AI Governance Lead

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Job Summary:

We are seeking an AI Governance Manager to build and lead the company's enterprise AI governance capability. This position will partner with AI delivery teams, business and functional leaders, Legal, Risk Management, Information Security, Privacy, Records Management, and Supply Chain to ensure artificial intelligence is adopted, deployed, and used in a manner that is ethical, trustworthy, safe, secure, and consistent with Bechtel's values.

The scope includes traditional machine learning, generative AI, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), purchased or embedded AI, copilots, and AI agents supporting engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) and business processes across Bechtel's global businesses. The successful candidate will be a hands-on, enabling leader who makes governance proportionate to risk, makes risk decisions understandable, and turns ambiguous issues into practical actions rather than risk warnings alone. This is an opportunity to shape how a global engineering and construction leader governs AI.

This position is part time telework, which requires you to be in the Reston office 3 days per week (no relocation offered).

Major Responsibilities:

• Lead the day-to-day operation of the enterprise AI governance program, and develop and maintain its framework, policies, standards, procedures, and decision-rights documentation through the company's established approval channels.
• Run the AI intake, review, approval, and monitoring workflow, and maintain the enterprise AI system inventory and risk classification from ideation through retirement.
• Operate the AI governance committee, including setting agendas, preparing decision materials, documenting decisions and rationale, and tracking actions to closure.
• Coordinate AI impact assessments with Legal, Privacy, Information Security, Risk Management, data owners, and engineering safety and quality specialists, addressing fairness, privacy, security, safety, intellectual property, and reliability.
• Define review criteria and controls for generative AI assistants and AI agents, including approval criteria, data access and tool permissions, human-in-the-loop requirements, and post-deployment monitoring.
• Track mitigation actions with named owners, completion evidence, and due dates; manage exceptions, exception expiry, and periodic re-review.
• Preserve accountability of business-process owners for intended purpose, output review, and business-risk acceptance, and retain domain safety, quality, and professional sign-offs for safety-related engineering or field uses.
• Map applicable AI regulations, standards, and customer contractual requirements to internal controls; monitor emerging developments and recommend actions.
• Coordinate AI-specific supplier reviews with Supply Chain, third-party risk management, and Legal, including data use, model changes, service limitations, and exit considerations.
• Maintain audit-ready records and support internal and external audits, customer inquiries, and assurance reviews related to AI.
• Report governance metrics, risk posture, unresolved risks, and governance maturity to AI program and technology leadership.
• Develop and deliver AI governance and responsible-AI training and awareness for users, developers, and leaders, in partnership with training and enablement teams.
• Partner on AI incident response, learning, reassessment, and retirement, without assuming platform operations or cyber incident command.
• Lead a small, hands-on governance team, secure shared functional support, and protect the independence of evaluation from solution builders.

Education and Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, engineering, risk management, or a related field, or equivalent relevant practical experience AND at least thirteen years (13) of relevant technology, risk, compliance, or governance experience, including at least two (2) years focused on AI, data, or model governance.
• US citizenship is required.
• Demonstrated experience establishing and operating governance, risk, or control programs, including governance committees, for enterprise AI, analytics, or complex digital products.
• Experience conducting risk or impact assessments and translating findings into proportionate mitigations.
• Experience maintaining inventories, decision records, exceptions, and evidence-backed action tracking to an audit-ready standard.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate Legal, Privacy, Security, risk, procurement, and delivery stakeholders without substituting for their authority.

Required Knowledge and Skills:

• AI risk management and responsible-AI frameworks and regulations, such as the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, ISO/IEC 42001, the OECD AI Principles, and the EU AI Act.
• AI lifecycle governance, including inventory, intake, risk classification, impact assessment, post-deployment monitoring, and retirement.
• Working knowledge of machine learning, generative AI, large language models, RAG, and agentic AI, including their limitations and risks (e.g., inaccurate outputs, bias, data leakage, prompt injection, model drift, excessive agent autonomy).
• Practical application of responsible-AI principles, including fairness, transparency, explainability, human oversight, and accountability.
• AI security and data protection controls, such as the OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications, MITRE ATLAS, data loss prevention (DLP), sensitivity labeling, and identity and access management in cloud environments such as Microsoft 365 and Azure.
• Data governance, privacy, intellectual property (e.g., training data rights, ownership of AI-generated content), and records retention concepts.
• Third-party AI risk management and supplier due diligence, including data use, model change, and contractual considerations.
• Policy, standards, and control design, regulatory mapping, and audit-ready documentation, including decision-rights (RACI) documentation.
• Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) or AI governance platforms, governance metrics, dashboards, and maturity assessment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including explaining technical risk to executive and non-technical audiences.
• Program management and organizational change management methodologies.

Total Rewards/Benefits:

For decades, Bechtel has worked to inspire the next generation of employees and beyond! Because our teams face some of the world's toughest challenges, we offer robust benefits to ensure our people thrive. Whether it is advancing careers, delivering programs to enhance our culture, or providing time to recharge, Bechtel has the benefits to build a legacy of sustainable growth. Learn more at bechtel.com/total-rewards.

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We are committed to being a company where every colleague feels that they belong-where colleagues feel part of "One Team," respected and rewarded for what they bring, supported in pursuing their goals, invested in our values and purpose, and treated equitably. Click here to learn more about the people who power our legacy.