AI Risk Lead

Location:

Job Summary
The AI Risk Lead is responsible for providing strategic first line of defense risk leadership and advisory support for AI Software Engineering. This role oversees the identification, assessment, mitigation, and monitoring of risks associated with GenAI and AI-enabled software delivery, ensuring alignment with enterprise risk management frameworks, internal policies, and applicable regulatory expectations. The position partners with key stakeholders across the organization to embed appropriate controls across the AI software development lifecycle, strengthen governance practices, and support responsible, secure, and compliant AI adoption. The successful candidate will serve as a key risk advisor to leadership, helping to advance scalable engineering practices while maintaining strong control discipline and regulatory readiness.

Essential Functions

• Own and execute first line of defense (1LOD) risk management for AI Software Engineering, including identification, assessment, mitigation, and ongoing monitoring of risks across the AI development lifecycle
• Assess and evolve Project Life Cycle (PLC) and Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) standards to support GenAI use cases, incorporating emerging regulatory expectations and industry best practices
• Strong partnership with Domain Enablement and Risk teams to define, implement, and maintain control frameworks aligned to AI-specific risks, including:
  • Model risk (validation, performance, drift monitoring)
  • Data risk (quality, lineage, privacy, and usage rights)
  • Bias, fairness, and explainability
  • GenAI/LLM risks (prompt management, hallucination controls, output validation)
  • Third-party / foundation model usage
• Translate regulatory and policy requirements into actionable engineering controls, ensuring alignment with internal risk frameworks (e.g., Model Risk Management, operational risk) and external regulatory expectations
• Drive enhancements to SDLC practices, ensuring appropriate controls are embedded across:
  • Versioning, traceability, and reproducibility
  • Testing, deployment, and continuous monitoring
• Establish and govern AI asset inventory and agent governance frameworks, including:
  • Registration and tracking of AI models and autonomous agents
  • Financial transparency (cost tracking, allocation)
  • Defined authority, decision boundaries, and human oversight controls
• Partner with Domain Enablement, Engineering, Model Risk Management, Compliance, and Cyber teams to ensure consistent and comprehensive risk coverage across the AI ecosystem
• Monitor control effectiveness and risk posture, including:
  • Control testing and validation
  • KRIs/KPIs for AI risk
  • Issue identification, escalation, and remediation tracking
• Act as a trusted advisor to AI Software Engineering leadership, proactively identifying emerging risks, control gaps, and opportunities to strengthen risk-informed delivery
• Support audit and regulatory engagement, including preparation of documentation, control evidence, and responses for internal audit and regulatory reviews
• Provide ongoing 1LOD risk advisory and control support to AI Software Engineering team, including real-time engagement throughout the development lifecycle, proactive identification and mitigation of emerging risks, oversight of control execution, and support for issue remediation, audit inquiries, and regulatory reviews
• Drive awareness for AI engineering teams on risk, control, and regulatory expectations to support responsible and compliant AI adoption

Education

• Bachelor's Degree (preferred)

• OR equivalent experience (required)

Work Experience

• 10+ years of relevant experience (required)

Skills

• Expert knowledge of processes, tools and techniques for assessing and controlling an organization's exposure to risks of various kinds; ability to apply knowledge of risk management appropriately to diverse situations.
• Expert knowledge of effective communication concepts, tools and techniques; ability to effectively transmit, receive, and accurately interpret ideas, information, and needs through the application of appropriate communication behaviors.
• Expert knowledge of business process design; ability to develop appropriate techniques to re-examine key processes and focus on optimizing organizational performance.
• Expert knowledge of the decision-making process and associated tools and techniques; ability to accurately analyze situations and reach productive decisions based on informed judgment.
• Extensive experience with inter-team collaboration in breaking down silos and achieving business results; ability to lead employees from various functions to communicate, coordinate work across divisions, and collaborate in solving problems as one team.
• Expert knowledge of effective self-management practices; ability to manage multiple concurrent objectives, projects, groups, or activities, making effective judgments as to prioritizing and time allocation.
• Expert knowledge of the necessity and value of accuracy; ability to complete tasks with high levels of precision.
• Extensive experience with the importance of "big picture" thinking and planning; ability to apply organizational acumen and competitiveness to identify and maintain focus on key success factors for the organization.
• Expert knowledge of effective team building techniques; ability to form and manage effective teams.
• Expert knowledge of concepts, methods, and processes of internal control; ability to create, implement, evaluate and enhance processes in internal controls.
• Extensive experience in regulatory environments

Core Competencies

• All KeyBank employees are expected to demonstrate Key’s Values and abide by Key’s Code of Conduct.

Physical Demands

• General Office - Prolonged sitting, ability to communicate face to face in person or on the phone with teammates and clients, frequent use of PC/laptop, occasional lifting/pushing/pulling of backpacks, computer bags up to 10 lbs.

Work Location Category

• Hybrid (3+ days)

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Please click here for a list of benefits for which this position is eligible.

Key has implemented an approach to employee workspaces which prioritizes in-office presence, while providing flexible options in circumstances where roles can be performed effectively in a mobile environment.

Qualified individuals with disabilities or disabled veterans who are unable or limited in their ability to apply on this site may request reasonable accommodations by emailing HR_Compliance@keybank.com.