Manager AI And Data Security Governance

About Us: Network International is the largest Financial Technology company in the Middle East and Africa. Payments is our core business where we provide services in more than 50 countries – UAE, Jordan, South Africa, Egypt are some of our key markets. Apart from payments, we provide services on Data and Insights, Lending, Insurance, Risk Solutions, etc. Our core customers are businesses at every scale and segment, though recently we have been growing in the direct-to-consumer card segment as well.
Our EVP: At Network International, we always stay ahead. . In the fast-paced world of financial services, we thrive on innovation, agility, and purposeful collaboration. We invest first in our people, empowering you to make bold decisions, learn fast, and grow your expertise alongside industry leaders. Here, solving complex problems means more than using cutting-edge technology; it’s about creating meaningful value for our customers, together. We foster a culture where trust, accountability, and achievement go hand in hand—because success isn’t just a goal; it’s how we work, every day, as one team.
About The Role: Network International is the leading enabler of digital commerce across the Middle East and Africa, providing payment technology and services to banks, merchants, fintechs and governments.
AI & Data Security Governance gives Group Information Security a second-line-of-defence control framework over how AI is adopted and how data is protected — separate from the engineering teams that build and operate the platforms.
This role establishes and operates that governance capability. It owns the AI Platform & Implementation Standard, runs the AI security risk-assessment process for AI and large language model (LLM) use cases including agentic AI, and sets group-wide data security governance — classification, protection standards and data-loss-prevention policy — across NIs key regions.
This role defines the control requirements engineers build to, assesses AI/data risk independently of the build teams, and reports AI and data security posture to governance committees as NI scales AI adoption.
Job Accountabilities

•    Own and maintain the AI Platform & Implementation Standard and the supporting suite of AI security policies and standards, keeping them current as AI adoption and the regulatory landscape evolve.
•    Operate the AI security risk-assessment process for all AI and LLM use cases, including agentic AI, and maintain the AI use-case security register as the authoritative record of what AI is in use, where, and against what risk profile.
•    Implement and maintain the AI governance framework aligned to ISO/IEC 42001 and the NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF), and support the organisations certification roadmap toward ISO/IEC 42001.
•    Define LLM and generative-AI security control requirements — prompt-injection defence, model access control, output filtering and human-in-the-loop (HITL) requirements — as standards for Security Architecture & Engineering and Technology to implement.
•    Own group data security governance: the data classification scheme, data protection standards, data-loss-prevention (DLP) policy, and data lifecycle security requirements, in coordination with the policy owners for Netskope and equivalent DLP tooling.
•    Own AI third-party risk: define security requirements for AI vendors and model providers, and assess vendor and model-governance claims against NIs requirements.
•    Maintain regulatory watch and alignment for AI and data security across NIs MEA footprint, tracking CBUAE, SAMA guidance, UAE PDPL, POPIA, DIFC/DFSA requirements and EU AI Act exposure arising from EU financial-institution clients.
•    Interface with the Data Protection Officer (DPO) on the security-versus-privacy boundary: this role owns security of data, the DPO owns privacy compliance, and the two coordinate joint assessments where AI or data initiatives touch personal data.
•    Report AI and data security key risk indicators (KRIs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) to the Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) and Enterprise Risk Management Committee (ERMC) through the Group CISO.
Governance & Interfaces:
•    Reports AI and data security posture to the Groups executive risk and technology committees, through the Group CISO.
•    Provides standards input to the Design Authority Review Board (DARB).
•    Partners with Security Architecture & Engineering, which retains engineering execution — DevSecOps guardrails, reference architectures and DARB design reviews — against the standards this role sets.
•    Engages Technologys data and AI platform teams for second-line control testing and assurance reporting on standards conformance.

Experience/ Skills Required
•    Bachelors degree in computer science, information security or a related discipline; a Masters degree is preferred.
•    9–12 years of progressive information security experience, including at least 3 years focused specifically on AI/ML security or data governance.
•    Experience in banking, financial services or payments (BFSI/fintech) strongly preferred, given the regulatory and audit expectations of a systemically important payments processor.
•    Exposure to MEA regulatory regimes (CBUAE, SAMA, UAE PDPL, POPIA, DIFC/DFSA or equivalent) is preferred.
•    Demonstrated experience operating a governance, risk-assessment or standards function, with the ability to write and maintain enterprise-grade policy and standards documentation.
•    Deep subject-matter authority with the credibility to influence and coordinate technical delivery teams without direct line authority.
Professional Certifications:
Essential
•    CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) or CISM (Certified Information Security Manager)
•    Preferred
•    ISO/IEC 42001 Lead Implementer or Lead Auditor
•    CCSP (Certified Cloud Security Professional)
•    CDPSE (Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer) or CIPM/CIPT
•    CRISC (Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control)
•    AI security specialisations — for example, NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF) practitioner training
 

Leadership & Behavioural Skills (NI Org Skills Framework)