Senior AI Governance Counsel

Adyen; New York (NY); On-site; USD 210,000 - 275,000; Full time

Job summary

Adyen seeks a Senior AI Governance Counsel to join its Global DPO Office in New York, driving an enterprise AI governance program that scales with Adyen’s ambitions. You will shape policies, perform risk assessments, and ensure responsible AI usage across the business.

You will translate evolving AI regulations into pragmatic guidance for first-line teams and partner with Risk, Security, Product, Compliance, Legal, Regulatory, and Engineering to implement controls and training.

Qualifications

• 7+ Years in Governance/Privacy: Proven background building, deploying, and managing global AI or privacy governance programs.
• Legal / Risk Qualification: Qualified lawyer or governance professional with substantial experience in AI governance, privacy, or technology risk.
• Regulated Sector Background: Prior experience in payments, financial services, or other heavily regulated industries is preferred.
• AI Frameworks & Privacy Laws: Knowledge of EU AI Act, NIST RMF, ISO/IEC 42001, GDPR, CCPA/CPRA.
• Generative & Agentic AI Experience: Familiarity with LLMs, autonomy levels, human-in-the-loop design, tool/permissioning.
• Model Evaluation & Testing: Understanding of fairness, bias, drift, explainability, red teaming, and translating into policies.
• Regulatory Translator: Converting evolving AI regulations into practical guidance for non-technical stakeholders.
• Cross-Functional Influence: Ability to drive adoption across Risk, Security, Product, Compliance, Legal, and Engineering.
• Execution & Ownership: Strong drafting, communication, and stakeholder-management skills with a builder mindset.
• Certifications (Preferred): IAPP AIGP, CIPP/E, CIPP/US, CIPM are a plus.

Responsibilities

• Help build and embed Adyen's enterprise AI governance framework, policies, and standards across the business.
• Design and operationalize AI risk assessments across the lifecycle, focusing on generative/agentic AI use cases.
• Interpret EU AI Act and other laws, translating them into practical playbooks and procedures for first-line teams.
• Support AI inventories by defining governance parameters for cataloguing and risk-classifying tools and use cases.
• Develop guidance for evaluating AI systems on performance, fairness, explainability, and risk.
• Create simple, risk-tiered processes and green paths to make compliant routes convenient.
• Translate model-evaluation techniques into clear procedures for technical teams to apply.
• Partner with Enterprise Risk, Security, Product, Compliance, Legal, Regulatory, and Engineering on controls and escalation.
• Advise on privacy across the AI lifecycle, coordinating with the DPO Office.
• Design and deliver AI governance training and promote AI literacy across the org.
• Monitor AI/privacy developments and translate them into governance requirements for audits and inquiries.

Skills

AI governance

Privacy law

Risk management

Regulatory translation

Cross-functional influence

Drafting & policy

Stakeholder management

Execution & ownership

Education

IAPP AIGP

CIPP/E

CIPP/US

CIPM

Job description

Adyen provides payments, data, and financial products in a single solution for customers like Meta, Uber, H&M, and Microsoft - making us the financial technology platform of choice.

For our teams, we create an environment with opportunities for our people to succeed, backed by the culture and support to ensure they are enabled to truly own their careers. We are motivated individuals who tackle unique technical challenges at scale and solve them as a team. Together, we deliver innovative and ethical solutions that help businesses achieve their ambitions faster.

The Role

We are looking for a Senior AI Governance Counsel to join our Global DPO Office and help build, roll out, and operate Adyen's enterprise AI governance framework. Sitting within the group that owns our global privacy program and AI governance, and supports incident response and management as well as data governance, you will be the driving force in shaping our strong foundations into a consistent, enterprise-wide AI governance program that scales with Adyen's ambitions - helping the business innovate boldly and responsibly with AI.

