Divisional Chief Financial Officer — Data And Evaluation Platform

The mandate

Following two years of uneven execution, the board is addressing a division requiring independent economics before a strategic transaction within a multinational-owned enterprise artificial-intelligence products company. The immediate arena is the data and evaluation platform during a commercialisation inflection. For mandate 174, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Divisional Chief Financial Officer operating perimeter covers approximately £1,150 million in AI product and services revenue, with activity spanning several data and evaluation platform customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Divisional Chief Financial Officer Artificial Intelligence remit carries direct influence over roughly 400 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The group board and the relevant risk and people committees want a Divisional Chief Financial Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the data and evaluation platform. The Divisional Chief Financial Officer Artificial Intelligence seat must resolve a commercialisation inflection, while preserving the underlying strengths of the data and evaluation platform. For mandate 174, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Divisional Chief Financial Officer’s first year on the data and evaluation platform is expected to end with stand-alone controls, value visibility and transaction readiness. In mandate 174, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is an urgent replacement for the Divisional Chief Financial Officer — Data And Evaluation Platform seat following an accelerated leadership transition. Interim accountability is in place for the data and evaluation platform, but the board wants a permanent appointment within 6–8 weeks because a commercialisation inflection cannot remain under split ownership. The predecessor’s outcome is being handled neutrally and professionally. The external search remains confidential until the preferred candidate and transition plan are agreed.

What you will own

• Set the Divisional Chief Financial Officer value-creation thesis for the data and evaluation platform, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately £1,150 million in AI product and services revenue, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Divisional Chief Financial Officer Artificial Intelligence organisation of about 400 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the data and evaluation platform economics and execution constraints created by a commercialisation inflection, with Divisional Chief Financial Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Divisional Chief Financial Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the data and evaluation platform; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have signed or directly owned board financial statements, liquidity decisions and investment cases at the stated scale in mandate 174.
• Build the Divisional Chief Financial Officer’s three-year succession and capability plan for the data and evaluation platform, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Artificial Intelligence organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the data and evaluation platform baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to a division requiring independent economics before a strategic transaction, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Divisional Chief Financial Officer portfolio and organisation choices for the data and evaluation platform, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable data and evaluation platform trend against stand-alone controls, value visibility and transaction readiness, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the Divisional Chief Financial Officer’s agreed first-year data and evaluation platform value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Divisional Chief Financial Officer forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the data and evaluation platform’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Divisional Chief Financial Officer mandate’s highest-priority data and evaluation platform risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical data and evaluation platform talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Divisional Chief Financial Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Divisional Chief Financial Officer-owned improvement in the data and evaluation platform operating constraint behind a commercialisation inflection, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 174: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a Divisional CFO, Business CFO or Finance Director in a multinational-owned Artificial Intelligence or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the data and evaluation platform, your Divisional Chief Financial Officer track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from AI, enterprise software, data infrastructure, cloud, analytics or applied research will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this Divisional Chief Financial Officer brief.

As a Divisional Chief Financial Officer candidate, you bring 22–28 years of progressive Artificial Intelligence or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 22-28 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of £750 million and led an organisation of at least 275 people.

For mandate 174, the board wants two transitions: a difficult data and evaluation platform portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a commercialisation inflection. As the prospective Divisional Chief Financial Officer for this data and evaluation platform, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 174 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Divisional Chief Financial Officer must be based in London; international relocation is supported, but this Artificial Intelligence role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of Divisional CFO, Business CFO or Finance Director, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Artificial Intelligence governance forum.
• Proven Divisional Chief Financial Officer ownership of at least £750 million and leadership of no fewer than 275 employees in a comparable data and evaluation platform context.
• One completed Artificial Intelligence or adjacent-sector example of a division requiring independent economics before a strategic transaction with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from AI, enterprise software, data infrastructure, cloud, analytics or applied research; experience that is purely functional and lacks Divisional Chief Financial Officer-level data and evaluation platform consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the London location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 174.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Divisional Chief Financial Officer package is £290,000–390,000 base + annual incentive and LTI, calibrated to the final data and evaluation platform scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 174 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Divisional Chief Financial Officer appointment in London, centred on the data and evaluation platform, offers regular exposure to the group board and the relevant risk and people committees. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 174.

Confidentiality

The client name, precise footprint and transaction history are outside this brief for mandate 174. They will be shared with qualified candidates under a mutual undertaking, and the composite facts here must not be reverse-engineered or circulated for mandate 174.