Head of AI Academy

Your opportunity Janus Henderson is undertaking a firm-wide AI transformation programme to become the most technologically sophisticated asset manager in the world - an ambition that depends on having the most technologically sophisticated people to match it. The AI Academy is the upskilling and cultural-change pillar of that transformation, sitting alongside the Build and Buy workstreams. In its first six months, AI Academy 2.0 has reached enterprise scale. Following a firm-wide launch during Careers Week, adoption has increased to around 86% and monthly prompt volumes have quadrupled. Firm-wide AI 101 completion sits above 90%, a network of departmental champions now covers every business unit, a cohort of 200-plus advanced users is in place, and the programme is supported by a refreshed Academy homepage, a Use Case Library, an embedded Responsible AI framework, and a regular communications cadence. The Head of AI Academy owns this function and leads its next phase. Reporting to the Head of AI Enablement, you will take end-to-end ownership of the Academy - its strategy, curriculum, proficiency pathways, champion networks, platform, community, measurement and governance - and the small central team and specialist contributors that deliver it. The strategic challenge has shifted from access to depth: moving the firm from broad enablement to role-based capability, advanced-tool proficiency and stronger guardrails, and positioning the Academy as the adoption layer for the firm's next horizon of AI - the enterprise tools it is building and buying as well as those still to come. This is a leadership role at the intersection of capability building, stakeholder engagement, AI literacy and change enablement. You will be equally comfortable setting curriculum direction, coaching a network of departmental champions, influencing senior stakeholders and executive sponsors, and holding the firm to a credible, evidence-led view of what "good" adoption looks like. You will operate within the AI Academy framework alongside the AI Enablement Partner function, the champions and power users, and partner closely with Technology, our build partner (Percepta), AI Governance, Risk, Compliance and Learning & Development. Own and evolve the AI Academy strategy and operating model

• Own the AI Academy strategy end-to-end as the upskilling and cultural-change pillar of the firm's AI transformation, keeping it tool-agnostic and aligned to the firm's ambition and horizons.
• Evolve the operating model that combines decentralised business ownership, local capability, embedded delivery (AI Enablement Partners) and central pathways, standards, advanced training and community.
• Move the programme from broad access to depth of use - role-based capability, repeatable workflows and stronger guardrails - and set the roadmap for Tier 2 and Tier 3 advanced pathways.

Lead the proficiency pathways and curriculum

• Own and continuously improve the three-tier proficiency journey and the learning that underpins it.
• Direct the core curriculum, including AI 101 (tool-agnostic foundations) and Copilot 101 (hands-on, department-specific delivery), and relaunch and run the advanced programme for power users.
• Build advanced, role-specific content that closes the training ceiling advanced users report - prompting craft, Copilot Studio and agent design, Excel and productivity depth, and hallucination and governance guardrails.

Lead the Air Traffic Controller and Fighter Pilot networks

• Lead and grow the ATC network (departmental AI leads) and the Fighter Pilot cohorts, running the train-the-trainer model that cascades capability into every team.
• Set standards, protected-time expectations and ways of working for the networks, and secure line-manager accountability for the agreed ATC time commitment.
• Coach, develop and recognise champions, and build the community and peer learning that keeps them engaged and effective.

Own the Academy platform, content and community

• Own the AI Academy homepage and its sections - Overview, Learning Pathways, Community & News, Department Guidance and Responsible AI - as the single, trusted home for AI enablement.
• Own the Use Case Library and Prompt Library, driving contribution, curation and reuse of proven patterns across departments, and consolidate AI training material into one channel and one brand.
• Run the communications cadence - including the AI newsletter and the innovation community feed - and improve its relevance, engagement and discoverability.

Measurement, scorecard and reporting

• Own the adoption dashboard and the Academy's contribution to the ExCo scorecard, and evolve metrics from licence assignment and active use toward proficiency and depth of engagement.
• Run structured user research (for example the quarterly interview corpus) to map demand, pain points and training needs, and prioritise the roadmap on the evidence.
• Report progress, risks and decisions into the firm's AI transformation governance, distinguishing clearly between prerequisites (access) and outcomes (value).

