Site Operations AI & Automation Manager

We are looking for a Site Operations AI & Automation Manager to join the Developments team within our eCommerce department and drive AI innovation forward! Based at NEXT Head Office in Leicestershire!

The Role

Our eCommerce Developments team are responsible for implementing, testing and building on the UX designs plus the requirements of our partnered brands and the overall content of the website.

As a Site Operations AI & Automation Engineer, you will lead a hands-on team designing, building and shipping production grade AI workflows using Python, LLMs and the Google Cloud stack to solve high value operational problems. Partnering with the site operations and across the wider eCommerce team, you will set technical direction, ensure platform health, drive root cause fixes for major incidents and issues to prevent recurrence and uphold high engineering standards for durable overall output.

What You’ll Take On

Technical Leadership & Delivery

• Lead the end to end design and delivery of production grade AI and automation solutions across site operations.
• Stay hands-on, building high complexity components while setting standards for code reviews, testing, CI/CD and monitoring.
• Make pragmatic stack decisions (Python, LLM providers, Vertex AI, BigQuery) and lead incident response for workflow failures.

AI & Automation Engineering

• Design robust LLM-based workflows, including prompt engineering, evaluation, RAG, embeddings and human in the loop patterns.
• Translate business pain points into well scoped technical solutions, pushing back on low value requests and measuring commercial impact.
• Drive an automation first culture backed by a solid understanding of eCommerce environments.

Engineering Depth & Technical Stack

• Proven track record of shipping scalable production AI systems, not just prototypes or scripts.
• Strong working knowledge of the Google Cloud ecosystem (Vertex AI, BigQuery, Cloud Run, Apps Script) to compose pipeline architectures.

What You’ll Bring

• Proven ability to design, implement and scale efficient automation scripts and workflows, primarily using Python, to reduce manual effort, enhance efficiency, and minimise errors. This includes process mapping, stakeholder collaboration, and experience integrating AI/ML services to augment human decision-making.
• Comfortable developing and maintaining frameworks, have the self start to create and manage change on key best practices.
• Comfortable with Python, SQL, and AI tools with automation to give insights and consult others.
• Must have hands on experience consuming and interpreting APIs and a working knowledge of web technologies (HTML, CSS, JS) for effective troubleshooting.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate technical outputs and automation impact (time saved, risk reduced) into clear, business focused insights for stakeholders at all levels.
• Must be a strong collaborator focused on driving results through automation and agentic workflows. Communicating to key stakeholders in a presentation format is something that comes natural to you for large audiences.
• A strong collaborator with an inquisitive mindset for emerging technologies and a passion for building AI aided system.
• A background in eCommerce is beneficial but not essential.
• Ability to champion and advocate for change that has a meaningful business and employee impact.
• Ability to manage and lead a team of site ops professionals.
• Architecting full end to end systems and being part of the full SDLC is in your skillset - this is essential for the role.