Head of AI, Strategy, Automation, and Transformation

This is not an AI lab job.
This is not slow moving bureaucracy.

Our client is an established, highly successful fintech and financial services business with real customers, real governance, and global reach. They are ready to embrace AI properly, not with decks and discussion panels, but with shipped outcomes.

Game on.

The mission
You will set the AI strategy and blueprint for change, then drive execution at pace. The first phase is internal, efficiency wins, automation, operational leverage, and better decision making. Over time, you will extend that capability into customer facing products and services for a global client base.

The tone here is simple, we are not afraid of AI. We are not afraid of automation. We are not afraid of streamlining work functions away. In fact, that is the point.

There is also a rare honesty in this role, you will build systems that reduce manual effort so dramatically that parts of your own role could eventually be automated away in a few years. If that sentence makes you grin rather than panic, you are exactly the kind of person we want. And yes, you will be rewarded handsomely for creating that level of lasting value.

Why this exists
The business is at the point where AI can deliver outsized value quickly, if done with discipline. There are workflows, handoffs, reporting loops, support processes, and decision paths that can be redesigned. There are teams doing tasks that machines can now do faster and more accurately. There are opportunities to create internal superpowers first, then take the strongest capabilities outward.

This is not about chasing the newest model for the sake of it. It is about building an AI operating system for the business, then using it everywhere it makes sense.

What you will do
You will operate like a builder, a strategist, and a transformer. You will create clarity, prioritise ruthlessly, ship wins, measure impact, and keep raising the bar.

AI strategy and blueprint
• Define the AI vision, principles, and pragmatic roadmap, what gets automated first, what gets augmented, and what stays human by design
• Establish the blueprint for delivery across data, security, governance, tooling, evaluation, and deployment patterns
• Build the business case and measurement system so impact is obvious, time saved, cycle time reduced, errors reduced, cost to serve lowered

Internal AI wins first, efficiency everywhere
• Map the highest value internal workflows, then redesign them with AI in the loop
• Drive automation across repetitive work, reporting, document handling, knowledge retrieval, internal comms, operational checks, service workflows
• Reduce context switching, speed up decisions, and improve quality across teams
• Build reusable AI components so you are not reinventing the wheel in every department

Governance, risk, and safety, done like adults
• Set guardrails for privacy, security, model risk, data handling, and auditability
• Work closely with risk, legal, and compliance so AI moves fast without moving sloppy
• Implement practical governance that enables shipping, not governance theatre

Build the AI delivery engine
• Shape a small elite team at first, then expand as ROI proves itself
• Establish cadence, backlog, prioritisation, and delivery muscle
• Partner with engineering and data teams to ensure AI solutions are production grade and maintainable
• Select external partners and vendors where it accelerates value, and avoid dependency traps

Customer facing AI, later, the sky is the limit
Once the internal machine is humming, you will take the strongest capabilities outward. With global customers and real distribution, AI improvements can land hard and fast.

This may include over time
• AI assisted service and support experiences that are fast, accurate, and genuinely helpful
• Smarter risk and compliance workflows that reduce friction while improving outcomes
• Better insights, better personalisation, better decisioning
• Operational intelligence that turns data into action without waiting for a meeting
• Select crypto and digital asset adjacent use cases, where they create real commercial advantage and can be delivered safely

Your working environment
Sydney CBD, five days a week in office.

Not because anyone is old fashioned. Because transformation moves faster when decision makers are in the room, alignment happens in real time, and accountability is immediate. You will be working across teams, fast.

Who thrives in this role
This is for someone who blends technical depth with executive level commercial thinking, and has actually deployed AI in the real world.

You likely have
• Proven experience leading AI initiatives from idea to production, with measurable impact
• Strong practical knowledge of LLMs, automation patterns, agent workflows, retrieval, evaluation, and deployment realities
• A track record of ROI delivery, time saved, error reduced, throughput increased, cost reduced, revenue supported
• Comfort operating in fintech or financial services environments where trust and risk posture matter
• The ability to influence across product, engineering, data, operations, risk, legal, and executives
• A builder mindset, prototype fast, ship properly

Now the PhD line, in the right place
PhDs are nice. Research is great.
But this role is about commercial application, production delivery, and outcomes. If you have both, even better. If you only have the theory, this will feel like a fast moving treadmill.

Most importantly
• You are not threatened by automation, you are energised by it
• You will streamline work away without hesitation when it improves outcomes
• You have the confidence to make yourself less needed over time, because you know the value is in building the capability, not guarding the chair

What success looks like
• The AI blueprint is clear, prioritised, and funded
• Internal wins land quickly, with measurable productivity uplift
• AI becomes repeatable, governed, and scalable, not random experiments
• Teams start asking, can we AI this, before they ask, can we hire for this
• The business is positioned to extend AI capability to clients, products, and global growth

Package
$300k + super + STI + LTI
A senior build mandate with incentives aligned to outcomes, efficiency gains, operational uplift, and sustainable scale.

Big Wave Digital Recruitment
This search is led by Keiran and Jules at Big Wave Digital, award winning specialists in tech, digital, and emerging technology leadership.

Keiran brings 28 years in tech and digital marketing recruitment, crypto and digital assets recruiting since 2017, and AI recruitment since 2022. Jules is relentless on quality, detail, and finding true builders, not talkers.

If you want the best, expect a serious process. Quality over volume