PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT - Remote

Client Advisory & Engagement Leadership

• Digital Banking & BFSI Strategy: Lead engagements that define clients' digital transformation north star: assessing current-state capability maturity across products, channels, data, and technology; identifying strategic gaps; and designing prioritized roadmaps aligned to revenue growth, cost efficiency, regulatory requirements, and customer experience imperatives.

• Operating Model Redesign: Guide clients through fundamental operating model transformation decisions from core banking modernization and platform architecture to workforce redesign, AI-augmented operating models, and the balance between build, buy, and partner strategies in financial services.

• Vendor & Platform Selection: Lead structured evaluation processes for BFSI technology platforms (core banking, digital banking, payments, insurance platforms, data and AI tools); develop evaluation frameworks that incorporate regulatory suitability, integration complexity, vendor stability, and total cost of ownership over multi-year horizons.

• Engagement Ownership: Own the full engagement plan end-to-end: scope, milestones, team structure, risk management, client communication, and delivery quality. Serve as the primary client point of contact and trusted advisor to C-suite and senior leadership throughout.

• Executive Stakeholder Management: Build and sustain relationships with CEOs, CFOs, CROs, CIOs, CDOs, Chief Digital Officers, and business line heads across banking, insurance, and capital markets navigating the complex governance structures and political dynamics characteristic of large financial institutions.

AI Strategy & Financial Intelligence

• AI Roadmap for BFSI: Advise clients on identifying, prioritizing, and governing AI use cases across the financial services value chain: credit risk modeling, fraud and AML detection, customer service automation, GenAI for financial document processing, AI-powered financial advice, and agentic AI for operational workflows.

• Generative AI in Financial Services: Lead advisory engagements on GenAI adoption AI-powered financial advice and guidance, intelligent document processing for regulatory filings and loan origination, LLM-powered compliance monitoring, and GenAI-assisted financial analysis with full command of the model risk governance and explainability requirements that financial regulators impose.

• Agentic AI in Finance Operations: Identify and guide the adoption of agentic AI capabilities in financial services: autonomous transaction monitoring, AI-orchestrated compliance workflows, intelligent process automation in trade operations, and AI-driven customer servicing balancing innovation with operational resilience and regulatory oversight requirements.

• Model Risk & Explainable AI: Develop and advise on AI governance frameworks aligned to SR 11-7 (model risk management) and emerging regulator expectations for AI explainability, fairness, and auditability ensuring clients can deploy AI at scale without creating unacceptable model risk exposure.

• Data & Analytics Strategy: Design financial data strategies that enable hyper-personalization, risk analytics, fraud prevention, and regulatory reporting connecting customer data, transaction data, market data, and third-party data sources through modern cloud-native data architectures.

Digital Banking & Customer Experience

• Omnichannel Banking Experience: Design omnichannel customer and member experience strategies connecting mobile banking, digital onboarding, branch transformation, contact center AI, and financial wellness tools into a cohesive, consumer-grade experience that drives engagement, product adoption, and lifetime value.

• Payments Modernization: Advise on payments strategy and transformation: real-time payments adoption (RTP, FedNow), ISO 20022 migration planning, embedded payments architecture, cross-border payments modernization, and payments-as-a-platform business model design.

• Open Banking & Embedded Finance: Guide clients through open banking strategy PSD2, CDR, and emerging U.S. open banking frameworks API marketplace design, BaaS platform strategy, and embedded finance partnership models that extend the institution's reach beyond traditional channels.

• Core Modernization Strategy: Advise on core banking modernization pathways: legacy decommissioning strategy, cloud-native core selection (Thought Machine, Mambu, Temenos), strangler-fig migration approaches, and the organizational change management required to execute multi-year core transformation programs.

Regulatory, Risk & Compliance Strategy

• Regulatory Strategy Integration: Ensure all engagement strategies are designed with regulatory compliance embedded DORA, BCBS 239, Consumer Duty, AML/BSA, GDPR/CCPA for financial data, and jurisdiction-specific requirements not treated as constraints to work around but as strategic design parameters.

• RegTech & Compliance Transformation: Lead engagements on compliance modernization: AML/KYC digital transformation, sanctions screening modernization, regulatory reporting automation, and the application of AI and NLP to reduce the cost and latency of compliance operations.

