Head of Corporate Finance, Data & AI

Vanguard; Malvern (Chester County); On-site; USD 150,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Vanguard is seeking a Head of Corporate Finance, Data & AI to define and lead its strategy within Finance, enhancing decision-making through advanced analytics. This role demands a strong leader with over 12 years of experience in Data & AI, as well as a robust understanding of Corporate Finance processes.

Key responsibilities include building high-performing teams, collaborating across departments for effective data utilization, and ensuring compliance with governance frameworks. A bachelor’s degree is required, with a preference for an MBA.

Qualifications

• 12–15+ years of experience in senior Data & AI leadership roles.
• Proven ability to define strategy and execute with measurable business impact.
• Experience managing technology vendors and external partners.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the Corporate Finance Data & AI strategy.
• Build and lead world-class teams across data analytics and AI.
• Collaborate with finance and business partners to enable self-service analytics.

Skills

Data & AI leadership

Corporate Finance knowledge

Stakeholder management

Data governance

Education

Bachelor’s degree

MBA or advanced degree

Tools

AI solutions

Cloud platforms

Data architecture

Job description

Why This Role Matters At Vanguard, we’re transforming how Corporate Finance delivers insight, speed, and strategic impact. As the Head of Corporate Finance, Data & AI, you will define and lead a bold strategy to embed data, analytics, and AI across Finance—reimagining how decisions are made and how value is delivered. This is a high-impact leadership role at the intersection of Finance and technology. You will build and scale the capabilities that power Finance’s next chapter—unlocking step‑change improvements in transparency, efficiency, and insight—while ensuring a disciplined, risk‑aware approach aligned with our enterprise standards.

What You’ll Do

Set the Strategy and Deliver Impact

• Define and execute the Corporate Finance Data & AI strategy, establishing a clear roadmap aligned with enterprise priorities
• Drive adoption of modern analytics and AI tools across Finance to improve speed, accuracy, and decision‑making
• Identify capability gaps and design scalable, integrated solutions to advance Finance maturity

Lead and Scale High‑Performing Teams

• Build and lead world‑class teams across data analytics, data engineering, governance, and AI
• Establish a high‑performance culture with clear goals, coaching, and talent development
• Operate across direct and matrixed environments to scale impact across Corporate Finance

Enable Data‑Driven Decision Making

• Partner with senior Finance leaders (e.g., BU CFOs, FP&A, CAO) to deliver actionable, data‑driven insights
• Translate complex analytics and AI outputs into clear business recommendations
• Position the team as trusted advisors to Finance and enterprise stakeholders

Accelerate Adoption Through Partnership & Enablement

• Collaborate with Finance and business partners to design intuitive, self‑service analytics and AI capabilities
• Develop frameworks, guardrails, and training to enable responsible and sustainable adoption
• Build Finance‑wide data and AI literacy through targeted enablement programs

Drive Innovation with Strong Governance

• Embed governance, controls, and monitoring across data and AI workflows to ensure quality, transparency, and compliance
• Balance innovation with risk management, auditability, and regulatory expectations
• Stay ahead of industry trends and represent Vanguard within the broader analytics and AI community

Manage Investments and Partnerships

• Lead budget planning and prioritize technology investments aligned to strategic objectives
• Oversee vendor relationships and partnerships, ensuring delivery accountability and value realization

What It Takes

Experience & Leadership

• 12–15+ years of experience in senior Data & AI leadership roles, delivering enterprise‑scale transformation
• Proven ability to define strategy and execute with measurable business impact
• Demonstrated success building and scaling high‑performing, multi‑disciplinary teams

Finance & Business Acumen

• Strong understanding of Corporate Finance processes (e.g., FP&A, reporting, controllership)
• Track record of applying data, analytics, and AI to improve efficiency, accuracy, and decision‑making

Technical Expertise

• Deep experience in modern data architecture, including data products, semantic layers, and scalable pipelines
• Hands‑on experience deploying AI solutions at scale, including generative AI and advanced orchestration frameworks
• Familiarity with enterprise data and AI ecosystems (e.g., cloud platforms, modern data platforms, AI copilots)

Governance & Operating Model Design

• Proven ability to establish data and AI governance frameworks (data quality, lineage, model monitoring, access controls)
• Experience designing operating models that balance centralized governance with decentralized innovation

Transformation & Change Leadership

• Experience leading enterprise‑wide adoption and enablement initiatives
• Strong background in process transformation, automation, and workflow redesign

Influence & Communication

• Exceptional ability to communicate complex technical concepts to senior business leaders
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills across executive audiences

Additional Qualifications

• Experience managing technology vendors and external partners
• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or advanced degree preferred

Sponsorship

Vanguard is not offering visa sponsorship for this position.