VP, AI Risk & Governance

MetLife; Bridgewater (MA); Hybrid; USD 239,000 - 318,000; Full time

Job summary

MetLife is seeking a Vice President, AI Risk & Governance, to lead the second-line risk function for AI governance. You will shape and evolve the AI risk framework, translate regulatory expectations into practical controls, and drive risk-aware decision making across the enterprise.

You will collaborate with GRM, Data & Analytics, Legal, Privacy and Technology to balance innovation with disciplined risk oversight, monitoring, and escalation of material issues.

Qualifications

• Deep understanding of AI technologies and associated risks (ML, generative AI, data risk).
• Experience designing and evolving governance frameworks, policies and approval processes.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and translate regulatory expectations into actions.

Responsibilities

• Lead AI governance approval process with risk-based review and escalation.
• Provide second-line challenge on AI risks and mitigation strategies.
• Translate risk appetite into governance requirements and controls.
• Identify emerging AI risks and advise on controls across the lifecycle.

Skills

AI risk literacy

risk management

governance frameworks

executive communication

stakeholder influence

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Advanced degree (data science/AI/actuarial)

Job description

Join our Global Risk Management Group, where you’ll play a key role in safeguarding the company, ensuring we deliver on our commitments to customers and stakeholders, and driving responsible growth. As part of our team, you’ll identify, monitor, and mitigate both financial and non-financial risks across the organization. Leverage your expertise as the second line of defense to advise our business on effective risk management strategies. This means challenging ideas, implementing robust controls, and enforcing guardrails to foster responsible business growth. Join us in advancing MetLife’s legacy of trust through exemplary risk management practices.

The Opportunity

The Vice President, AI Risk & Governance, is a strategic second-line risk leadership role within Global Risk Management (GRM) responsible for maintaining and evolving MetLife’s AI risk and governance framework.

The role identifies novel and emerging risks presented by artificial intelligence, translates those risks into governance requirements and practical controls, and ensures the enterprise’s AI activities remain aligned to risk appetite, existing financial and non-financial risk governance frameworks and regulatory expectations.

This position has broad enterprise impact through close collaboration within GRM, Data & Analytics, Technology, Legal, Privacy, Information Security, Ethical AI, Data Governance, Model Risk and Business stakeholders. The role helps shape the strategic vision for AI risk management, drives risk-based decisioning in the AI approval process, and strengthens consistency, transparency, and scalability of governance across new and emerging AI initiatives.

The role is critical to enabling AI development and innovation responsibly by balancing business value creation with disciplined risk oversight, clear escalation of material and emerging issues, and ongoing monitoring of AI risk themes, control effectiveness, and emerging regulatory developments.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day execution of the AI governance approval process, including risk-based review, challenge, escalation, and alignment to enterprise risk appetite and responsible AI principles.
• Provide credible second-line challenge and thought leadership to senior stakeholders on acceptable use, control requirements, and mitigation strategies for AI risks.
• Translate risk appetite and regulatory expectations into actionable governance requirements and control expectations.
• Identify and assess novel, emerging, and cross-cutting risks arising from AI.
• Drive strategic improvements to financial and non-financial AI risk and governance processes, including transparency, efficiency, operating model design, and reporting.
• Help implement the strategic vision for AI risk management, including scalable governance, stronger risk identification, and monitoring capabilities.
• Partner with control functions and business teams to embed effective controls across the AI lifecycle.
• Operationalize risk-based integration across governance processes at the workflow and control level.

Required Qualifications

• 12+ years’ risk management experience within financial services or regulated industry.
• Deep understanding of AI technologies and associated risks, including machine learning, generative AI, agentic AI, model risk, and data risk, along with their application to business processes and systems.
• Proven experience designing, implementing, and enhancing enterprise governance frameworks, policies, standards, and approval processes.
• Demonstrated success operating within complex, highly matrixed organizations and influencing senior stakeholders across functions.
• Exceptional strategic thinking, judgment, problem-solving, and executive communication skills with the ability to identify emerging and regulatory issues and translate them into practical governance actions.
• Strong knowledge of regulatory, governance, and control expectations related to AI, models, data, and responsible AI practices.
• Bachelor’s degree required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in data science, applied mathematics, AI/ML, actuarial science or a related field preferred.

Location Expectation: This is a hybrid role requiring a minimum of 3 days per week in office.

The expected salary range for this position is $238,800 - $318,300. This role may also be eligible for annual short-term incentive compensation and stock-based long-term incentives. All incentives and benefits are subject to the applicable plan terms.

Benefits We Offer

Our U.S. benefits address holistic well-being with programs for physical and mental health, financial wellness, and support for families. We offer a comprehensive health plan that includes medical/prescription drug and vision, dental insurance, and no-cost short- and long-term disability. We also provide company-paid life insurance and legal services, a retirement pension funded entirely by MetLife and 401(k) with employer matching, group discounts on voluntary insurance products including auto and home, pet, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and accident insurance, as well as Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and digital mental health programs, parental leave, paid time off, paid holidays, volunteer time off, tuition assistance and much more! For more information regarding MetLife’s U.S. benefits, please click here.

About MetLife

Recognized on Fortune magazine's list of the "World's Most Admired Companies", Fortune World’s 25 Best Workplaces, as well as the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For, MetLife, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is one of the world’s leading financial services companies; providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to individual and institutional customers. With operations in more than 40 markets, we hold leading positions in the United States, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

As part of our New Frontier strategy, MetLife is building an AI-enabled, people-centered future. We’re looking for people who bring curiosity, adaptability, and a growth mindset as we use AI to enhance how we serve customers, support communities, and evolve the way work gets done. At MetLife, AI is a responsible partner that supports human judgment, creativity, and continuous improvement while helping us build trust, inclusion, and long-term value.

Our purpose is simple - to help our colleagues, customers, communities, and the world at large create a more confident future. United by purpose and guided by our core values - Win Together, Do the Right Thing, Deliver Impact Over Activity, and Think Ahead - we’re inspired to transform the next century in financial services. At MetLife, it’s #AllTogetherPossible. Join us!

MetLife is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All employment decisions are made without regards to race, color, national origin, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital or domestic/civil partnership status, genetic information, citizenship status (although applicants and employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States), uniformed service member or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law ("protected characteristics").

If you need an accommodation due to a disability, please email us at [e-mail]. This information will be held in confidence and used only to determine an appropriate accommodation for the application process.

MetLife maintains a drug-free workplace.

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liabilities.

This posting is for a current vacancy and is anticipated to remain open for at least 90 days from the listed posting date.