Head of Responsible AI- Vice President

EXL (NASDAQ: EXLS) is a global data and artificial intelligence ("AI") company that offers services and solutions to reinvent client business models, drive better outcomes and unlock growth at speed. We harness the power of data, AI, and deep industry knowledge to transform businesses, working with the world’s leading corporations in industries including insurance, healthcare, banking and financial services, media and retail, among others. EXL was founded in 1999 with the core values of innovation, collaboration, excellence, integrity and respect.

We are headquartered in New York and have more than 60,000 employees spanning six continents. For more information, visit www.exlservice.com.

Role Title: Head of Responsible AI

Level: Vice President

BU/Segment: Legal

Location: Dublin, Republic of Ireland (Flexible hybrid working)

Employment Type: Permanent

Package: €160,000 - €180,000 + bonus + Equity

Summary of the role:

As the Chief Responsible & Secure AI Officer, you will be the primary architect of trust for the enterprise. Reporting to the General Counsel (GC), you will mature and institutionalize the function that ensures all AI initiatives are ethically sound, legally compliant, and architecturally resilient.

In a data-centric operations environment, this role serves as the bridge between technical innovation and legal safeguard—enforcing a dual mandate: accelerating AI adoption while minimizing systemic risk.

As part of your duties, you will be responsible for:1. Strategic Leadership & Governance

• Operationalize the Charter: Define the 3-year maturity roadmap for Responsible & Secure AI, aligning it with client commitments and global regulations.

• Together with the GC and CIO, lead the AI Governance Committee to ensure a single, unified voice on AI approval and deployment.

• The Enterprise Voice: Function as the lead spokesperson on AI Trust for clients, regulators, and industry forums, positioning the company as a leader in "Safe AI" operations.

• AI System of Record: Establish and maintain the "Source of Truth" for all AI assets—consolidating model registries, lineage, and audit trails.

2. AI Security & Defense (The "Secure" Mandate)

• Adversarial Resilience: Oversee AI red-teaming and stress testing to protect against prompt injection, model extraction, and data poisoning.

• Secure AI Lifecycle: Partner with the CIO to embed security into the LLMOps/DevSecOps pipeline, ensuring "Secure by Design" principles for agentic and autonomous systems.

• Data Sovereignty: Ensure RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) and fine-tuning workflows do not result in PII leakage or cross-contamination of client data.

• Shadow AI Mitigation: Implement discovery and governance protocols to identify and secure unauthorized AI usage across business units.

3. Regulatory & Ethical Compliance

• Global Regulatory Radar: Ensure 100% compliance with the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, and evolving state-level US laws (e.g., Colorado AI Act).

• Algorithmic Fairness: Mandate bias detection and mitigation protocols to ensure AI-driven business process decisions are equitable and transparent.

• Human-in-the-Loop (HITL): Define and enforce the "Human-in-the-loop" requirements for high-stakes operational tasks to prevent autonomous "drift" or "hallucination" damage.

4. Client & Operations Enablement

• Client Assurance: Support the "Growth Office" by participating in high-value client negotiations to provide transparency into how their data is protected within our AI ecosystem.

• Business Integration: Partner with Business Units to "RAI-enable" client workflows, ensuring that rapid automation does not bypass established risk guardrails.

• Third-Party Oversight: Lead the vetting process for foundation model providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) and open-source AI libraries to ensure they meet our security and ethical benchmarks.

5. Secure & Compliant AI Deployment

• Work with Architecture, Engineering, Data Platforms, and Solutions teams to ensure AI systems are built on secure, compliant, scalable, and governed platforms, supporting responsible deployment across use cases

• Ensure alignment with EXL’s cloud, data governance, and platform modernization strategies

6. Enterprise AI Policy Implementation & Audits

• Oversee adherence to Responsible AI policies through periodic audits, monitoring dashboards, and compliance reviews

• Ensure readiness for internal and external assessments, including client driven AI governance evaluations‑driven AI governance evaluations

7. Capability Building and Culture Development

• Lead enterprise-wide evangelization, awareness and training sessions to build a culture of responsible AI use and risk-sensitive innovation

• Build and mentor a team comprising AI governance leads, risk specialists, AI ethicists, and security experts

Qualifications and experience we consider to be essential for the role:

• Experience: 15+ years of total professional experience in technical, legal, or risk leadership, with at least 5+ years of dedicated experience in AI/ML governance, security, or ethics.

