AI Delivery and Implementation Manager

Westpac New Zealand Ltd; Auckland; On-site; NZD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Westpac New Zealand Ltd is seeking an AI Delivery and Implementation Manager to standardise project discipline across AI initiatives. You will define scope, milestones and governance, coordinate leads, and provide reporting to leadership.

You will guide delivery teams, manage risks, and ensure stakeholder engagement across business and IT to achieve project outcomes in a hybrid delivery environment.

Qualifications

• AI delivery experience in enterprise environments.
• Solid understanding of PM lifecycle and Agile methods.
• Ability to identify risks, lead reviews, and mitigation plans.
• Experience leading delivery in hybrid/waterfall/Agile tribes.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication.

Responsibilities

• Manage enterprise-wide AI initiatives within scope, time, cost, and quality.
• Define scope, milestones and goals; coordinate leads; report to leadership.
• Ensure governance, compliance, and timely risk management across programs.
• Engage stakeholders, vendors and teams to secure delivery outcomes.
• Mentor delivery teams through the project lifecycle.

Skills

AI Delivery

Enterprise AI

Stakeholder mgmt

Agile/Lifecycle

Risk mitigation

Education

PM Certification

Agile Certification

Tools

JIRA

Confluence

MS Project

Job description

About us

At Westpac New Zealand, our purpose is to Help New Zealanders Succeed. As a Bank and one of New Zealand's leading employers, we are passionate about helping people. We are taking action today to create a better future for the people who bank with us, work with us, invest in us or are part of our broader communities.

Role Scope

The AI Delivery and Implementation Manager will establish project discipline across AI initiatives that are currently managed by different teams and are not consistently formalised. Responsibilities include defining scope, sequencing, milestones and goals; coordinating project leads; and providing regular reporting and visibility to DDAI Leadership and the wider business.

Key responsibilities

• Managing enterprise-wide initiatives within agreed scope, time, cost and quality from initial identification, refinement of the requirements, scope and solution design, to delivery of change and embedding in the business and IT ensuring alignment with wider delivery plans and priorities
• Ensuring initiatives adhere to all internal policies and standards, reporting meets Transformation Office requirements and maintaining compliant initiative governance and reporting management.
• Working with internal business and project stakeholders, vendors and third parties to ensure successful delivery of projects and ensure open and frequent lines of visibility to stakeholders.
• Ensuring initiatives are resourced correctly, sponsors are engaged and aware of progress and all risks to delivery are identified and managed.

People Skills

• Manage effective partnerships with stakeholders including regular communication, influencing and expectation setting
• Guide and mentor delivery teams through the project lifecycle to ensure the achievement of project outcomes
• Communicate effectively with Business stakeholders, wider Programme teams, Groups (Tribes) and Squads, and other key roles e.g. Architects, Business SMEs and Change Managers to ensure successful delivery
• Act as an escalation point to support the project team and/or assigned squads work through delivery issues
• Clearly articulate complexity in simple, understandable language, which is well structured that can be understood by non-specialists
• Clearly articulate the project vision, approach, plan and desired outcomes in documentation and verbal communication
• Develop and maintain a network of internal and external relationships to maintain best in class knowledge levels on relevant processes

Governance and Administration

Ensure initiatives and all initiative artefacts meet the WNZL compliance and best-practice standards. Ensure effective project governance and initiative reporting is in place so that Sponsors and Steering Committees have full transparency of project status to make effective decisions. Manage accurate, timely, and compliant contract procurement, contract negotiation, contract execution, administration and close-out (when required). Ensure initiative deliverables and work is well documented and accessible using enterprise tools such as JIRA and Confluence through all phases of delivery. Ensure all Risks, Issues, Dependencies & Assumptions are actively tracked and managed. Ensure owners are assigned, resolution tasks are clear and monitor completion. Ensure outcomes and benefits are measurable.

Domain Relevance

Gain an understanding of the relevant domain context, industry trends, constraints and opportunities relevant to the initiative and the business problems being solved. Provide domain knowledge and experience relevant to the business / IT area and delivery needs of the initiative. Engage with SMEs to provide scoping, solutions, options and recommendations that factor in regulatory, policy, standards and best practice relevant to the business domain. Support the development of any new capabilities required in the business domain through the delivery and embedding of initiative outcomes.

What will you bring?

• Strong experience managing and implementing AI withing enterprise enviroments.
• Strong understanding of Project Management Lifecycle and experience applying to practical situations (essential)
• Demonstrated ability to identify complex risks, lead project reviews, develop risk mitigation, contingency plans and implement action plans to reduce or eliminate project risks (essential)
• Good understanding of AGILE methodology and ability to lead quarterly delivery planning reviews with delivery team, break down project scope into Epics, stories and prioritise effectively (essential)
• Experience in leading delivery within a hybrid delivery environment with traditional governance, combining teams using waterfall or incremental approaches with flow to work for Agile tribes/squads (essential)
• Leading complex business and technical change projects in a corporate environment (essential)
• Experienced working within a wider programme with a strong appreciation of what it takes to deliver, large, complex initiatives that are interdependent on each other (essential)
• Strong internal and external stakeholder management and communication skills (essential)
• Demonstratable experience managing a broad range of resources in a matrix organisation (essential)
• Strong knowledge of project management methodologies including Agile, Lean etc. Experience having worked in an agile environment in a project delivery context (essential)
• Current Project Management and Agile certification (preferred)
• 7+ year post qualification experience within IT/Financial Services or related field managing complex projects (preferred)
• Relevant business, functional and/or technical domain knowledge and experience in AI Understanding of financial services as well as compliance obligations of registered banks in New Zealand Experience managing vendors and professional service contracts and arrangements JIRA and Confluence Management skills
• Capabilities Driven to deliver - proven ability to deliver the best possible results for the organisation; and shows determination, resourcefulness and a sense of purpose in achieving this (essential)
• Demonstrated ability to work with others to achieve these delivery outcomes (essential)
• Strong relationship, networking and influencing skills within the organisation (essential)
• Excellent written and verbal communications Excellent attention to detail, ability to remain task focussed and manage to agreed timelines Demonstrates creativity and an innovative approach when needed to resolve delivery roadblocks

Our culture is rich with stories of how our people like to help, our customers, our community and each other. This is reflected through flexible working arrangements to ensure that our people have a balance in their life with those things that are important to them. Through ensuring that we provide opportunities to everyone regardless of what society throws at them, we are a safe place to work where you are treated equally and appreciated.