Responsible AI, governance and enterprise adoption

• Embed the firm's Responsible AI principles - Own the Output, Review Before Sharing, No Sensitive Data, Judgement First, Approved Tools Only, Usage Monitored - across all Academy content and pathways.
• Partner with AI Governance, Technology, Security, Risk and Compliance so that tools taught and patterns shared stay within the firm's data-privacy, security and responsible-AI posture.
• Position the Academy as the adoption layer for the firm's next horizon - enabling the safe, effective take-up of enterprise tools and agents the firm builds and buys, and leading the change management that goes with them.

Leadership and cadence

• Lead the central Academy team and specialist contributors (delivery, content and community), setting direction, standards and a high bar for quality.
• Chair the Academy governance forum and the monthly ATC catch-up, and represent the Academy in the firm's AI transformation leadership forums.
• Carry out other duties as assigned.

What to expect when you join our firm

• Hybrid working and reasonable accommodations
• Generous Holiday policies
• Excellent Health and Wellbeing benefits including corporate membership to Wellhub
• Paid volunteer time to step away from your desk and into the community
• Support to grow through professional development courses, tuition/qualification reimbursement and more
• Maternal/paternal leave benefits and family services
• Unique employee events and programs including a 14er challenge
• Complimentary beverages, snacks and all employee Happy Hours

Must have skills

• Proven leadership experience - building, leading and developing teams and/or distributed networks of champions across multiple business units, ideally in an enablement, capability or change context.
• Strong, practical understanding of AI and GenAI concepts, capabilities and limitations, with the ability to translate them for non-technical audiences and set a credible direction for the programme.
• Hands-on familiarity with the firm's core toolkit - Microsoft Copilot and the M365 ecosystem, Copilot Studio and adjacent tooling - and a genuine appetite to evaluate, learn and deploy new tools as they emerge.
• Demonstrated experience designing and running training, curriculum or capability-building programmes at scale, and the judgement to tell apart a session people endure from one they apply the next morning.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with credibility across business and senior audiences and the ability to lead through influence where contributors are embedded in departments.
• Practical change-management and adoption experience - you understand that access and training are only half the job, and that surfacing and removing adoption blockers is the other half.
• Strong measurement literacy - comfortable designing surveys, interpreting adoption data and building scorecards, and disciplined about the difference between adoption (a prerequisite) and value (the goal).
• Self-directed and comfortable operating with ambiguity - the Academy is being scaled and reshaped, and you will define how much of it runs, with sponsorship but without a detailed playbook.
• Strong documentation instincts - you produce reusable curriculum, pathways and playbooks that outlast your direct involvement and can be picked up by others.
• Experience working in a regulated environment (financial services, asset management or comparable) where governance, compliance and data sensitivity shape how solutions are designed and deployed.

Nice to have skills

• Direct experience in asset management or financial services - exposure to investment, distribution, operations or client-service workflows.
• Experience with AI governance, risk and responsible-AI practices, and familiarity with the emerging regulatory landscape (e.g., EU AI Act).
• Familiarity with Copilot Studio, the Power Platform, agentic tooling and the ability to understand how these tools fit in with our evolving internal AI platforms.
• Background in a community-of-practice, guild or cohort-based enablement model, or in internal communications and community building.
• Product-management sensibility - MVPs, iteration, user feedback and prioritisation - applied to curriculum and enablement rather than software features.
• Experience managing vendor or staff-augmentation partnerships that flex delivery capacity.

Supervisory responsibilities

• No

Potential for growth

• Mentoring
• Leadership development programs
• Regular training
• Career development services
• Continuing education courses

Compensation information The base salary range for this position is USD 170,000-210,000. This range is estimated for this role. Actual pay may be different. This position will be open through November 15, 2026. Colorado law requires an estimated closing date for job postings. Please don't be discouraged from applying if you see this date has passed.