Managing Director, Global Head, AI Risk & Governance

Job Summary

This pivotal leadership role is based in Singapore or Hong Kong, offering a unique opportunity to influence Artificial Intelligence governance across a global banking institution.   As the Global Head of AI Risk & Governance, you will lead the enterprise-wide governance, risk management, and control frameworks specific to AI implementations. Your leadership will enable the bank to responsibly and efficiently scale its AI capabilities, positioning it at the forefront of technological innovation within the financial sector while maintaining stringent regulatory compliance and operational resilience.

This role bridges various critical functions including Enterprise AI, Group Risk, Compliance, Legal, Cybersecurity, Model Risk, Data, and Audit to ensure unified standards and effective accountability within a complex global banking environment. You will establish AI-specific governance standards, define authority levels, and shape decision-making pathways that ensure ethical, transparent, and responsible AI use throughout the organisation.

Strategic Leadership
You will define and drive Group-wide AI risk and governance strategies, developing a comprehensive vision and shared roadmap that supports the safe and scalable adoption of AI technologies across our diverse businesses and geographies.

Responsible AI Stewardship
Champion the principles of fairness, transparency, explainability, accountability, and human oversight, ensuring that AI solutions deployed are ethically sound and aligned with stakeholder expectations. Provide senior leadership and Board-level counsel on AI governance risks and compliance obligations.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership and Talent Management
Build and nurture a diverse, highly skilled global team of AI governance and risk specialists committed to fostering a culture of ethical AI use, accountability, and innovative problem-solving. Facilitate professional development and continuous learning within the team to stay ahead of AI governance trends and regulatory developments.

Governance Framework and Risk Management
Develop and integrate AI risk management frameworks within the broader enterprise risk architecture, ensuring alignment with operational risk, model risk, cyber security, privacy, and compliance requirements. Promote proactive, design-first risk mitigation strategies embedded throughout the AI lifecycle.

Define rigorous AI-specific evidence requirements and monitor governance adherence, ensuring all AI initiatives meet proportionate and scalable control standards. Lead escalation processes for material governance and control issues to ensure prompt resolution.

Risk Oversight and Assurance
Maintain comprehensive visibility into AI-related incidents, control effectiveness, and compliance breaches, coordinating enterprise-wide reporting on AI governance maturity and risk exposures. Lead continuous improvement through independent audits, control assessments, and feedback loops.

Drive the identification of systemic risks and implement pragmatic governance enhancements to bolster the organisation’s resilience and regulatory standing.

• Office-based role
• Full-time position

Yes, this role involves managing and leading a team.

Skills and Experience

The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise in the following areas:

• Advanced AI Risk Management and Assurance, with demonstrable experience in building and overseeing risk frameworks specific to AI applications.
• Comprehensive understanding of AI technology governance and the entire model lifecycle management, including model validation and performance monitoring.
• Proficient in Responsible AI principles and ethics, ensuring deployed AI systems are fair, transparent, and accountable.
• Robust knowledge of AI governance frameworks aligned with regulatory compliance requirements across multiple jurisdictions.
• Expertise in data governance, privacy regulations, and AI security controls to safeguard sensitive information effectively.

Our Ideal Candidate

Our ideal candidate possesses over 15 years’ experience in enterprise risk management, governance, compliance, technology risk, model risk, audit functions, regulatory strategy, or enterprise transformation initiatives.

They will have a strong grasp of AI governance frameworks, model and technology risk management, data governance, cybersecurity, privacy concerns, conduct risk, and operational resilience.

A proven track record in designing governance models that balance practical implementation with scalability and a risk-based approach is essential.

Preferred candidates will have experience engaging with senior executives, Board committees, regulators, or industry bodies to influence governance strategies effectively.

Experience within global financial institutions or equivalently complex, regulated environments will be considered highly advantageous.

About Standard Chartered

We're an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 years, we've worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you're looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents and we can't wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you'll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion.

Together we:

• Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do
• Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well
• Are better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term

What we offer

In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
• Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning.
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.