AI Innovation Lead

H&L is seeking an AI lInnovation Lead to join our growing team in Australia!

About the Organisation

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 and performance improvement. As a well-established hospitality technology provider with more than 30 years in market, we have a strong customer base, a respected product suite, and significant opportunity to modernise how we operate and compete.

We are seeking a senior, hands-on AI leader to drive the practical integration of AI across the business — not as a concept, but as a measurable driver of revenue growth, operational efficiency and customer retention.

This is not a research or advisory role. It is a transformation mandate.

The AI Innovation Lead will work directly with the Managing Director and leadership team to redesign workflows, improve commercial performance, embed AI into our product and internal operations, and deliver tangible business outcomes.

Success in this role will be measured by impact — improved margins, reduced churn, stronger customer engagement and faster execution across the organisation.

Key Responsibilities

1. Enterprise-Wide AI Transformation

• Redesign business workflows across departments using AI and automation
• Identify operational bottlenecks and implement practical AI-enabled improvements
• Embed AI into day-to-day operating processes, including forecasting, churn detection, onboarding, support triage and payments optimisation
• Establish scalable AI operating standards, controls and governance frameworks
• Partner with the Managing Director and senior leadership team to define and execute the AI transformation roadmap

2. AI-Enabled Product & Revenue Innovation

• Design and build AI-powered product enhancements that create competitive differentiation
• Identify and validate new revenue opportunities driven by AI capabilities
• Develop prototypes and pilots to test commercial viability before broader investment
• Support pricing and packaging strategies for AI-enabled offerings
• Ensure AI initiatives align with customer value and market demand

3. Customer Engagement & Validation

• Engage directly with hospitality customers to understand operational challenges
• Use working demonstrations and pilots to validate assumptions
• Measure adoption, satisfaction and commercial impact
• Communicate clearly and responsibly about AI capabilities, limitations and safeguards
• Build trust through transparency and practical outcomes

4. Commercial & Outcome Ownership

• Define clear success metrics tied to business performance, including:
• Revenue growth
• Retention improvement
• Margin expansion
• NPS improvement
• Deal velocity
• Operational efficiency
• Prioritise initiatives based on measurable commercial impact
• Test and validate initiatives pragmatically, scaling those that demonstrate value
• Discontinue initiatives that do not deliver measurable outcomes

5. Cross-Functional Leadership

• Work closely with Engineering, Product, Sales and Operations leaders
• Align teams around clearly defined business outcomes
• Support capability uplift across the organisation in AI tools and thinking
• Influence through credibility, evidence and results rather than hierarchy
• Represent H&L externally in discussions relating to AI capability and innovation

What This Role Is Not

• Not a backlog administrator or traditional product manager
• Not a research-only AI strategist
• Not limited to experimentation disconnected from commercial impact
• Not confined to product development alone

This is a business transformation role with measurable accountability.

Required Skills & Experience

Technical & AI Capability

• Demonstrated ability to design and build working AI-enabled solutions
• Strong understanding of probabilistic AI systems, risk management and governance
• Experience rapidly prototyping and iterating in live environments
• Ability to think across systems and integrate multiple workflows

Business & Commercial Acumen

• Experience driving operational or digital transformation initiatives
• Strong understanding of commercial drivers in a SaaS or technology business
• Ability to identify revenue opportunities and efficiency improvements
• Comfort making decisions in environments with ambiguity

Customer & Communication Strength

• Experience engaging directly with customers or end users
• Ability to explain AI systems clearly and responsibly
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Practical, outcomes-focused leadership style

Success Profile

The successful candidate will be:

• Commercially pragmatic and outcome-driven
• Technically fluent yet business-focused
• Comfortable working across functional boundaries
• Able to influence senior stakeholders
• Motivated by delivering measurable improvement rather than theoretical innovation

Why Join H&L

This is an opportunity to lead a meaningful transformation within a well-established hospitality technology business. The role offers executive visibility, real organisational impact, and the opportunity to shape how AI is embedded across an entire operating model.