Bank welcomes new leadership appointments

Erica Pickford and Vicki Leaver have joined the leadership team of Teachers Mutual Bank Ltd (TMBL).

The pair will take on the roles of chief operations officer and chief people and culture officer, respectively. 

Both Ms Leaver and Ms Pickford commenced these new roles earlier in the year, with the former commencing in May and the latter in June.

TMBL’s new COO has more than 10 years’ experience in the financial services space, having previously been head of operations at Genworth Australia and head of loss mitigation at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Speaking of her appointment, Teachers Mutual Bank Limited’s chief executive, Steve James, commented: “Erica Pickford’s expertise in using innovative and emerging technology to deliver the best possible customer experiences will be invaluable for our bank as we continue our own digital-first transformation”.

Similarly, Mr James welcomed Ms Leaver to the mutual banking group, noting her experience leading large organsiations. 

She was most recently the head of capability and performance for Australian personal injury insurers Employers Mutual Limited, and previously held senior human resources-focused positions at Legal Aid NSW, RailCorp, and NSW Health. 

Ms Leaver is also a non-executive director of Parramatta Eels National Rugby League Club.

“As well as leading significant organisational transformations that delivered improved people and business outcomes, Vicki Leaver’s early career experience as a teacher means she has insights into the needs of our essential worker membership base,” Mr James said.

Welcoming the two new C-level hires to the group, Mr James said: “Teachers Mutual Bank Limited welcomes Vicki Leaver and Erica Pickford, whose contributions will be informed by their extensive experience.

“These latest appointments position Teachers Mutual Bank Limited incredibly well to navigate the current challenging times presented by COVID-19 while enabling our ongoing sustainable growth.”

The two new appointments are the latest key internal appointments made by TMBL recently. Earlier this year, the bank announced that Carolyn Murphy would be taking on the role of chief digital bank officer for the group’s new digital banking brand, Hiver, while Glenn Becker was made chief risk officer on a permanent basis when former CRO, Neil Kenzler, became chief strategy officer.

In January, Murat Dizdar PSM was appointed to the TMBL board of directors, following last year’s inclusion of Verity Firth, Andrew Kearnan and Melissa Reynolds. 

As well as furthering its digitisation strategy, TMBL has also been expanding its reach with new mergers and acquisitions.

It wrapped up its merger with Victoria-based credit union Firefighters Credit Co-operative Ltd in May, and earlier this month, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority gave its initial approval for TMBL’s potential merger with the Victoria-based Pulse Credit Union.