AI Delivery Lead - VP

Here at SMBC Group, we want to help you find the next step in your career so read on to discover if this opportunity is the one for you. We like to recognise potential in our people, so we welcome your application even when your experience doesn’t perfectly align with the job description. Whilst we’ll always strive to be better, we’re proud of our inclusive culture, and encourage our applicants and colleagues to be their authentic, unique selves.

United by a sense of purpose towards our customers – to be a trusted partner for the long-term – and our universal banking platform in EMEA, SMBC Group has an international growth agenda and award-winning products, meaning we provide exciting opportunities to work on a diverse range of projects and initiatives. We deliver a full suite of corporate finance products and solutions to our customers as well as investment banking and advisory services, and a range of innovative solutions in global capital markets. Read on to find out how you could enhance your skills and gain valuable experience, by joining us to support our clients transition to a sustainable future.

Role Summary: We’re looking for an AI Platform Delivery Manager for our Architecture and Engineering to join our team. The AI Platform Delivery Manager will lead the delivery of strategic AI platform capabilities and services, ensuring solutions are implemented securely, efficiently, and in alignment with AI governance and enterprise architecture standards. The role will work across technology, business, risk, and vendor teams to drive AI initiatives from concept through to production delivery.

• Essential for the role:
• Lead the end-to-end delivery of enterprise AI platform initiatives, ensuring delivery against scope, timelines, budget, and quality objectives.
• Collaborate with Architecture, Engineering, Security, Data, and Governance teams to implement scalable and compliant AI capabilities.
• Manage delivery roadmaps, vendor engagement, stakeholder communications, risks, dependencies, and operational readiness activities.

Requirements:

• Proven experience delivering complex technology platform, cloud, data, or AI initiatives within a regulated enterprise environment.
• Strong stakeholder management, programme delivery, and vendor management skills with the ability to drive outcomes across multiple teams.
• Good understanding of AI, cloud platforms, governance, security, and architecture principles, with experience working in Agile delivery environments.

The anticipated salary range for this role is £92,000 - £138,000, with the final offer determined based on the candidate’s skills, experience, role scope, location, and relevant market factors. In addition to base salary, the role may be eligible for a discretionary incentive award and a competitive benefits package, including core benefits such as pension provision.

Business Area Position Description:

• Strong delivery leadership, with experience managing multiple concurrent AI, automation or technology initiatives.
• Ability to work with business sponsors to shape and challenge use cases, define scope, success measures and business outcomes.
• Good understanding of AI technologies, including GenAI, LLMs, AI agents and intelligent automation, sufficient to engage credibly with engineers, architects and vendors.
• Experience navigating governance, risk, compliance, security and data privacy requirements within a regulated environment.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, including presenting progress, risks and decisions to senior management and governance forums.
• Ability to manage vendors, budgets, dependencies and delivery plans while maintaining pace and accountability.
• Focus on benefits realisation and adoption, ensuring solutions deliver measurable business value rather than just technical implementation.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity, helping establish delivery approaches, operating models and best practices as the AI capability continues to evolve.

What we offer:

• Hybrid and flexible working.
• Competitive paid leave days.
• Benefits to support your physical wellbeing, including private medical insurance and life and invalidity insurance.
• Various policies to support your mental wellbeing, including a robust behavioural health network with counselling and coaching services.
• Access a wide range of learning and development opportunities and career progression opportunities.

We recognise our role as a bank to support social change and welcome all applications, including those from groups often under-represented in financial services. We value the uniqueness of professional and personal backgrounds and perspectives as they play a vital role in continuing the sustainable growth of our organisation. We’ll ensure reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process are offered due to a disability or long-term condition whenever requested. We are committed to transparent and equitable pay practices. Compensation is determined using objective criteria, including skills, experience, and role responsibilities, and applied consistently throughout our recruitment processes. We do not request candidates' pay history and are committed to preventing unjustified pay disparities.

About SMBC: United by a sense of purpose towards our customers - to be a trusted partner for the long-term - and our universal banking platform in EMEA, we deliver a full suite of corporate finance products and solutions to our customers, including corporate, structured and trade finance, leveraged finance, loan market and treasury products. We can also provide investment banking and advisory services and a range of innovative solutions in global capital markets.