Chief AI, Automation & Analytics Officer

UpGuard; Melbourne; Remote; AUD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Monthly Lifestyle subsidy

WFH set-up allowance

$1500 USD annual Learning & Dev. -

Annual leave + extra UpGuardian leave

18 weeks paid Parental Leave

Personal Leave Allowance

Fully remote working environment

Top-spec hardware

Generative AI subsidy

Job summary

UpGuard is seeking a Head of AI & Automation to lead A2, the central function for AI, workflow automation and analytics within the Operations department. You will set automation strategy, lead a small team, and drive secure, well-governed platforms that connect knowledge, data and tools.

You will define the operating model, roadmap and quarterly OKRs, delivering cross-functional automations and ensuring reliable production systems on Google Cloud and n8n.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor's Degree in software engineering, computer science, cybersecurity or a related field.
• Several years of experience in cloud infrastructure, security and automation engineering, including production systems on Google Cloud.
• Working knowledge of large language models, AI agents, RAG and the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform), containers and Kubernetes, and Identity and Access Management.
• Experience leading and growing a technical team, setting strategy and OKRs, and reporting to executives.
• An automation and efficiency mindset - a drive to remove low-value, repetitive work across the company in a safe and secure way.
• The ability to run several workstreams and stakeholder groups at once, keeping people informed and resolving blockers.

Responsibilities

• Set A2's charter, operating model and rolling 6-month strategy, aligned with priorities from the Chief Operating Officer and the Steering Committee (SteerCo)
• Define quarterly OKRs for the function and report progress to SteerCo and the Executive Committee (ExCo)
• Decide which processes to automate and which AI capabilities to build, based on business impact, time saved and risk
• Own the roadmap for ug-buddy, UpGuard's internal AI co-worker, which connects company knowledge, data and tools through a single interface
• Lead, coach and performance-manage the A2 team, design its structure and roles, and recruit new team members
• Run the team's delivery process: fortnightly sprints, prioritisation, and a capacity model that balances project work, automation requests, team improvement and buffer
• Set the technical direction and architecture for AI agents, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), MCP integrations and workflow automation
• Review designs and production readiness of the systems the team builds on Google Cloud (Vertex AI, BigQuery, GKE) and n8n
• Deliver cross-functional automations that no single team owns, such as employee offboarding across identity, collaboration and HR systems
• Set the standards every production automation must meet (ownership, error alerting, enforced linting, documentation and least-privilege access), audit the platform against them and drive remediation
• Work with Cloud Platform Engineering and Security on hosting, access control and incident response for A2 systems
• Perform the AI risk review in UpGuard's vendor procurement process, assessing each vendor's AI use, data handling and contract terms
• Own A2's tooling and vendor relationships, including n8n, AI model providers and Google Cloud AI services
• Act as the single point of contact for AI, automation and analytics requests, through one intake channel where every request gets an owner
• Work with department heads to map how their processes run and agree on what A2 will build or enable
• Make A2's services understood across the company through documentation, communication and training, together with the Enablement Lead

Skills

Cloud infra

Automation engineering

AI/ML knowledge

Leadership & OKRs

Security mindset

Stakeholder management

IAM

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in software engineering, computer science, cybersecurity or related field

Tools

Terraform

Google Cloud

Vertex AI

BigQuery

GKE

n8n

Job description

UpGuard is seeking a Head of AI & Automation to lead A2, the central function for AI, workflow automation and analytics within the Operations department. You will set automation strategy, lead a small team, and drive secure, well-governed platforms that connect knowledge, data and tools.

You will define the operating model, roadmap and quarterly OKRs, delivering cross-functional automations and ensuring reliable production systems on Google Cloud and n8n.