streamline the group’s execution capability as it continues to scale its “Find, Buy, Own” platform strategy.
Parker will specifically oversee the integration of credit, broker support, onboarding, and procurement to improve co-ordination across the business.
Prior to joining Lendi Group in 2021, Parker spent six years in senior leadership roles within San Francisco’s fintech sector and has a further decade of experience in retail banking leadership.
Speaking of the promotion, Lendi Group CEO Sebastian Watkins said: “Chris has built credit and operations into a high-performing function and has consistently delivered through complexity. He’s a strong leader who cares deeply about our people and our culture, and this role recognises the impact he’s already having on the business.
“He’s also played a key role in scaling our operations in Manila, building a model that supports both growth and consistency, and strengthening how we deliver for brokers and customers day to day.
“Chris brings a combination of operational discipline and customer and broker focus that’s critical for this role. He understands how to translate strategy into execution at scale, which will be increasingly important as we continue to evolve.”
Parker commented: “I’m really pleased to be stepping into this role, particularly as the group enters its next phase of growth. It reflects the kind of culture we’ve built, where people can grow, take on more responsibility, and have a real impact as the business evolves.
“As we continue moving towards becoming an AI-native organisation and expand our Find, Buy, Own strategy, operations plays a central role in how we deliver for customers, brokers and partners. I’m looking forward to supporting our teams through this next phase and making sure we stay focused on what matters most.
“This next phase is about evolving our operations, where agentic and human capability work together setting us up for continued growth.”
The new C-level appointment comes amid a swathe of leadership changes at the brokerage and fintech group.
Earlier this year, the group also appointed Devesh Maheshwari as chief technology officer to lead the group’s technology strategy across the Aussie and Lendi brands.
Maheshwari, formerly the general manager of technology, will oversee the group’s AI platform, engineering, and cyber-security functions as the business aims to become fully AI-native by June 2026.
Meanwhile, industry veteran Matthew Whyte recently left Lendi Group to join Liberty Network Services (the aggregation arm of Liberty Financial Group).
Whyte, who was general manager, distribution for Queensland and Western Australia at Lendi Group for two years, had held a range of senior posts at the broking business, including as Lendi’s general manager of national distribution operations and general manager, distribution integration.
Before joining Lendi, he spent a decade at its retail franchise brand Aussie, where he worked as head of distribution growth, state manager, Queensland/the Northern Territory and senior manager, retail operations.
These leadership changes coincide with the rollout of new broker tools, including a contract analyser and property analyser, designed to automate complex parts of the home loan application process.
[Related: Lendi Group names new CEO]
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