Director AI Risk

Director AI Risk

The Director, AI Risk Oversight, supports AI Risk Management for the SMBC Group Americas Division in accordance with applicable regulations, home office policies, and industry best practices. The Risk Management Department serves as the second line of defense, responsible for monitoring and assessing business practices against the firm's risk appetite framework. Within the Tech, Data, and Cyber Risk Oversight team, the AI Risk Director is responsible for providing independent second line review and challenge of the design and execution of the firm's AI governance approach including alignment of controls to AI risks and for development and operation of the second line AI risk management program.

Role Responsibilities:

• Support the ED, Data and AI Risk Oversight in providing oversight of AI/GenAI initiatives and use cases, ensuring AI related risks are appropriately governed, managed, and controlled.
• Design and implement AI Risk framework which may include AI risk identification, assessment, monitoring, reporting and mitigating activities, with capability to generate overall risk profiles for AI use (on-prem or third party hosted).
• Provide advisory support and collaborate with AI governance stakeholders (business, technology, data, model owners, and compliance) to drive timely remediation of identified issues and to strengthen AI controls.
• Development and enhancement of second line AI Risk policies and standards
• Review and challenge of first line AI governance policies, standards, procedures, controls, risk metrics/indicators, and Risk and Control Self Assessments (RCSAs) related to AI use (including GenAI), such as use case approval, human in the loop controls, monitoring, and incident management.
• Maintain awareness of regulatory changes, supervisory guidance, new products/initiatives, process changes, control enhancements, and issues impacting AI risk (e.g., model risk, privacy, cyber, third party, and conduct risk).

Qualifications and Skills:

• Strong knowledge of AI/ML and GenAI risks and controls, with the ability to align AI risk considerations to the firm's operational risk management framework.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in risk management, technology risk, model risk management, data governance, and/or AI/analytics within the financial services industry.
• Experience with AI governance, model inventory, or GRC tooling (e.g., model registries, workflow/attestation tools, or governance platforms).
• Working knowledge of AI governance or risk frameworks (e.g., NIST AI Risk Management Framework), processes, and controls (e.g., model lifecycle management, validation, monitoring), and relevant industry guidance/standards.
• Experience preparing materials for senior management and board level committees, with strong written communication skills and attention to detail.
• Strong organizational and time‑management skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities in a matrixed environment.
• Experience supporting regulatory or audit remediation related to AI/model risk, technology risk, and data/privacy issues.
• Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred.