AI Manager in London

About Us

Visa is a world leader in payments technology, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories, dedicated to uplifting everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid. At Visa, you'll have the opportunity to create impact at scale – tackling meaningful challenges, growing your skills and seeing your contributions impact lives around the world. Join Visa and do work that matters – to you, to your community, and to the world. Progress starts with you.

Job Description

The AI Analyst / Manager will support the Finance (Controllership) organization by identifying, designing, and implementing process improvements using artificial intelligence, automation, data analytics, and workflow optimization. The role partners closely with Accounting to Reporting, Client Incentives, Billing, Accounts Payable, Internal Controls, IT, and Data teams to streamline manual processes, reduce operational risk, enhance reporting quality, and improve decision‑making across Europe.

The ideal candidate combines strong finance process knowledge with hands‑on experience in AI, automation/improvement, data analytics, and change management. They will translate finance business needs into scalable, well‑controlled solutions using generative AI, low‑code automation (e.g. Power Automate, Power BI with Co‑pilot, Excel Macros), business intelligence platforms, ERP enhancements, and advanced analytics. This role is based in the London (Paddington) office and reports directly to the Head of Internal Controls – Europe. This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in the office will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager.

• AI‑Enabled Process Improvement & Automation
• Assess Controllership processes to identify inefficiencies, manual activities, control gaps, bottlenecks, and automation opportunities.
• Design and implement solutions that drive standardisation, automation, and scalability across regional and global Controllership activities.
• Reduce manual and duplicative control activities through AI‑enabled workflows, reusable frameworks, and controls‑by‑design.
• Partner with Regional and Global Finance, IT, and AI Transformation teams to embed automated controls within ERP (e.g. Ariba, Oracle) and upstream systems.
• Shadow existing processes and teams to identify process improvement and automation opportunities.
• Ability to create low code/no code solutions to prove the concept for further scaling.

• Data, Reporting & Analytics using Gen AI
• Analyse Controllership data to identify trends, exceptions, process issues, and improvement opportunities.
• Develop dashboards, reports, and performance metrics to monitor process health and outcomes.
• Support finance data quality initiatives, including validation, reconciliation, standardisation, and master data improvements.
• Use analytics and data visualisation to communicate insights clearly to Finance leadership.
• Define and track KPIs to measure automation benefits, including cycle‑time reduction, error reduction, productivity gains, cost savings, and improved control effectiveness.

• Project Management & Implementation
• Support Controllership transformation initiatives from discovery through implementation and stabilisation.
• Document Controllership requirements, current‑state and future‑state processes, user stories, test plans, and operating procedures.
• Coordinate delivery across Finance, IT, Data, and external partners to implement Gen AI, automation, workflow, and reporting solutions.
• Support user acceptance testing, issue resolution, training, and post‑implementation support.
• Manage project timelines, risks, dependencies, and stakeholder communications.

• Controls, Compliance & Risk Management
• Ensure AI and automation solutions maintain appropriate financial controls, audit trails, segregation of duties, and approval workflows.
• Partner with Internal Audit, Compliance, Legal, and Risk teams to meet governance and regulatory requirements.
• Assess and mitigate risks associated with AI usage, including data privacy, model accuracy, bias, explainability, access controls, and over‑reliance on automated outputs.
• Document controls and procedures for automated and AI‑enabled finance processes.
• Support internal and external audit requests related to transformed processes.

• Change Management & Training
• Enable Finance users through designing and running training on AI tools, automated workflows, dashboards, and redesigned processes.
• Allow staff to 'shadow' work to learn how process automations are implemented.
• Develop user guides, standard operating procedures, and best‑practice documentation.
• Drive adoption through workshops, demonstrations, and practical use‑case education ultimately leading to a successful go‑live.
• Act as a change champion, supporting teams transitioning from manual to digitally enabled processes.
• Gather user feedback and drive continuous improvement post‑implementation.

• Stakeholder Leadership & Enablement
• Engage regularly with senior regional and global Finance stakeholders.
• Have a view on 'in‑flight' projects to the Europe region from global / other regions, maintaining cross‑regional contacts to similar internal organizations.
• Present outputs and insights to senior management, the Audit Committee, and external auditors.
• Operate with a high degree of autonomy and professional judgement, balancing risk, control effectiveness, and cost‑benefit considerations.
• Act as a regional subject matter expert for AI‑enabled Controllership and internal controls.

Qualifications

• Education & Professional Certifications
• Strong understanding of core finance processes, including month‑end close, reporting, reconciliations, AP, AR, billing, budgeting, and forecasting.
• Professional certifications preferred: CIA, CPA, CISA, CMA, CFA, Lean Six Sigma, PMP, or equivalent.

• Technical & Analytical Skills
• Strong understanding of AI applications in finance, including automation, text summarisation, data extraction, and analytics.
• Advanced proficiency with generative AI tools (e.g., Power Automate (a 'must have') with Co‑pilot prompts, Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, N8N).
• Excellent analytical skills to understand and improve complex financial models and datasets, and present insights clearly through visualisations.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel, VBA, PowerPoint, and Power BI; working knowledge of SQL, Python, and other modelling tools desirable.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to support both commercial and non‑technical stakeholders.

• Knowledge & Experience
• Demonstrated experience applying enterprise AI tools (e.g., Microsoft Copilot, Claude co‑work and generative AI solutions) to financial processes, process improvement, MI reporting, and analysis of complex commercial agreements.
• Proven ability to embed AI‑enabled automation and insight generation within governed finance environments.
• Experience with advanced analytics, Power BI (including AI capabilities), low‑code automation tools, and emerging AI use cases in deal modelling and performance reporting.
• Strong track record of delivering process improvement and automation in a finance or controllership environment.

• Behavioural & Leadership Skills
• High integrity, strong ownership mindset, critical thinking and sound professional judgement.
• Detail‑oriented, highly iterative, resilient under pressure, and comfortable working to tight deadlines.
• Curious, innovative, and confident challenging the status quo to drive value.
• Clear, concise written and verbal communication skills.
• Collaborative and effective.