Jonathan Harper is a Partner at Omera Partners and one of Australia’s most experienced executive search professionals dedicated to risk management, compliance, and regulatory leadership. Partnering with Boards, Group Executives, and Chief Risk Officers across a national and international client base, Jonathan specialises in appointing Chief Risk Officers, Chief Compliance Officers, and senior executive leaders across risk transformation, conduct and culture, Non-Bank Lending, and FinTech. With 24 years of executive search experience, more than 20 dedicated exclusively to risk and compliance appointments in financial services and adjacent sectors, he brings a depth of market knowledge that is rare in this field.

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What are the biggest challenges your clients face in finding senior talent?

“Risk management is continually evolving, and the biggest challenge is helping clients understand that what is required is often a change in mindset, not just skill set. Risk, when managed correctly, is a strategic enabler. The challenge is finding senior leaders who are capable and willing to embrace that journey, culturally and within the modern digital and technology infrastructure of the organisation.”

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Which industries or functions do you specialise in?

“Risk, compliance, and regulation have been my entire focus for 24 years, across Australia, Southeast Asia, and the United Kingdom. My practice is sector agnostic, but the work most commonly sits within financial services. I place Chief Risk Officers, Chief Compliance Officers, and executive leadership across risk transformation, conduct and culture, Non-Bank Lending, and FinTech.”

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What types of appointments are you most proud of?

“Chief Risk Officer appointments are where I do my most meaningful work. There is a particular weight to placing a leader whose decisions will shape how an entire organisation understands and manages risk, and getting it right demands deep knowledge of both the technical landscape and the cultural environment.”

A nationally recognised Australian healthcare organisation required a Chief Risk Officer capable of operating across both clinical governance and enterprise risk, at a scale where leadership decisions affect the health and well being of millions of Australians. The brief demanded a leader with the technical rigour to satisfy regulators and the cultural intelligence to influence a complex, mission-driven organisation.

Jonathan placed a candidate who brought both, and whose appointment has since reshaped how the organisation thinks about risk as a strategic function rather than a compliance obligation.

As Jonathan reflects: “The scale of the organisation’s contribution to the health and well being of every Australian made placing the right leader feel like work that genuinely mattered.”

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How do you build trust with both clients and candidates?

“When you have been appointing risk leaders for as long as I have, you grow up with your market. Trust is built through consistency, regular engagement, and a willingness to challenge both clients and candidates when they need to be challenged. If that means having the tough conversation, I will have it.”

“There is greatness in all of us. It is how we choose to harness and develop it that counts. It can be an underdog story, a story of courage, or a story of unexpected kindness. Greatness does not have to be a grand gesture. It can be a series of small things you do every day that has a positive effect on those around you.”

What keeps you energised outside of work?

“A young family keeps me very busy, with plenty of weekend sport and the Australian Girls Choir to attend (proud dad). We love to travel, I am a serial renovator(my wife prefers the term labourer), and I can usually be found on the beach with a paddle board or trying to retrieve my dog from the surf.”