Head of Artificial Intelligence

My client is an established UK FMCG business with a portfolio of well-known brands, operating across manufacturing, supply chain, commercial, and retail partnerships.

They are at a genuine inflection point in how data and AI are used, moving beyond analytics and reporting towards AI-driven decision making embedded into day-to-day operations.

This role has been created to take ownership of that shift.

As Head of AI, you will be responsible for building and embedding AI capability across a complex, multi-brand FMCG environment.

This is not a greenfield startup role and not a centralised “innovation” function.

It is about modernising how a scaled consumer goods organisation makes decisions, balancing pragmatism, governance, and commercial impact.

You will work closely with technology, data, supply chain, finance, and commercial leaders to ensure AI is deployed where it genuinely moves the needle.

• Owning the AI roadmap across forecasting, demand planning, inventory, pricing, promotions, and operational optimisation
• Embedding AI into live business processes rather than running parallel analytics streams
• Partnering with data engineering and platform teams to ensure models are production-ready, trusted, and scalable
• Helping retire low-value reports and dashboards in favour of decision-centric systems
• Establishing clear governance around model usage, risk, explainability, and human oversight
• Translating technical capability into outcomes senior leaders can act on and measure
• Acting as a senior voice on how AI should be used responsibly across a consumer brand portfolio

• Proven experience leading applied AI or advanced analytics in production within FMCG, retail, consumer goods, or supply-chain-led environments
• Strong understanding of how AI interacts with planning cycles, commercial decision making, and operational reality
• Comfortable operating in a matrixed, multi-brand organisation
• Able to work at both senior leadership level and deep with technical teams
• A pragmatic leader who understands where AI should automate, where it should advise, and where humans must remain accountable

• Established brands with real scale and data
• A mandate to embed AI into core operations, not run pilots
• Senior stakeholder access and backing
• The chance to modernise a business with heritage rather than build something disposable

UK-based role with hybrid working, ideally Northwest / Manchester but might be open to candidates from major FMCG, retail, and consumer goods hubs.