Head of Product and AI Innovation

About H&L H&L POS (Hospitality & Leisure) is a leading provider of point-of-sale and integrated business management solutions purpose-built for the hospitality and food & beverage sectors. With more than 30 years of industry experience, H&L delivers flexible POS, back-of-house, inventory, workforce management and reporting systems that help hotels, pubs, restaurants, bars, clubs, cafés, liquor retailers and event venues operate efficiently and profitably. Our platform connects front-of-house sales with stock control and data management, supports online ordering, table service, reservations and advanced reporting, and integrates with more than 150 hospitality technology partners. H&L’s customer-centric approach and deep sector expertise enable operators to focus on delivering exceptional guest experiences while maintaining visibility, control and sustainable growth across their businesses. The Opportunity H&L is entering its next phase of growth. As a well-established hospitality technology provider with a strong customer base and a respected product suite, we have a significant opportunity to modernize how we operate and compete, and AI is at the center of that ambition. We are seeking a senior, hands-on product and AI leader to own both the evolution of our product platform and the practical integration of AI across the business. This is not a research or advisory role. It is a dual mandate: build and ship products that customers value and pay for, and deploy AI in ways that make H&L measurably faster, leaner, and more competitive. The Head of Product & AI Innovation Lead will work directly with the Managing Director and the leadership team to drive product strategy, validate and launch AI-powered features, redesign internal workflows, and deliver tangible business outcomes. Success in this role is measured by impact: product adoption, customer retention, margin improvement, and faster execution across the organization. Key Responsibilities 1. Product Strategy & Roadmap Own the end-to-end product strategy and roadmap, aligned with company objectives Drive product discovery and validation through structured customer research, rapid prototyping, and market testing Oversee the full product lifecycle from ideation through commercialization and scaling, with a clear prioritization framework Set strategic objectives and measurable success metrics for all product initiatives Balance the evolution of the core platform with client-specific custom development Establish capacity visibility across the product and engineering pipeline so that client commitments are made with confidence and delivery delays become the exception 2. AI-Powered Product Development Build working product solutions using AI as the primary execution medium, moving from problem framing to working solution without reliance on legacy SDLC rituals Rapidly prototype, iterate, and refine solutions to validate ideas early Conduct structured discoveries with customers to identify the highest-value opportunities; build a clear business case quantifying revenue uplift, cost savings, or retention impact before committing to development Leverage AI across the full development loop (requirements analysis, design exploration, implementation, and testing) to move faster and with greater precision Identify and develop new revenue streams driven by AI capabilities, evaluated on impact, feasibility, and learning velocity 3. Customer Engagement & Commercial Validation Engage directly with hospitality customers to understand operational challenges and validate product assumptions Measure and report on adoption, satisfaction, and commercial impact of new features Support pricing and packaging strategies for product offerings in partnership with Sales and the Managing Director 4. AI Innovation Lead Across the Organization Lead the cultural shift toward AI-first thinking across the organization: this is about fundamentally changing how people work, make decisions, and solve problems Establish clear expectations for AI adoption and embedding AI into day-to-day operating processes across every function and create practical enablement programs that meet people where they are Partner with team leaders across the business to set function-specific AI adoption goals, track progress, and create accountability 5. Internal AI Transformation Audit business functions for high-value automation opportunities and prioritize by impact, feasibility, and learning velocity Build and deploy working AI agents and automated workflows that eliminate repetitive manual work. Not plans or recommendations, but live solutions. Build AI capability across teams through hands-on enablement Define clear success metrics for every internal AI initiative across the business; report measurable outcomes 6. Cross-Functional AI Leadership & Organizational Alignment Act as the bridge between executive direction and ground-level product and engineering execution Collaborate closely with all functions to mai