Vice President, Strategy & Innovation - AI Governance Officer

About CLS:

CLS is the trusted party at the centre of the global FX ecosystem.  Utilized by thousands of counterparties, CLS makes FX safer, smoother and more cost effective.  Trillions of dollars’ worth of currency flows through our systems each day. 

Created by the market for the market, our unrivalled global settlement infrastructure reduces systemic risk and provides standardization for participants in many of the world’s most actively traded currencies.  We deliver huge efficiencies and savings for our clients: in fact, our approach to multilateral netting shrinks funding requirements by over 96% on average, so clients can put their capital and resources to better use.

CLS products are designed to enable clients to manage risk most effectively across the full FX lifecycle – whether through more efficient processing tools or market intelligence derived from the largest single source of FX executed data available to the market.

Our ambition to make a positive difference starts with our people.  Our values – Protect, Improve, Grow – underpin everything that we do at CLS and define and shape a supportive and inclusive working environment in which everyone is encouraged to be open and forward-thinking.

Job information:

• Functional title - Strategy & Innovation - AI Governance Officer
• Department - CEO Office
• Corporate level - Vice President (VP)
• Report to – Strategy & Innovation Director
• Location – London, UK

 What you will be doing:

The CEO Office supports the evolution and maintenance of the company’s strategy and owns the performance metrics. In this context, it monitors business and technology trends which may impact the company’s business, and steers innovation research and experimentation efforts. The CEO Office is responsible for determining and implementing the global communications marketing strategy across all external audiences and leads public policy efforts. It provides the secretariat function for CLS-internal governance bodies and facilitates the company’s decision-making processes. 

The AI Governance Officer plays a central role in enabling the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at CLS. They help shape the organisation’s AI strategy, drive enablement across business lines, and lead the development and execution of the firm’s AI governance framework. This role is essential to  ensuring alignment with evolving regulatory expectations, internal risk appetite, and CLS’s strategic objectives, while also tracking and reporting on AI adoption and outcomes.

The AI Governance Officer will be responsible for:

• Monitoring and assessing the evolving AI landscape in financial services which could be relevant for the wider FX ecosystem and for CLS and providing regular updates to CLS management.
• Supporting the CEO Office in the development and execution of a forward-looking AI business strategy that aligns with the company's business objectives.
• Collaborating with business units to identify, prioritize and assess AI use cases, supporting business case development, strategic alignment with CLS’s strategic priorities and responsible implementation.
• Participating in internal AI governance forums and providing a business voice in shaping AI-related policies, standards, and oversight mechanisms.
• Developing and delivering AI training materials and communications to improve AI literacy across the organization, in collaboration with the Comms and Marketing, Technology and other functions.
• Providing subject matter expertise on AI risks and opportunities to support projects involving AI, including vendor engagement, risk/control assessments, and implementation.
• Tracking, measuring, and reporting on AI-related business benefits, adoption progress, and other metrics across CLS, including metrics on efficiency, quality, and risk mitigation.
• Contributing to the ongoing development and implementation of CLS’s AI governance framework, including policies, risk frameworks, and controls.
• Continuously assessing the current AI footprint at CLS, ensuring compliance with the relevant policies and supporting AI-related incident management.
• Providing regular updates/reporting to the AI Committee on the AI-related risk posture at CLS.
• Coordinating across internal stakeholders and control functions to embed AI governance requirements into the broader enterprise risk management and oversight framework.

What we’re looking for:

• Minimum of 8 years’ experience in innovation or technology governance roles, preferably within financial services.
• General understanding of the FX ecosystem and the criticality of CLS to the global financial services marketplace.
• Proven experience developing or implementing governance frameworks, including policies, risk assessments, and controls aligned with responsible AI practices. Specific experience with AI governance is highly desirable.
• Strong familiarity with AI risk domains including bias/fairness, transparency, accountability, data privacy, model validation, and human-in-the-loop controls.
• Working knowledge of relevant AI regulatory frameworks (e.g., UK/EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 23894) is highly desirable.
• Solid understanding of AI models (including nuances across different forms of AI) in the industry and technical understanding of AI model development, including knowledge of model training, data dependencies, performance monitoring and explainability requirements is highly desirable.
• Ability to communicate clearly and succinctly, both verbally and in writing, to internal and external stakeholders.
• Creative and innovative thinking with an ability to see the bigger picture.
• Excellent time management skills, with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple/competing deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, to collaborate effectively with different teams and divisions across CLS.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a demonstrated ability to deliver high-quality work with precision and accuracy, ensuring attention to detail in all aspects of execution.
• Proven track record of working both as part of a team independently with minimal supervision, ensuring personal accountability and responsibility for assigned deliverables.
• Proactive self-starter with a strong sense of initiative, judgement, and follow-through.
• High ethical standards with a strong sense of accountability, confidentiality, and integrity.
• Comfortable navigating uncertainty and regulatory complexity in emerging technology domains.
• Adaptable and resilient when managing innovation-driven change and responding to emerging risks.
• Prior exposure to FX markets is welcome but not essential.
• Experience in MS Office suite, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

Professional qualifications / certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance/economics, law or information technology, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Professional training or certifications in AI Governance, Responsible AI, Risk Management, or Technology Policy (e.g., NIST AI RMF, ISO AI standards) are highly desirable.

Our commitment to employees:

At CLS, we celebrate diversity and consider this to be one of our strongest assets. We are committed to fostering an environment in which everyone feels comfortable to be who they are, and inclusion is valued. All employees have access to our inclusive benefits, including:

• Holiday - UK/Asia: 25 holiday days and 3 ‘life days’ (in addition to bank holidays). US: 23 holiday days.
• 2 paid volunteer days so that you can actively support causes within your community that are important to you.
• Generous parental leave policies to ensure you can enjoy valuable time with your family.
• Parental transition coaching programmes and support services.
• Wellbeing and mental health support resources to ensure you are looking after yourself, and able to support others.
• Affinity Groups (including our Women’s Forum, Black Employee Network and Pride Network) in support of our organisational commitment to embrace and always be learning more about DE&I.
• Hybrid working to promote a healthy work/life balance, enabling employees to work collaboratively in the office when needed and work from home when they don’t.
• Active support of flexible working for all employees where possible.
• Monthly ‘Heads Down Days’ with no meetings across the whole company.
• Generous non-contributory pension provision for UK/Asia employees, and 401K match from CLS for US employees.
• Private medical insurance and dental coverage.
• Social events that give you opportunities to meet new people and broaden your network across the organisation.
• Annual flu vaccinations.
• Discounts and savings and cashback across a wide range of categories including health and retail for UK employees.
• Discounted Gym membership – Complete Body Gym Discount/Sweat equity program for US employees.
• All employees have access to Discover – our comprehensive learning platform with 1000+ courses from LinkedIn Learning.
• Access to frequent development sessions on a number of topics to help you be successful and develop your career at CLS.