Artificial Intelligence Transformation Manager

Country: Spain

IT STARTS HERE

Santander (www.santander.com) is evolving from a high-impact global brand to a technology-driven organization, and our people are at the heart of this journey. Together, we are driving a customer-centric transformation that values bold thinking, innovation, and the courage to challenge what´s possible.

This is more than a strategic shift. It´s an opportunity for motivated professionals to grow, learn, and make a real difference.

Our mission is to help people and businesses thrive. As part of the global AI Transformation team, you´ll lead and manage strategic AI initiatives that drive impact across global companies and key functions. We are looking for someone who connects business, AI, and technology, ensuring that AI solutions create measurable value.

THE DIFFERENCE YOU MAKE

We are seeking a Manager to join Santander´s AI Transformation team. Your mission will be to lead Santander´s enterprise-wide AI transformation strategy - designing, evaluating, and deploying cutting-edge AI and GenAI solutions that reimagine business processes and customer experiences.

This role serves as the strategic bridge between data science, technology, and business areas, ensuring AI adoption delivers measurable, scalable, and compliant value across the organization.

This role will act as a key catalyst ensuring that AI is used responsibly, safely, and aligned with corporate standards.

Main Responsibilities:

Strategy and Definition

1. Identify, assess, and translate high-impact business challenges into technically feasible and value-driven AI use cases.

2. Evaluate and recommend AI architectures, platforms, and vendors ensuring alignment with Santander´s enterprise AI standards.

3. Propose business and technical roadmaps to scale AI adoption.

Design and Execution

1. Coordinate the technical design of AI and agentic solutions in collaboration with AI, data and engineering teams.

2. Oversee design and implementation squads with multidisciplinary teams across AI, data, technology, and operations.

3. Validate the quality, performance, risk, and regulatory compliance of developments.

4. Drive iterative prototyping, agile experimentation, and production deployment to ensure rapid and compliant AI delivery.

Business Alignment

1. Translate business decisions into technical requirements and communicate their implications clearly to non-technical stakeholders.

2. Build project business cases and ensure that solutions deliver measurable and scalable value.

3. Develop and monitor KPIs to track AI adoption, model performance, and business ROI, ensuring accountability for measurable outcomes.

Governance and Best Practices

1. Promote standards for responsible AI, security, and regulatory compliance.

2. Ensure traceability, explainability, and quality across AI solutions.

3. Participate in technical and transformation committees.

4. Establish best practices for model lifecycle management, including documentation, monitoring, and risk assessment.

WHAT YOU´LL BRING TO THE TABLE

Our people are our greatest strength. Each individual brings unique perspectives that make us stronger as a team and as an organization. We´re enabling teams to go above and beyond by valuing who they are and empowering what they bring to the table.

Professional experience
- 8+ years of experience managing large transformations and cross-functional projects. (Required)
- 5+ years of experience designing and implementing AI ecosystems ideally in banking, or financial services (Required)
- Experience deploying AI solutions in production environments under strict governance and data protection standards (Preferred)

Education:
- Bachelor´s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, or related field. (Required).
- Master´s degree or complementary certifications in Business Administration (Preferred).

Languages:
- Very high proficiency in English and Spanish. (Required).

Hard Skills
- Translate business challenges into technical problem statements and build impactful AI solutions that deliver business impact (Required).
- Strong knowledge in AI architectures, platforms, Generative AI, LLMs, vector databases, and MLOps. (Required)
- Strong track record in project delivery, and global and local squads (AI / Data Engineers, MLOps Engineers, and Business Stakeholders) management in an agile environment able to foster an AI-first culture and promote transformation across diverse teams and geographies (Required).

Soft skills
- Excellent communication and influencing skills to engage both Business and Technical teams (Required).

WE VALUE YOUR IMPACT

Your contribution matters, and it´s recognized. You can expect a fair and competitive rewards package that reflects the impact you create and the value you offer. But we know that rewards go beyond numbers.
- We enable our teams to go further through global opportunities and broad career paths.
- Flexibility that works. Enjoy hybrid work models-some days remote, some days in-person with your team-along with flexible schedules.
- Learning for life. Access hundreds of courses on our platforms, including exclusive access to our global learning space: Santander Open Academy (www.santanderopenacademy.com)
- Competitive rewards. Receive a very competitive salary with performance-based bonuses, which motivates you to continue growing with us.
- Economic advantages. Take advantage of preferential banking terms, special interest rates on loans, life insurance, and more.
- Your health is our priority. Through BeHealthy, our global wellness program, we promote holistic wellness.
- We know that family is everything. That´s why we offer child care support and family programs tailored to every stage of life.
- Always by your side. Access Santander Contigo, our program for employees and their families that offers legal, emotional and administrative advice services.
- Extra benefits. Gym/WellHub membership, medical centers in some of our facilities, meal allowance, parking, shuttle service from various points in Madrid, as well as discounts and exclusive offers for Santander employees. And that´s just the beginning-we´ll tell you more when you join!

We´re here to keep you motivated, help you reach your goals, and celebrate your progress every step of the way.

LOCAL COMPLIANCE

Santander is proud to be an organization where there are equal opportunities regardless of age, gender, disability, marital status, race, religion or sexual orientation. We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible application process for all candidates.

WHAT TO DO NEXT?

If this sounds like a position you´re interested in, apply.

READY TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP ON YOUR JOURNEY?