In her most recent role at Bain, van der Merwe was expert vice president for the firm’s results delivery practice in the Asia-Pacific region.

At ANZ, she will be responsible for leading the human resources function and serve as a member of the group executive committee, reporting to chief executive Shayne Elliott.

“Lower growth, technological change, heightened customer and community expectations, and increasing competition are necessitating rapid organisational change,” Elliott said.

van der Merwe starts her new role on 1 May 2017 and will be based in Melbourne.

Last week, ANZ appointed Jennifer Kusuma as senior Asia rates strategist, reporting to Khoon Goh, head of Asia research.