Head of AI & Intelligent Automation

Zurich-Insurance-9; Lisboa; On-site; EUR 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Development opportunities

Inclusive environment

Benefits & wellbeing

Job summary

Zurich in Lisbon seeks a senior AI leader to define and drive the local AI strategy, scale AI assets, and accelerate business transformation. You will partner with central AI teams, build talent, and deliver measurable value through AI initiatives across functions.

The role requires deep technical AI expertise, strong business acumen, and ability to influence executives while enabling engineers on LLMs, governance, and interoperability standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science, Data Science, AI or related field.
• 10+ years in technology, data, or AI roles.
• Proven track record leading AI-enabled transformations.
• Experience building/scaling AI teams and CoEs.
• Strong understanding of LLMs and AI ecosystem.
• Hands-on experience with MCP, A2A, tools calling and governance.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the local AI strategy aligned with Group priorities.
• Identify and implement high-impact AI use cases.
• Build and lead internal AI Engineering and AI Product teams.
• Drive AI adoption across business and tech functions.
• Lead design/development of Generative AI and Agentic AI solutions.
• Partner with AI Governance for responsible AI use.
• Advise Executives on AI topics and transformation.

Skills

AI leadership

Strategy execution

Cross-functional leadership

LLMs knowledge

AI governance

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS/DS/AI

Tools

MCP

A2A communication

Tool Calling

Function Calling

Interoperability standards

Job description

Head of AI & Intelligent Automation

138066

Lead the strategy, adoption, and scalability of Artificial Intelligence across the organization, working closely with the central AI team to maximize the value of corporate AI assets and accelerate business transformation through AI.

Reporting directly to the Chief Technology and Operations Officer of Zurich Portugal, this role will have a strong focus on driving AI adoption across the organization, identifying and delivering high-impact AI use cases, and building internal capabilities that enable the company to evolve toward an increasingly AI-powered and intelligent operating model.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and execute the local AI strategy aligned with Group vision and priorities.
• Identify, prioritize, and implement AI use cases with measurable business impact.
• Build and lead an internal AI Engineering and AI Product Management team.
• Drive widespread AI adoption across business and technology functions.
• Lead the design and development of Generative AI and Agentic AI solutions integrated into business processes and enterprise applications.
• Partner with the local AI Governance team to ensure responsible, secure, and compliant use of AI in line with regulatory requirements and corporate policies.
• Act as the primary advisor to the Executive Committee on AI-related topics and AI-driven business transformation.

Profile

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field.
• More than 10 years of experience in technology, data, or AI-related roles.
• Proven track record leading AI-enabled business transformation initiatives.
• Experience building and scaling AI teams and Centers of Excellence.
• Strong understanding of leading Large Language Models (LLMs) and the broader AI ecosystem.
• Hands-on experience with:
  • Model Context Protocol (MCP);
  • Agent-to-Agent (A2A) communication;
  • Tool Calling;
  • Function Calling;
  • Open standards for AI agent integration and ecosystem interoperability.
• Evaluation, selection, and governance of both Open Source and Closed Source AI models.
• Fine-tuning, model adaptation, and model evaluation.
• Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), GraphRAG, and Enterprise Knowledge Retrieval.
• Agentic AI architectures and multi-agent systems.
• Design and implementation of guardrails, AI safety frameworks, observability, and agent monitoring.
• Emerging protocols and standards for interoperability between models, tools, and agents, including:
• Strategic mindset with the ability to influence senior executives and business leaders.
• Strong focus on delivering measurable business value.
• Proven ability to lead organizational change and technology adoption.
• Excellent communication skills across business and technical audiences.
• Entrepreneurial, pragmatic, and results-oriented approach.

We are seeking a leader who combines deep AI expertise with strong business transformation capabilities. This individual will be able to work effectively with central AI teams, accelerate the adoption of enterprise AI assets, develop internal talent, and turn AI opportunities into tangible business outcomes.

The successful candidate will act as a catalyst for the company's AI journey, fostering a culture of responsible innovation while building sustainable internal capabilities that accelerate value creation through Artificial Intelligence. They should be equally comfortable discussing business strategy with executives and engaging with engineers on topics such as LLMs, model evaluation, fine-tuning, RAG architectures, AI governance, agentic systems, interoperability protocols, and AI safety.

• Be part of a global and collaborative team, with more than 65,000 colleagues serving more than 82 million customers across more than 200 countries and territories, we are united to create a brighter future together.
• Access to personal and professional development opportunities.
• An inclusive, flexible, and supportive working environment.
• Competitive benefits and wellbeing programs.

If you are looking for an exciting challenge where you can apply your technical expertise, influence business decisions, and contribute to delivering outstanding service to our partners, we would love to hear from you.

Come and get to know us and join us as we explore new ways to protect our customers and the planet.

Together, we're creating a brighter future.