About Vanguard

More than 45 years ago, John C. Bogle had a vision to start an investment company that did things differently. A company with no external shareholders. Where all the profits were invested back into the business and used to lower costs. Evidently, it was as bold as it was brilliant. To this day, Vanguard Group still has no external shareholders. That means no share prices to protect, and no profits to generate for outside owners.

Today, Vanguard is one of the world’s largest investment management companies, serving more than 50 million investors worldwide. For more than 25 years Vanguard Australia has been supporting individual investors, financial advisers, and superannuation members to achieve their long-term financial goals.

Team & Opportunity

The AI Enablement Lead will partner to drive the strategic vision and roadmap for embedding artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities across Vanguard Australia’s products and services. This role requires a deep understanding of business objectives, technology platforms, and AI-driven opportunities to deliver efficiencies, enhance client experiences, and create measurable value. Solutions may have enterprise-wide impact and must align with Vanguard’s global AI principles.As the owner and champion of Vanguard Australia’s Technology AI Enablement and Governance agenda, this position will ensure that AI adoption across VIA is safe, ethical, and value-driven. The role will:

• establish strategies, governance frameworks and guardrails for AI
• support business wide adoption and enablement, and
• accelerate delivery of AI use cases in line with VIA’s strategic priorities.

Acting as a trusted advisor, the specialist will balance innovation with compliance, enabling responsible AI practices that support sustainable growth.

Key Responsibilities:

AI Governance & Oversight

• Translate VIA’s AI Strategy into actionable programs that deliver measurable value through client experience enhancements, crew productivity gains, and business growth.

• Contribute to Vanguard Australia’s AI governance operating model, ensuring compliance with Enterprise AI Policy and regulatory obligations.

• Partner with AI Specialists, maintain governance guardrails for ethical AI adoption, covering principles of safety, security, fairness, transparency, explainability, and reliability.

• Participate in ongoing business planning, departmental prioritisation, and special projects as required.

• Oversee model governance processes across the lifecycle, including validation, monitoring, and risk scoring.

• Coordinate and report into the VIA AI Council and subcommittees to ensure robust oversight of AI.

• Monitor AI adoption metrics and report progress to the AI Council and AET.

• Support automation of governance workflows to streamline compliance and reduce operational overhead.

AI Enablement & Capability Building

• Champion AI literacy programs and change management initiatives to uplift organisational readiness for AI-enabled ways of working.

• Partner with HR and L&D to embed AI education into onboarding and career pathways.

• Act as an ‘AI Navigator’, guiding business teams through intake, approval, and deployment processes for AI use cases.

• Coach technical product teams on best practices and learnings related to AI and AI tooling.

• Collaborate with engineering teams on development practices, continuous integration, and automated deployment.

AI Product Management

• Lead Product Management activities for multiple AI/ML products

• Prioritise and manage the AI use case portfolio, ensuring alignment with VIA’s three-year strategic objectives.

• Foster strong partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure consistent decision-making and alignment on client propositions.

• Drive the planning, development, and implementation of AI/ML solutions, including defining product features, analysing markets, and creating implementation plans.

• Manage the entire product lifecycle from strategy to execution, ensuring alignment with organisational goals and Vanguard’s global AI principles.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to design and continuously improve AI/ML technical solutions that enhance client and crew experiences.

• Employ qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques to optimise client and crew experience and inform future product improvements and identify business growth opportunities.

• Partner with Technology and CDAO to mature AI-ready data and ensure robust integration of AI platforms and tools.

Qualifications & Experience

• Proven experience in AI governance, enablement, or risk management within regulated industries (preferably financial services).

• Strong understanding of AI/ML lifecycle, model risk management, and compliance frameworks.

• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional programs, influence senior stakeholders, and manage complex portfolios.

• Familiarity with AI technologies (Generative AI, agentic AI, ML platforms) and associated ethical considerations.

• Excellent communication skills with ability to educate and evangelise AI adoption across diverse audiences.

• Demonstratable experience in AI/ML product management or related roles, with at least 5 years in technical product leadership.

• Bachelor’s degree (B.E./B.Tech) in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Information Systems, or a related technical field; Master’s degree preferred.

• Good to have skills in AI/ML product lifecycle management, user-centric design, market analysis, stakeholder engagement, and end-to-end implementation planning.

• Platform skills should include familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), ML frameworks (Tensor Flow, Py Torch), and analytics tools.

• Strong critical thinking, problem-solving, time management, and both verbal and written communication skills are essential.

• Any of the certifications preferred: Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), AWS Certified Machine Learning – Specialty, Google Cloud Professional Machine Learning Engineer, or Pragmatic Product Management certifications.

• Ability to drive innovation, synthesize data insights into actionable plans, and collaborate effectively in cross-functional agile teams.

How This Role Drives VIA’s AI Strategy

• Governance: Establish guardrails and ethical frameworks to enable responsible AI adoption at scale.

• Enablement: Build organisational capability through education, tooling, and process simplification.

• Acceleration: Prioritise high-value use cases that deliver personalised client experiences, operational efficiencies, and business growth.

• Measurement: Define and track KPIs for AI adoption, risk mitigation, and value realisation to ensure VIA achieves its strategic objectives.

Reporting Line

• Reports to: Head of Technology Strategy & Governance, Vanguard Australia

• Dotted Line: AI Lead / Head of Technology

• Works closely with: VIA AI Council, CDAO, Risk, HR, Technology Activation Subcommittee

Why Join Vanguard

• Shape the blueprint: Define guardrails, accelerate safe adoption, and convert strategy into measurable outcomes.

• Operate with executive backing: Partner directly with the VIA AI Council and governance forums for sponsorship and reach.

• Build capability at scale: Stand up systems and skills for repeatable, auditable, and fast AI adoption.

• Drive real value—not just pilots: Prioritise high-value opportunities and instrument metrics for ROI.

• Work with modern data & platforms: Mature AI-ready data and integrate robust AI tools and frameworks.

• Grow with a mission-led culture: Influence how AI elevates experiences for clients and crew under strong ethical principles.

• Leave a firmwide legacy: Create a durable, scalable approach to AI that positions VIA for success.

Inclusion Statement

Vanguard’s continued commitment to diversity and inclusion is firmly rooted in our culture. Every decision we make to best serve our clients, crew (internally employees are referred to as crew), and communities is guided by one simple statement: “Do the right thing.”

We believe that a critical aspect of doing the right thing requires building diverse, inclusive, and highly effective teams of individuals who are as unique as the clients they serve. We empower our crew to contribute their distinct strengths to achieving Vanguard’s core purpose through our values.

When all crew members feel valued and included, our ability to collaborate and innovate is amplified, and we are united in delivering on Vanguard’s core purpose.

Our core purpose: To take a stand for all investors, to treat them fairly, and to give them the best chance for investment success.

How We Work

Vanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission-driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long-term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.