Head of AI & Automation

Head of AI & Automation is sought by a high growth e-commerce brand based near Leeds.

This rapidly scaling, multi-brand e-commerce group has achieved significant year-on-year growth and has ambitious plans to continue expanding across new markets.

As such the business has laid solid automation & AI foundations after an extensive discovery and value creation program of work but are now looking for a dedicated AI & Automation leader to take complete ownership of the roadmap and accelerate their journey.

This is not a traditional IT leadership role. This is a hands-on AI and automation position where you will work directly with the board to identify opportunities, build solutions and embed technology-driven ways of working across the entire organisation.

The Role

As Head of AI & Automation you will own the AI roadmap, leading initiatives across automation, systems integration, data, workflow optimisation and emerging technology adoption.

You will

• Define and deliver the company-wide AI and automation strategy, prioritising initiatives based on commercial value and ROI.
• Design, build and implement practical AI solutions using LLMs such as OpenAI, Claude/Anthropic and other emerging technologies.
• Identify opportunities to automate manual processes across sales, customer service, operations, finance and reporting.
• Build connected workflows between SaaS platforms using APIs and automation tooling.
• Improve business intelligence, reporting and data accessibility across the organisation.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and make recommendations around tooling, vendors and internal capability.
• Champion AI adoption across the business, helping teams understand how technology can improve their day-to-day roles.

The Person

We are looking for a commercially minded AI and automation specialist who loves solving business problems through technology.

You will ideally have

• Proven experience delivering AI, automation or digital transformation initiatives that have created measurable business impact.
• Hands-on experience building solutions using LLMs, APIs and automation platforms.
• Experience working with tools such as OpenAI, Anthropic/Claude, Zapier, Make or similar.
• Strong understanding of SaaS platforms, integrations and data flows.
• Experience within e-commerce, retail, marketplace or another fast-growth digital environment.
• Ability to translate business challenges into practical technology solutions.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence at senior leadership level.
• A builder mentality - someone who enjoys experimenting, shipping solutions and delivering outcomes.
• Exposure to platforms such as Magento, Shopify, GA4, CRM, ERP, customer service platforms or marketplace technology would be advantageous.

Why join?

This is a rare opportunity to join an organisation where AI is not just a future concept - it is already becoming central to how the business operates. You will have: - Direct access to the board. - Full ownership of the AI and automation roadmap. - Freedom to experiment, build and deploy new solutions quickly. - The opportunity to influence how a growing organisation uses emerging technology to scale.

This role offers a six figure package, hybrid/ flexible working with equity.

Head of AI & Automation Leeds