Product Manager (AI) in Leicester

Founded in 1978 as Midland Cash Registers, MCR Systems has nearly 50 years of experience in electronic point of sale. We’ve evolved from traditional tills to today’s AI-ready, cloud-based technology. We’ve grown far beyond simple EPOS, delivering complete Enterprise Management solutions but our focus has always been the same – giving you systems that are flexible, reliable and easy to use.

We were the first UK company to bring SaaS to the EPOS market. Our Symphony suite still powers everything we do. It brings sales, payments, stock, loyalty and reporting into one seamless system. Because it’s modular, it grows with your business and works with the tools already in use.

Over the years, we’ve supported hospitality, retail, sport, and education across the UK and the world. From single coffee shops to multi-site venues, we design technology to work for our customers.

The Position

Reporting to the Head of AI Product, you will be responsible for owning and delivering AI-enabled capabilities within the Symphony Suite. This role is focused on translating defined product direction and real operational problems into well-shaped, actionable backlog items—ensuring AI features deliver measurable value, are usable in live environments, and align with customer and commercial outcomes.

You will work day-to-day with Development, Test and Product Management teams to refine requirements, prioritise work, and support delivery across the full sprint lifecycle. From discovery support and experimentation through to production release and iteration, you will ensure AI-driven features are clearly understood, technically feasible, and delivered to a high standard.

The role requires strong judgement in balancing innovation with practicality, particularly where AI introduces uncertainty, constraints, or risk. You will contribute to establishing good product practices around AI, including clarity of intent, success measures, and responsible use, while escalating ambiguity or trade-offs appropriately.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and manage the product backlog for assigned AI-enabled capabilities within the Symphony Suite.
• Translate product strategy, operational problems, and user needs into clear, prioritised user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Work closely with Development and Test teams to refine requirements, support sprint planning, and enable effective delivery.
• Support discovery, experimentation, and validation of AI-driven features, ensuring hypotheses, constraints, and success measures are clearly defined.
• Balance innovation with practicality, considering data availability, technical constraints, and live customer environments.
• Collaborate with the Head of AI Product and wider Product team to align delivery with strategic objectives and priorities.
• Engage with internal stakeholders to clarify requirements, manage expectations, and communicate progress and outcomes.
• Monitor and assess feature performance post-release, using feedback and metrics to inform iteration and prioritisation.
• Contribute to responsible and trustworthy use of AI by highlighting risks, assumptions, and operational impacts.
• Maintain clear documentation and artefacts to support transparency, continuity, and team alignment.

Experience, Knowledge & Skills

Essential

• 3+ years’ experience as a Product Owner or Product Manager, delivering software products in an Agile environment.
• Hands-on experience owning product backlogs, writing clear user stories, and working closely with development and test teams.
• Experience contributing to data-driven or AI-adjacent product initiatives, with a solid grasp of how AI features are shaped, delivered, and iterated.
• Strong ability to translate business problems and user needs into clear, prioritised requirements.
• Outcome-focused mindset, with experience defining acceptance criteria and measuring feature impact post-release.
• Confidence working in evolving or partially defined problem spaces, taking direction but also showing initiative.
• Strong communication skills, able to work effectively with engineers, testers, and non-technical stakeholders.
• Customer-focused approach, balancing user value with technical and operational constraints.
• Practical experience with Agile / Scrum ceremonies and ways of working.

Desirable

• Direct experience owning AI-enabled features or workflows in production.
• Familiarity with AI concepts such as model confidence, accuracy, training data, or feedback loops (product-level, not technical depth).
• Awareness of responsible AI considerations, including bias, transparency, and trust.
• Experience working in operationally complex domains such as hospitality, retail, leisure, or SaaS.
• Experience working with analytics, experimentation, or feature metrics to inform prioritisation.

Personal Characteristics

• Pragmatic and delivery-focused, with a bias toward action over theory.
• Comfortable working with uncertainty and evolving requirements, without losing momentum.
• Curious and open-minded about AI capabilities, limitations, and trade-offs.
• Clear communicator who can bridge the gap between technical and non-technical perspectives.
• Structured thinker, able to break complex problems into manageable, prioritised work.
• Collaborative by default, working effectively with engineers, testers, and fellow product colleagues.
• Confident enough to challenge assumptions, but grounded enough to take direction.
• Detail-aware without losing sight of the bigger outcome.
• Resilient and adaptable in a fast-moving, change-oriented environment.