• The "Hybrid" Expert: You must be able to discuss Transformer architectures and vector databases with engineers, and liability/indemnification with the Legal team.

• Regulatory Fluency: Deep familiarity with NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, and the EU AI Act.

• Operational Depth: Proven experience in building a "Governance-as-a-Service" model in a global, highly regulated, or client-servicing enterprise

• Education: Bachelors in CS, Data Science, or Law/Ethics with a technical focus.

• Advanced degree (MS/PhD/JD) is highly preferred

• Industry certifications in AI ethics, security, governance, risk, or compliance desirable

Skills and Personal attributes we would like to have:Behavioural Skills

• High-Stakes Diplomacy: Combines accountability and urgency with the political acumen required to navigate the dual CIO/GC reporting line. Expert at balancing the business need for "Speed to Market" with the ethical mandate of "Safe to Market" through data-grounded decision-making and cross-boundary collaboration

Functional Skills

• Regulatory Mastery & Trust Sales: Expert knowledge of global frameworks (NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, EU AI Act) paired with the ability to lead technical "Trust Audits." Capable of acting as a "Technical Sales Engineer for Trust," proving our AI safety and ethics directly to clients during the RFP and contracting process

Technical Skills

• Adversarial AI Defense: Moves beyond standard cybersecurity into the "Defense-in-Depth" of AI. Proficient in LLMOps and privacy-by-design, with specific hands-on expertise in defending against prompt injection, model inversion, and data poisoning, as well as applying confidential computing principles

• Agentic & Autonomous Governance: Mastery of GenAI/LLM risk frameworks and guardrail tools (e.g., NeMo, LlamaGuard). Specifically skilled in the governance of "Agentic AI"—systems that take autonomous actions (e.g., API calls, transaction execution) on behalf of the company or client

Process Specific Skills

• AI Supply Chain Integrity: Seamlessly integrates AI/ML validation into MLOps and DevSecOps workflows. Leads the creation and management of the "AI Bill of Materials" (AI/BOM), ensuring full transparency and audit-readiness for every dataset, weight, and third-party library in the production pipeline

Key Performance Indicators:

• Framework Adoption: % of internal and client-facing models fully compliant with the NIST-aligned "Safe AI" framework.

• Risk Mitigation: Zero "High" or "Critical" ethics/security incidents resulting from unvetted AI deployments.

• Audit Readiness: Successful completion of third-party AI audits and certifications (e.g., ISO/IEC 42001).

• Client Confidence: Qualitative "Trust Score" improvements in client surveys and successful closure of AI-dependent contracts.

As part of a leading global Data and AI company, you can look forward to:

• A competitive salary with a generous bonus, private healthcare, life assurance at 4 x your annual salary, income protection insurance, and a rewarding pension.

• At EXL, we are committed to providing our employees with the tools and resources they need to succeed and excel in their careers. We offer a wide range of professional and personal development opportunities. We also support a range of learning initiatives that allow our employees to build on their existing skills and knowledge. From online courses to seminars and workshops, our employees have the opportunity to enhance their skills and stay up to date with the latest trends and technologies.

• As an Equal Opportunity Employer, EXL is committed to diversity. Our company does not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, age, or disability status.

• At EXL, we offer a flexible hybrid working model that allows employees to live a balanced, healthy lifestyle while strengthening our culture of collaboration.

To be considered for this role, you must already be eligible to work in the Republic of Ireland.