Program Manager - AI Innovation

• Sydney Location / Hybrid Working.
• Seeking High Achieving AI Program Management SME. 
• High Profile Career Development Platform. 

At Westpac, we’re building the future of banking through responsible, human‑centred AI. As we continue to grow our inhouse AI capabilities, we are looking to hire multiple engaging, passionate and technically proficient Program Manager to support our Westpac Chief AI Innovation Office. 

Importantly, you be joining the Data, Digital & AI (DDAI) function that defines and executes the data, digital, and AI strategy—partnering with business leaders to unlock value through advanced analytics, responsible AI, and modern digital platforms. 

The Program Manager – AI Innovation is accountable for turning priority AI use cases into safe, adopted, measurable outcomes across the enterprise—from discovery through to production and scaling.

This role orchestrates delivery across engineering, product, data, risk/compliance, security, and change, ensuring the program ships working capability (not decks) and that benefits are tracked from baseline to realised value.

• →Own the end-to-end AI program plan from charter to scale: scope, milestones, dependencies, resourcing, and release readiness.
• →Drive prioritisation and sequencing with clear criteria (value, feasibility, risk, and adoption), and surface trade-offs early for decision forums.
• →Stand up repeatable delivery pathways for AI use cases (discovery → pilot → production → scale), including entry/exit criteria and governance gates.
• →Establish value realisation: baseline measures, target outcomes, instrumentation, and a cadence for reporting benefits after go-live.
• →Coordinate cross-functional delivery (Product, Engineering/Data, Security, Risk/Compliance, Operations, Change) so work is unblocked and shipped on schedule.
• →Run inclusive decision-making forums that enable diverse perspectives, document decisions, and maintain a single source of truth for roadmap and RAID.
• →Embed responsible AI and control requirements (privacy, security, model risk, data governance, human oversight) into delivery plans and acceptance criteria.
• →Manage program risks, issues, and dependencies with clear owners and actions; escalate early with options, impacts, and recommendations.
• →Partner with Change and Operations to drive adoption: training, comms, guardrails, support model, and post-launch optimisation.
• →Provide executive visibility through concise reporting on progress, outcomes, risk posture, and decisions required.

• Tertiary qualified in a relevant business or technical discipline with Project Management methodology and certifications. 
• Demonstrated program/portfolio delivery in complex enterprise-scale technology environments, with evidence of shipping into production and sustaining outcomes post-launch.
• Experience delivering AI enabled initiatives at enterprise scale, including governance, change, and operationalisation.
• Strong execution discipline: clear plans, pragmatic artefacts, dependency management, and a consistent cadence that keeps teams aligned.
• Confident working with risk, privacy, security, and compliance partners to embed controls without stalling delivery.
• Advanced commercial acumen and able to cater your language and style to suit the audience.
• Strong AI fluency to challenge assumptions (data readiness, model limitations, evaluation, human-in-the-loop) and translate them into delivery implications.
• Inclusive stakeholder leadership: creates clarity, invites diverse viewpoints, and communicates in a way that enables different working styles and backgrounds.
• Strong written and verbal communication, with a bias to concise narratives, decision logs, and transparent reporting of progress and outcomes.

• Priority AI use cases reach production with defined success metrics (e.g., quality, cycle-time, cost, risk) and tracked benefits after go-live.
• Delivery throughput improves because dependencies, environments, data access, and approvals are planned and unblocked early.
• Responsible AI and control requirements are met by design (not retrofitted), with evidence of testing, signoffs, and ongoing monitoring.
• Adoption is real: target users are enabled, support is in place, and usage/feedback loops drive continuous improvement.
• The roadmap is focused and transparent, with clear stop/start decisions that reduce work-in-progress and improve time-to-value.
• The organisation learns and scales faster through reusable playbooks (intake, evaluation, release, monitoring) informed by what worked in delivery.
• Senior leaders get prompt, decision-ready updates (status, outcomes, risks, options), enabling faster choices and fewer surprises.

To get started, simply click on the APPLY or APPLY NOW button and send your CV and cover letter. 

We’re all about creating a supportive and inclusive community. We welcome everyone – no matter your age, gender, background, or abilities. We also provide additional support to welcome our veterans, Indigenous Australians and neurodiverse community. 

If you need any adjustments during the recruitment process, you can find out more information and additional contact details by visiting the "People with Disability and/or needing Accessibility Requirements" page on our website.