Head of AI Jobs in the UK (No ghost jobs, direct from employers)

About Planet

Planet is a global provider of integrated technology and payments solutions for retail and hospitality customers.

We create great experiences for the millions of people who use our payments, software, and tax-free solutions every minute of every day.

Planet empowers its customers to deliver great customer experiences by combining payments and software in ways that drive greater loyalty, increase revenue and save time.

Founded over 35 years ago and with our headquarters in London, today we have more than 2,500 employees located across six continents serving our customers in more than 120 markets.

Role overview:

The Head of AI - Divisional is responsible for defining and delivering the AI strategy for an assigned business division, driving measurable improvements in automation, productivity, customer experience, revenue generation, and operational efficiency.

Operating as part of the AI Centre of Excellence (AI CoE), the role acts as the senior AI leader for their division, translating business priorities into scalable AI solutions that deliver tangible value whilst ensuring appropriate governance, risk management, and responsible AI practices.

The Head of AI - Divisional will be provisionally aligned to a business domain and will work closely with divisional leadership teams to identify opportunities, prioritise investments, accelerate adoption, and realise measurable outcomes from AI initiatives.

What you will do

• Strategy & value: Own the divisional AI roadmap. Find, prioritise and build the business case for AI opportunities, and track the benefits against agreed KPIs.
• Delivery: Lead AI initiatives from idea to production and wider adoption, using enterprise standards and platforms. Encourage fast experimentation and keep improving deployed solutions.
• Stakeholders: Be the division's main AI contact. Influence senior leaders and align the business, technology, legal and compliance teams. Bring thought leadership on new AI trends.
• Governance & risk: Make sure AI is compliant and responsible, covering data privacy, security, model governance, explainability and human oversight.
• Adoption & leadership: Drive AI adoption and literacy, and build a network of AI champions. Lead cross-functional teams, both direct and matrixed. Work with the AI CoE to reuse and scale proven solutions ("build once, scale many").

Who you are

• Significant experience leading AI, data, digital or transformation programmes, with a proven record of measurable business outcomes.
• Strong commercial awareness, executive communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and large-scale change in complex matrix organisations.
• Solid understanding of Generative AI, Machine Learning, Process Automation, AI Operating Models and Responsible AI.
• A strategic thinker with a bias for action, comfortable with ambiguity, curious and committed to ethical AI.

Nice to have: experience leading AI transformation in large enterprises, building and scaling AI products, and knowledge of AI governance and regulatory frameworks. Experience across functions such as Commercial, Operations, Finance, Technology, Customer Experience, HR or Legal is also a plus.

What success looks like: A strong pipeline of high-value AI opportunities, measurable commercial and operational results, wide adoption across the division, less manual effort, and AI solutions delivered safely and reused across other business areas.

Why Planet:

Planet is an equal opportunity employer where diversity is valued, and all employment is decided based on qualifications, merit, and business need.

Come and grow your career in the most exciting, fast paced technology market, with a business that delivers feel-good connected commerce.

We would love to hear from you - Apply now.

At Planet, we embrace a hybrid work model, with three days a week in the office.

Reasonable accommodations may be made in order to allow for an individual to perform the essential functions of this role successfully.