SVP Artificial Intelligence

PenFed is hiring a Senior Vice President of Enterprise Artificial Intelligence at our Tysons, Virginia location. This executive role leads PenFed's enterprise AI strategy, management, enablement, and engineering functions, serving as the organization's senior authority on AI.

About the Role

The SVP, Enterprise Artificial Intelligence is accountable for ensuring AI capabilities are adopted, managed, and scaled in a safe, secure, compliant, ethical, and value-driven manner. The role balances two core mandates:

• AI Management: Establishing and overseeing the enterprise framework for AI lifecycle management, risk management, compliance, inventory management, performance monitoring, reporting, and responsible AI practices.
• AI Enablement: Accelerating the adoption of AI tools, platforms, and capabilities across the enterprise to improve member experience, operational efficiency, decision-making, and employee productivity.

The SVP provides executive leadership for PenFed's enterprise AI Program, collaborating closely with Technology, Enterprise Data, Risk Management, Compliance, Legal, Privacy, Information Security, Model Risk Management, Internal Audit, and business leadership.

Responsibilities

• Enterprise AI Strategy & Program Leadership
  • Develop and execute PenFed's enterprise AI strategy and roadmap aligned with business objectives, member needs, transformation priorities, and risk appetite.
  • Lead the enterprise AI Program and establish a scalable operating model that supports AI adoption, management, and value realization.
  • Establish and maintain a federated AI operating model with clearly defined accountability among business units, AI Owners, AI Stewards, Technology partners, and oversight functions.
  • Provide executive oversight of the enterprise AI portfolio, including strategic alignment, adoption, business outcomes, risk posture, operational performance, and resource utilization.
  • Ensure alignment between AI investments and enterprise strategic priorities.
  • Develop a solid ROI framework for AI use cases and solutions.
  • Establish performance metrics, dashboards, and reporting mechanisms for leadership visibility into AI adoption, value realization, risk, compliance, and portfolio performance.
  • Present AI strategy, portfolio performance, risks, and opportunities to Executive Leadership, Board Committees, and enterprise management forums.
  • Lead enterprise-wide communication, education, awareness, and change management initiatives that build AI literacy and promote responsible AI adoption.
• AI Enablement & Adoption
  • Establish and scale enterprise processes for AI intake, evaluation, prioritization, funding, and lifecycle coordination.
  • Identify and advance high-value AI opportunities across lending, member service, fraud prevention, operations, marketing, contact centers, and corporate functions.
  • Drive enterprise adoption of AI platforms, tools, and reusable capabilities through enablement programs, management processes, training, and organizational change management.
  • Partner with business leaders to identify and prioritize AI investments that align with strategic objectives and member value.
  • Champion AI literacy, workforce readiness, and responsible use of AI across all levels of the organization.
  • Serve as PenFed's executive advisor on AI technologies, market trends, emerging capabilities, and adoption strategies.
  • Identify opportunities where AI can improve member experience, employee productivity, operational efficiency, and business performance.
• AI Management & Risk Oversight
  • Establish and lead PenFed's Enterprise AI Management Framework, including oversight of AI intake, inventory, approvals, lifecycle management, monitoring, controls, reporting, and issue management.
  • Maintain enterprise-wide accountability and visibility for all AI systems, machine learning solutions, generative AI applications, and vendor-embedded AI capabilities.
  • Chair or co-chair enterprise AI management committees and related oversight forums.
  • Oversee AI portfolio management activities, including value realization, risk identification, performance monitoring, issue management, and compliance reporting.
  • Develop and maintain policies, standards, procedures, and controls governing the use and management of artificial intelligence solutions.
  • Establish documentation requirements, decision authorities, escalation protocols, and accountability mechanisms throughout the AI lifecycle.
  • Ensure AI management processes are integrated within enterprise risk, cybersecurity, privacy, and operational risk management practices.
  • Coordinate management activities across business units and control functions to ensure consistent execution of enterprise AI requirements.
• Responsible AI, Compliance & Regulatory Oversight
  • Ensure AI solutions align with PenFed's Responsible AI principles, enterprise risk management standards, and regulatory expectations.
  • Partner with Compliance, Legal, Privacy, Information Security, Fair Lending, and Model Risk Management teams to ensure AI capabilities meet applicable laws, regulations, and internal policies.
  • Oversee AI risk identification, assessment, mitigation, monitoring, and reporting processes.
  • Ensure effective testing, validation, monitoring, explainability, transparency, and documentation practices are established and maintained.
  • Oversee management reporting related to AI risks, controls, incidents, and compliance activities.
  • Coordinate AI-related regulatory examinations, supervisory reviews, model validations, independent assessments, and Internal Audit engagements.
  • Serve as the primary executive representative for AI-related discussions with regulators, examiners, auditors, and oversight bodies.
