Regional Chief Financial Officer — AI Safety Programme

The mandate

The next planning cycle has brought into focus regional capital and performance discipline lagging the enterprise standard within a institutionally backed enterprise artificial-intelligence products company. The immediate arena is the AI safety programme during a responsible-AI control build. For mandate 173, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Regional Chief Financial Officer operating perimeter covers approximately US$1,000 million in AI product and services revenue, with activity spanning several AI safety programme customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Regional Chief Financial Officer Artificial Intelligence remit carries direct influence over roughly 250 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a Regional Chief Financial Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the AI safety programme. The Regional Chief Financial Officer Artificial Intelligence seat must resolve a responsible-AI control build, while preserving the underlying strengths of the AI safety programme. For mandate 173, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Regional Chief Financial Officer’s first year on the AI safety programme is expected to end with cash, forecast confidence and investment governance. In mandate 173, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a planned replacement for the Regional Chief Financial Officer — AI Safety Programme seat. The incumbent continues to lead the ai safety programme through an agreed succession period and will support a structured handover. The board has allowed 4–6 months to assess candidates, complete diligence and protect continuity while a responsible-AI control build is addressed. The search is confidential so the transition can be communicated to employees, customers and partners in a controlled sequence.

What you will own

• Set the Regional Chief Financial Officer value-creation thesis for the AI safety programme, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately US$1,000 million in AI product and services revenue, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Regional Chief Financial Officer Artificial Intelligence organisation of about 250 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the AI safety programme economics and execution constraints created by a responsible-AI control build, with Regional Chief Financial Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Regional Chief Financial Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the AI safety programme; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have signed or directly owned board financial statements, liquidity decisions and investment cases at the stated scale in mandate 173.
• Build the Regional Chief Financial Officer’s three-year succession and capability plan for the AI safety programme, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Artificial Intelligence organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the AI safety programme baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to regional capital and performance discipline lagging the enterprise standard, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Regional Chief Financial Officer portfolio and organisation choices for the AI safety programme, 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 AI safety programme trend against cash, forecast confidence and investment governance, 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 Regional Chief Financial Officer’s agreed first-year AI safety programme value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Regional Chief Financial Officer forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the AI safety programme’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Regional Chief Financial Officer mandate’s highest-priority AI safety programme risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical AI safety programme talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Regional Chief Financial Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Regional Chief Financial Officer-owned improvement in the AI safety programme operating constraint behind a responsible-AI control build, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 173: 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 Regional CFO, Divisional CFO or Finance Vice President in a institutionally backed Artificial Intelligence or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the AI safety programme, your Regional 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 Regional Chief Financial Officer brief.

As a Regional 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 US$850 million and led an organisation of at least 175 people.

For mandate 173, the board wants two transitions: a difficult AI safety programme portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a responsible-AI control build. As the prospective Regional Chief Financial Officer for this AI safety programme, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 173 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Regional Chief Financial Officer must be based in New York; 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 Regional CFO, Divisional CFO or Finance Vice President, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Artificial Intelligence governance forum.
• Proven Regional Chief Financial Officer ownership of at least US$850 million and leadership of no fewer than 175 employees in a comparable AI safety programme context.
• One completed Artificial Intelligence or adjacent-sector example of regional capital and performance discipline lagging the enterprise standard 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 Regional Chief Financial Officer-level AI safety programme consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the New York location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 173.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Regional Chief Financial Officer package is US$430,000–575,000 base + annual incentive and equity, calibrated to the final AI safety programme scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 173 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Regional Chief Financial Officer appointment in New York, centred on the AI safety programme, offers regular exposure to the chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 173.

Confidentiality

This search is being conducted without naming the client for mandate 173. Identifying information will follow only when both sides elect to proceed under confidentiality; nothing in the published mandate should be treated as a clue to ownership or brand for mandate 173.