AI Product Lead

Job Profile Description 

As an AI Product Lead in Actonomy, you’ll own the product roadmap across our AI product suite and be the senior product voice for the business. You’ll take end-to-end ownership: shaping where our products go, why, and in what order, and making sure the team delivers them. It’s a genuine product and delivery hybrid, so you’ll be as comfortable defining strategy and pricing as you are running an agile team’s day-to-day delivery. 

You’ll bring a blend of business and technical savvy, a big-picture vision, and the drive to make that vision real. You’ll become the subject matter expert for Actonomy’s products, work closely with engineers, architects, GTM and Microsoft as our key partner, and stay close enough to customers to turn their problems into products people want to buy. As a small, fast-growing team, we need someone who can lead from the front and give wider leadership the room to focus on scaling the business. 

You will be responsible for: 

• Owning the product roadmap – You’ll own the roadmap across Actonomy’s AI product suite: analysing market needs, deciding what we build and why, and sequencing delivery to maximise value. 

• Being the product SME – You’ll be the subject matter expert for our products – the go-to person for what they do, how they’re positioned and where they’re heading – internally and with customers and partners. 

• Supporting delivery – You’ll help run the day-to-day delivery of a small, growing agile team: prioritising the backlog, planning sprints, removing blockers and keeping delivery on track. 

• Turning market needs into requirements – You’ll capture and articulate requirements from customers, prospects, partners and internal subject matter experts, and translate them into clear release and acceptance criteria, including the minimum viable product for each feature. 

• Working with engineering – You’ll work closely with engineers and architects to advance the functional and non-functional aspects of the product, demonstrating a clear understanding of release acceptance criteria. 

• Measuring success – You’ll define and measure the success criteria for each delivered feature, and run beta and early-adopter programs with customers and development partners. 

• Pricing and go-to-market – You’ll help price feature add-ons and new modules, and support product marketing on go-to-market: positioning, key benefits and target customers. 

• Managing partners and evangelising – You’ll sustain relationships with technology partners – Microsoft chief among them – and act as the internal and external evangelist for the product suite. 

• Leading the team – You’ll manage, coach and develop a small number of team members (see People Management below). 

Minimum (Essential) Requirements 

• Proven experience owning a product roadmap, ideally as a product manager, product owner or product lead in an Agile software development environment. 

• Significant experience working on, analysing, building, pricing and launching software products, with relevant commercial experience. 

• Comfortable with delivery management for an agile team: backlog prioritisation, sprint planning and keeping delivery on track. 

• Experience of, or a strong interest in, AI products and the Microsoft AI ecosystem (e.g. Azure AI, Copilot and agents). 

• A proven track record of working closely with engineers and architects to advance the functional and non-functional aspects of a product. 

• Experience running beta and early-adopter programs with customers or development partners. 

• Excellent communication skills: a persuasive and effective communicator with strong negotiating skills, who can also listen, understand and build on others’ viewpoints. 

• An eye for detail, with the ability to interpret supplied information, understand its sources and challenge where necessary. 

• The ability to facilitate team meetings and group conversations. 

• A good understanding of technology, digital services and AI trends, with good commercial awareness. 

• Experience managing, coaching or developing people, or the readiness to take this on. 

Desirable 

• Experience delivering AI or machine-learning products, or building on the Microsoft AI stack (Azure OpenAI, Foundry, Copilot Studio, agents). 

• Familiarity with the Microsoft Commercial Marketplace and partner co-sell motions. 

• Experience working in a regulated or compliance-driven domain. 

• A background that bridges the technical and commercial sides of product. 

People Management 

Your role will include managing people, with your responsibilities to include: 

• Agreeing, setting and reviewing your and your team’s goals aligned to Kainos, Actonomy and your Capability. 

• Providing support so that your and your team’s goals can be achieved. 

• Reviewing and refining goals for relevance and to keep performance on track. 

• Reviewing performance against goals and providing feedback. 

• Conducting 1:1 monthly and/or project completion feedback meetings. 

• Requesting and providing regular feedback in Workday. 

• Completing End of Year reviews and agreeing the outcomes for the year. 

• Identifying training to support your and your team’s development. 

• Pursuing and supporting you and your team members’ career paths and progression. 

• Reviewing weekly workload forecasting (staff allocations and timesheet checks) and utilisation. 

• Actively being involved in recruitment and interviews. 

• Reviewing attrition and retention metrics.