Director, Investment Stewardship

About Vanguard

50 years ago, John C. Bogle had a vision to start an investment company that did things differently. A company with no external shareholders. Where all the profits were invested back into the business and used to lower costs. Evidently, it was as bold as it was brilliant. To this day, Vanguard Group still has no external shareholders. That means no share prices to protect, and no profits to generate for outside owners.

Today, Vanguard is one of the world’s largest investment management companies, serving more than 50 million investors worldwide. For more than 30 years Vanguard Australia has been supporting individual investors, financial advisers, and superannuation members to achieve their long-term financial goals.

Vanguard Capital Management Investment Stewardship (VCMIS) is seeking a director to join our Investment Stewardship team. You will lead a high-performing team responsible for stewarding VCMIS' engagement and voting activities, including the assessment of governance and stewardship issues, development of voting recommendations aligned with VCMIS proxy voting guidelines, and representation of VCMIS in discussions with portfolio companies.

In this role, you will lead engagement with board members and senior executives, oversee key proxy voting decisions, provide guidance to senior management on governance and stewardship matters, and contribute thought leadership on investment stewardship, corporate governance, and developments relevant to VCMIS activities.

Key responsibilities

- Lead and develop a team, providing coaching, mentorship, and performance management.
- Lead engagement and proxy voting activities for APAC-based portfolio companies.
- Engage with boards and senior executives on governance matters.
- Provide insight and guidance to senior leaders on stewardship trends, governance risks, engagement outcomes, and emerging regulatory and market developments.
- Serve as a subject matter expert on investment stewardship.
- Contribute to VCMIS’ public policy, stewardship, and governance positions.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with internal stakeholders and external partners.
- Lead cross-functional initiatives that support the continued success and evolution of the global VCMIS programme

Qualifications

- Related work experience, investment management and/or analysis experience preferred. Supervisory experience preferred.
- Undergraduate degree or equivalent combination of training and experience. Graduate degree preferred.

What we’re looking for

- Experience leading, developing, and mentoring high-performing teams.
- Demonstrated ability to engage at board and executive level.
- Corporate governance, stewardship, policy or investor relations experience.
- Excellent research, analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills

Inclusion Statement

Vanguard’s continued commitment to diversity and inclusion is firmly rooted in our culture. Every decision we make to best serve our clients, crew (internally employees are referred to as crew), and communities is guided by one simple statement: “Do the right thing.”

We believe that a critical aspect of doing the right thing requires building diverse, inclusive, and highly effective teams of individuals who are as unique as the clients they serve. We empower our crew to contribute their distinct strengths to achieving Vanguard’s core purpose through our values.

When all crew members feel valued and included, our ability to collaborate and innovate is amplified, and we are united in delivering on Vanguard’s core purpose.

Vanguard Australia is proud to hold the Employer of Choice for Gender Equality (EOCGE) citation, awarded by WGEA, recognising our strong commitment to gender equality and our dedication to inclusive policies, gender balanced outcomes and a safe, respectful workplace.

Our core purpose: To take a stand for all investors, to treat them fairly, and to give them the best chance for investment success.

How We Work

Vanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission-driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long-term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.