What You'll Do

• Help build, roll out, and embed Adyen's enterprise-wide AI governance framework, policies, and standards, driving consistency as AI adoption scales across the business.
• Design and operationalize AI risk and impact assessments across the AI lifecycle - from intake and risk classification through deployment, monitoring, and decommissioning - with particular focus on generative and agentic AI use cases.
• Interpret the EU AI Act, the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, and other applicable AI laws across Adyen's global footprint, and translate them into practical policies, playbooks, and procedures for first-line teams.
• Support the teams that maintain Adyen's AI inventories by defining governance parameters and requirements for cataloguing and risk-classifying AI tools and use cases.
• Develop enterprise guidance and a consistent approach for evaluating AI systems, covering performance, fairness, and explainability expectations appropriate to each use case's risk profile.
• Design simple, proportionate, risk-tiered processes and “green paths” that make responsible AI the easy path for fast-moving teams - using clear risk tiers and practical incentives so the compliant route is also the most convenient one.
• Translate model‑evaluation techniques - including fairness, bias, and adversarial (red‑teaming) testing - into clear procedures that technology teams can apply to their own models and tools.
• Partner with Enterprise Risk, Security, Product, Compliance, Legal, Regulatory, and Engineering to run the AI governance program and align on controls, escalation, and human‑oversight protocols.
• Advise on privacy considerations across the AI lifecycle, coordinating with the wider DPO Office on the interaction between AI assessments and data protection.
• Design and deliver AI governance training and promote AI literacy and a culture of responsible, accountable AI use.
• Monitor global AI and privacy developments and translate them into proportionate governance requirements, supporting responses to audit, regulatory, and client inquiries.

Who You Are

Core Expertise:

7+ Years in Governance/Privacy: Proven background building, deploying, and managing global AI or privacy governance programs, ideally within regulated, multi-jurisdictional environments.

Legal / Risk Qualification: Qualified lawyer or governance professional with substantial experience in AI governance, privacy, or technology risk. (US jurisdiction admission is a plus).

Regulated Sector Background: Prior experience in payments, financial services, or other heavily regulated industries is preferred.

Technical Knowledge:

AI Frameworks & Privacy Laws: Solid working knowledge of the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, and ISO/IEC 42001, along with global privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA/CPRA).

Generative & Agentic AI Experience: Familiarity with LLMs, autonomy levels, human-in-the-loop design, and tool/action permissioning.

Model Evaluation & Testing: Understanding of model evaluation techniques including fairness, bias, drift, performance, explainability, and red teaming, and the ability to translate them into practical policies.

Regulatory Translator: Skilled at converting complex, fast-evolving AI regulations into practical, business-aligned guidance for non-technical stakeholders.

Cross-Functional Influence: Proven ability to partner with and drive adoption across Risk, Security, Product, Compliance, Legal, and Engineering without relying on direct authority.

Execution & Ownership: Strong drafting, communication, and stakeholder‑management skills paired with a proactive, builder mindset.

Certifications (Preferred):

Relevant industry certifications such as IAPP AIGP, CIPP/E, CIPP/US, or CIPM are an advantage.

Compensation

The base salary range for this role is $210,000- $275,000.

Location & Work Model

This role is based out of our New York office. We are an office-first company and value in-person collaboration; we do not offer remote-only roles.

Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitments

Our unique approach is a product of our diverse perspectives. This diversity of backgrounds and cultures is essential in helping us maintain our momentum. Our business and technical challenges are unique, and we need as many different voices as possible to join us in solving them - voices like yours. No matter who you are or where you’re from, we welcome you to be your true self at Adyen.

What’s next?

Ensuring a smooth and enjoyable candidate experience is critical for us. We aim to get back to you regarding your application within 5 business days. Our interview process tends to take about 4 weeks to complete, but may fluctuate depending on the role. Learn more about our hiring process here . Don’t be afraid to let us know if you need more flexibility.

Adyen is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status or any legally protected status.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

At Adyen, we strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates.Please let our team know if you need any adjustments to the recruitment process to make it more accessible and/or inclusive to your needs.