• Operational Resilience: Advise on digital operational resilience strategy: DORA compliance, third-party risk management in cloud environments, incident response and recovery planning, and cyber risk strategy in the context of increasing digital dependency.

Practice Development & Thought Leadership

• BFSI Practice IP: Build and maintain the practice's Financial Services intellectual capital: digital maturity frameworks for banking and insurance, AI governance toolkits for BFSI, core modernization decision frameworks, open banking strategy playbooks, and payments modernization road maps.

• Thought Leadership: Author POVs and market perspectives on BFSI transformation GenAI in financial services, agentic AI in banking operations, open banking strategy, core modernization imperatives, embedded finance models, and AI model risk governance for client and market-facing publication.

• Go-to-Market & Partnerships: Partner with business development to pursue BFSI-domain opportunities; contribute to proposals and executive-level client pitches; cultivate relationships with financial services technology partners (Salesforce FSC, Microsoft, Temenos, Thought Machine, FIS, Fiserv, Mambu) and industry forums.

• Talent Development: Coach and mentor consultants on BFSI domain knowledge, regulatory context, AI governance requirements, and the nuances of navigating large, complex financial institutions as a consulting partner.

Qualifications

Experience

• 10+ years of professional experience in consulting, financial services strategy, banking technology, or BFSI digital transformation roles.

• Minimum 5 years in senior advisory or leadership roles directly within the BFSI domain retail banking, commercial banking, insurance, capital markets, payments, wealth management, or fintech.

• Demonstrated track record leading complex BFSI transformation engagements: digital banking strategy, AI roadmap development, core modernization strategy, payments transformation, or regulatory technology programs.

• Deep familiarity with at least two BFSI sub-verticals (e.g., consumer banking, insurance, payments, capital markets, wealth management, fintech); breadth across the BFSI landscape is a strong differentiator.

• Experience operating in or alongside financial services leadership understands P&L drivers, regulatory dynamics, risk management culture, and the organizational complexity of large financial institutions.

• Familiarity with major BFSI technology platforms: Salesforce Financial Services Cloud, core banking platforms, payments infrastructure, or comparable systems.

AI & Technology Expertise

• Working knowledge of AI applications across the BFSI value chain: credit risk AI, fraud/AML AI, GenAI for financial document processing, AI-powered customer service, and agentic AI for financial operations.

• Understanding of model risk governance requirements for AI in financial services SR 11-7 framework, explainability requirements, fairness and bias considerations, and regulatory examination exposure for AI models.

• Hands-on proficiency with generative AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, and others) for consulting delivery research, synthesis, framework development, and business case drafting.

• Understanding of BFSI data architecture: core banking data models, transaction data structures, customer data platforms for financial services, open banking APIs, and cloud data architecture in regulated environments.

• Broad digital banking technology literacy: digital banking platforms, payments infrastructure, insurance core systems, wealth management platforms, and the fintech ecosystem.

• Familiarity with cloud strategy in financial services: regulated cloud adoption, multi-cloud architecture, cloud operational resilience, and the regulatory considerations specific to financial services cloud deployments.

Consulting & Leadership Skills

• Exceptional structured thinking and executive communication able to navigate complexity and present confidently to mixed financial, risk, technology, and board-level audiences.

• Strong financial acumen: understands banking P&L drivers, insurance combined ratios, asset management fee economics, and the financial logic behind digital transformation investment decisions.

• Proven ability to build trust and influence in complex, heavily governed financial institutions where risk, compliance, legal, technology, and business functions must all be aligned before decisions move.

• Commercially astute can connect engagement work to revenue uplift, cost reduction, and regulatory risk mitigation in terms that resonate with financial services leadership.

• Motivated continuous learner actively tracks financial services regulation, AI in finance, fintech disruption, and payments ecosystem evolution across U.S. and global markets.

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree (MBA, MSF, or equivalent) from a leading institution highly preferred.

• Relevant certifications valued: Salesforce Financial Services Cloud, CFA or CPA (advantageous for credibility), CAMS (AML), cloud certifications, or AI governance certifications.

• Willingness and ability to travel 50%+ to client locations based on engagement requirements.