Westpac mortgage tech head takes on permanent role

Chris Boje was first named as the acting head of technology, mortgages late last year, becoming Westpac Group’s accountable chief information officer for its end-to-end mortgage business. 

Mr Boje was appointed to the position while serving as the head of technology business lending, taking on the additional role following Joanne Walker’s departure to Ernst and Young in November.

Prior to her exit, Ms Walker was Westpac Group’s CIO for mortgages, line of business and general insurance. 

Mr Boje first joined Westpac Group in 2004, working in a handful of IT-focused roles, before being named head of technology, specialist finance in late 2017. 

In recent years, Mr Boje has served in a range of leadership positions, including as head of technology, commercial & specialist finance and then later as head of technology business lending & auto finance. 

Under his current role, Mr Boje is serving under Westpac Group CIO, consumer & business bank Paul Bari. 

Speaking of his appointment, Mr Boje commented that he was humbled to be trusted to “lead the CIO technology function for the largest business line in the consumer and business bank”.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time leading the business lending technology function and will continue to support this business whilst a search is conducted to find a suitable candidate to take this amazing team forward,” Mr Boje said.

Mr Boje’s appointment comes as the latest leadership addition made by Westpac Group in the wake of its recent restructure. 

Earlier this year, the major banking group announced that it was slashing its head office roles by roughly 20 per cent in a bid to reduce the relevant costs to $8 billion by 2024. 

One example of this shuffling was the combination of the group’s chief risk officer with its group executive for financial crime into a single group CRO position. 

Speaking at the time, Westpac Group chief executive Peter King said that the organisation was streamlining and lowering the costs of running the group. 

“The changes are primarily across head office and support functions, and not customer-facing roles,” he said. 

“Bringing our workforce closer to the frontline, combined with the increases we have already made to the number of bankers, will further strengthen our franchise for customers.”

In March, in response to its regulatory issues over 2021, Westpac Group revealed it had named Yianna Papanikolaou as its inaugural chief transformation officer, with her role being responsible for change, investment programs and accountability for the group’s CORE (Customer Outcomes and Risk Excellence) program. 

[Related: Westpac outlines risk culture fix]