  • Monitor emerging AI regulations, industry guidance, and best practices and incorporate relevant requirements into enterprise management processes.
  • Ensure effective coordination among first-line, second-line, and third-line oversight functions.
• LLM Management
  • Provide executive leadership and oversight for PenFed's LLM management.
  • Build teams responsible for AI solution development, generative AI implementations, prompt engineering, agentic workflows, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and AI platform integration.
  • Direct the evaluation, selection, implementation, and operationalization of LLMs, AI platforms, and emerging AI technologies.
  • Lead the establishment of engineering standards, deployment controls, development practices, and operational requirements for AI-enabled solutions.
  • Partner with Technology, Enterprise Architecture, Cybersecurity, and Data teams to ensure AI capabilities are secure, scalable, resilient, and aligned with enterprise architecture standards.
  • Promote reuse of enterprise AI services, platforms, models, and capabilities to accelerate adoption and reduce duplication.
  • Ensure AI engineering activities operate within established AI management, risk management, security, and compliance requirements.
• Leadership & Collaboration
  • Serve as the enterprise leader responsible for AI strategy, management, enablement, engineering, and innovation.
  • Build strong partnerships across Technology, Enterprise Data, Risk Management, Compliance, Legal, Information Security, Operations, Human Resources, and business units.
  • Influence enterprise decisions regarding AI investments, priorities, risk management, and transformation initiatives.
  • Promote a culture of innovation, accountability, transparency, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
  • Lead organizational change efforts necessary to embed AI capabilities into business operations and member-facing services.
  • Drive alignment between enterprise AI initiatives and broader digital transformation and modernization priorities.
• People Leadership
  • Recruit, develop, and retain a high-performing team supporting AI Management, AI Enablement, AI Engineering, AI Risk Management, AI Program Management, and LLM Engineering functions.
  • Provide direct leadership to AI Program Managers, AI Management professionals, AI Risk specialists, AI Engineers, LLM Engineers, AI Product Owners, and related resources.
  • Establish performance expectations, talent development plans, and succession strategies aligned with PenFed's culture and strategic objectives.
  • Create an inclusive, innovative, and high-accountability environment that encourages collaboration, continuous learning, and professional growth.
  • Lead through influence across business and technology organizations regardless of reporting structures.
  • Mentor and develop leaders and team members in AI management, risk management, responsible AI practices, and enterprise adoption strategies.
• External Engagement
  • Represent PenFed with regulators, industry organizations, technology partners, academic institutions, professional associations, and external stakeholders on AI-related matters.
  • Develop strategic partnerships that support PenFed's AI strategy, innovation objectives, workforce development goals, and technology roadmap.
  • Monitor emerging technologies, competitive trends, and industry developments to inform strategic decision-making.
• Compliance
  • Maintain knowledge of and ensure adherence to all applicable laws, regulations, and PenFed policies, procedures, and standards.
  • Support strong governance, cybersecurity, privacy, operational resilience, and business continuity practices across all AI initiatives.
  • Ensure readiness for regulatory examinations, independent reviews, and Internal Audit assessments.
  • Foster a culture of compliance, ethical decision-making, transparency, and responsible innovation throughout the organization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Data Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business, or a related field required.
• Master's degree, MBA, or other advanced degrees preferred.
• Minimum of 15 years of progressive leadership experience in artificial intelligence, technology, data, analytics, enterprise transformation, or related disciplines.
• Minimum of 5 years leading AI, machine learning, generative AI, AI management, AI risk management, or AI engineering functions.
• Demonstrated experience establishing enterprise AI management, oversight, and risk management programs in a highly regulated environment.
• Proven experience leading enterprise-scale transformation initiatives and complex cross-functional organizations.
• Experience interacting with executive leadership, Boards of Directors, regulators, auditors, and external stakeholders.
• Financial services, banking, or credit union experience strongly preferred.

Skills

• Deep understanding of AI management, AI risk management, Responsible AI principles, model risk management practices, and regulatory expectations within financial services.
• Strong knowledge of generative AI, large language models (LLMs), machine learning, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), agentic AI, AI platforms, and modern AI architectures.
• Strong understanding of NIST AI RMF, enterprise risk management principles, cybersecurity frameworks, privacy requirements, and compliance obligations.
• Exceptional verbal, written, and presentation skills.
• Ability to influence and collaborate across all levels of the organization, including executive leadership and the Board.
• Proven ability to lead organizational change, drive