AI Business Risk and Control Director

Citi is looking for a Senior Manager, AI Risk and Controls to lead independent oversight of AI use cases and AI assets across the business, ensuring every deployment meets Citi's governance standards and applicable regulatory requirements. Sitting within Citi's Non-Financial Risk function, this is a high-impact leadership role that places you at the centre of one of the most strategically important challenges in financial services — governing AI responsibly at scale. You will operate with delegated authority, shape AI risk appetite, and serve as the senior escalation point for complex AI risk matters across a global portfolio.

Responsibilities

• Exercise delegated approval authority for AI use cases and AI assets, conducting comprehensive risk and controls assessments and providing the required first-line sign-off for higher-risk deployments before escalation to the second line of defence or governance committees.
• Lead independent, risk-based reviews of pre-release testing results, control design, residual risk, and approval conclusions — including assessment of guardrail adequacy and mitigating strategies — to confirm all requirements are met before any AI asset moves into production.
• Monitor AI use case and asset performance against approved parameters, challenge risk indicators and control effectiveness, and elevate material control failures, performance breaches, or unapproved activity promptly to the appropriate governance and risk teams.
• Assess the impact of new and changed AI use cases on existing business processes and controls, ensuring material changes in scope, technology, data, autonomy, or regulatory profile are evaluated and routed for reapproval before implementation.
• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing team of AI risk and control professionals, setting clear objectives, providing mentorship, and establishing a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Represent the AI risk and control function at senior executive forums, governance committees, and Board-level discussions, serving as the authoritative voice on AI risk posture and control adequacy across the portfolio.
• Define and drive the strategic multi-year roadmap for the AI risk and control framework, ensuring alignment with Citi's enterprise AI strategy and the evolving regulatory landscape including the EU AI Act and NIST AI Risk Management Framework.

Required qualifications & skills

• 15 or more years of experience in risk management, controls, or a related field within a large-scale, global financial institution, including 8 or more years in a senior management capacity across multiple disciplines.
• Established track record leading and managing senior teams (VP or Director level) within a matrixed, global organisation, including experience defining operating models and building risk and control functions from the ground up.
• Deep knowledge of AI and machine learning models and their associated risks — particularly for Generative AI and Agentic AI — including controls to manage hallucination, model drift, bias, and autonomy risks across the full deployment lifecycle.
• Ability to assess and classify AI risk levels across development, pre-production testing, production monitoring, and decommissioning stages, and to credibly challenge testing results, model performance metrics, drift detection outputs, fairness metrics, and explainability reports.
• Broad knowledge of AI governance frameworks, risk management policies, applicable AI regulation (including the EU AI Act and NIST AI RMF), and associated risk disciplines including Model Risk, Cyber Risk, Third Party Risk, and Data Governance.
• Exceptional ability to influence senior stakeholders across business, technology, compliance, and operations functions, and to communicate complex AI risk concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent university qualification in a relevant field.

Beneficial skills & qualifications

• Master's degree in a relevant discipline such as risk management, data science, finance, or law.
• Experience building and scaling a risk and control function from inception, including defining the organisational structure, talent strategy, and resource model.
• Familiarity with AI fairness metrics, explainability frameworks, and adversarial risk evaluation methodologies within a regulated financial services environment.

What we offer

This role offers the opportunity to shape how one of the world's leading financial institutions governs AI at the most senior level — with real authority, global reach, and direct influence on strategic decision-making. You will work alongside leaders across technology, compliance, enterprise risk, and the business, and be positioned to make a measurable impact on Citi's AI risk posture for years to come.

• A hybrid working model with 3 days in the office and 2 days working remotely, giving you flexibility alongside meaningful in-person collaboration.
• Senior leadership visibility, including representation at Board-level governance forums and cross-functional executive committees.
• Strategic ownership of a high-profile function at a pivotal moment in the evolution of AI governance in financial services.
• Access to Citi's global network and the breadth of resources that come with working at one of the world's largest financial institutions.
• Ongoing learning and professional development opportunities, including engagement with regulatory developments, industry frameworks, and emerging AI risk practices.
• Competitive financial wellbeing and benefits package commensurate with a senior leadership position.

Job Family Group:

Controls Governance & Oversight

Job Family:

Cross-disciplinary Controls

Time Type:

Full time

Primary Location:

Getzville New York United States

Primary Location Full Time Salary Range:

$200,000.00 - $300,000.00. In addition to salary, Citi’s offerings may also include, for eligible employees, discretionary and formulaic incentive and retention awards. Citi offers competitive employee benefits, including: medical, dental & vision coverage; 401(k); life, accident, and disability insurance; and wellness programs. Citi also offers paid time off packages, including planned time off (vacation), unplanned time off (sick leave), and paid holidays. For additional information regarding Citi employee benefits, please visit citibenefits.com. Available offerings may vary by jurisdiction, job level, and date of hire.

Automated Processing and AI

We use automated processing, including artificial intelligence, for our legitimate business interests (or our reasonable and appropriate business purposes) to identify and align the candidate's skills and abilities with a specific job opening. Additionally, if you so choose, or consent, we can match your skills and abilities to other suitable roles at Citi.

Importantly, all our hiring processes and decisions, including determining your suitability for a role, are conducted, checked, and decided by individuals. Our automated processing and AI do not involve relying on automatic or autonomous decision-making. Please refer to any Jurisdictional Considerations, with specific provisions for your country (where relevant) for further details.

Illinois residents – AI Notice and Right

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Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Most Relevant Skills

Please see the requirements listed above.

Other Relevant Skills

Analytical Thinking, Assessment, Business Insights, Constructive Debate, Controls Lifecycle, Controls Management, Data Quality Management, Digital Skills (Including AI), Risk Management Lifecycle, Stakeholder Management.