Data & AI Internal Product Team – Associate Director

Job Description

We are hiring an Associate Director to lead the strategy, oversight and delivery of Grant Thornton’s Internal AI Product Team within Technology Consulting.

The role will shape a clear internal AI product vision, translate senior management priorities into a pragmatic product roadmap, and ensure delivery of internal AI-enabled products, accelerators and workflow tools aligned to Grant Thornton’s Data & AI offering.

This is a senior strategic leadership role.

You will bring a proven track record of delivering data, AI, analytics, technology or product initiatives that are aligned to senior management’s vision, commercially relevant, well governed and adopted by end users.

You will provide oversight across the product portfolio, prioritise investment and delivery activity, lead multi‑disciplinary teams, manage senior stakeholders, and ensure products move from concept and prototype into sustainable internal capability.

The role is hybrid, with in-person collaboration required where needed, typically 2 days per week in the Dublin or Belfast office, with flexibility around client and team needs.

You do not need to meet every requirement to apply.

Roles and Responsibilities

As Associate Director, you will lead the strategy, governance and delivery oversight for Grant Thornton’s Internal AI Product Team.

You will ensure the team builds the right products, in the right order, with clear alignment to senior management’s vision and measurable benefit for Consulting.

Responsibilities may include

• Define and own the internal AI product strategy, ensuring alignment with senior management priorities, Consulting objectives and Data & AI market direction.
• Translate senior leadership vision into a prioritised product roadmap, clear investment priorities, delivery milestones and measurable product success criteria.
• Provide oversight across the full product portfolio, including discovery, prioritisation, MVP definition, release planning, adoption and continuous improvement.
• Lead multi‑disciplinary teams across product analysis, AI engineering, data science, data engineering, governance and adoption activity.
• Set delivery standards for product governance, documentation, testing, quality assurance, release controls and user adoption.
• Engage Partners, Directors and senior internal stakeholders to understand priorities, shape product demand and secure adoption across the business.
• Provide strategic challenge and oversight on build‑versus‑buy decisions, product scope, technical feasibility, governance requirements and long‑term maintainability.
• Ensure products are designed responsibly, with appropriate consideration of privacy, information security, explainability, human oversight, model limitations and EU/IE requirements.
• Identify opportunities to turn internal products into reusable IP, client delivery accelerators, proposal differentiators and market‑facing assets.
• Coach and develop Assistant Managers, Senior Consultants and technical specialists within the internal product team.
• Report progress, risks, decisions and product performance clearly to senior management and relevant governance forums.
• Shape Gen AI, RAG, document intelligence, workflow automation and analytics product opportunities.
• Support propositions and client‑facing materials where internal product capability strengthens Grant Thornton’s market position.

Skills & Experience

We are looking for an experienced Data & AI product leader with strong strategic judgement, senior stakeholder credibility, delivery oversight and technical awareness.

Candidates should be able to translate senior management vision into a practical product roadmap and lead delivery teams to produce usable, governed and scalable internal AI products.

• Core Experience and Leadership Skills
• 8+ years in data, analytics, AI, product management, technology consulting, software delivery, automation, governance or related disciplines.
• Proven track record of delivering products, platforms, accelerators or technology‑enabled capabilities aligned to senior management priorities.
• Strong strategic planning and portfolio oversight capability, including roadmap definition, prioritisation, governance and benefits tracking.
• Experience leading multi‑disciplinary teams and providing delivery oversight across product, technical and business workstreams.
• Strong senior stakeholder management, including the ability to influence priorities and translate strategic direction into delivery plans.
• Ability to challenge product scope, technical feasibility, product risk, governance requirements and adoption plans constructively.
• Experience managing delivery risks, dependencies, budgets, workplans, release planning and product performance reporting.
• Commercial awareness and ability to identify opportunities for reusable IP, internal accelerators, proposal differentiation and market‑facing propositions.
• Experience coaching and developing junior team members.
• Experience in consulting, professional services, internal product delivery or regulated, data‑intensive environments is preferred.

Education and Certifications

• Degree or equivalent experience in a relevant discipline such as Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Business Analytics, Product Management or a related field.
• A minimum of 8 years’ professional experience in data, analytics, AI, product management, technology consulting, software delivery, automation, data governance or a related field.
• Proficiency in at least one relevant technology, platform or programming language such as SQL, Python, Power BI, Power Platform (Power Automate and Power Apps), Azure, Microsoft Fabric, Azure Open AI, Databricks, Snowflake or equivalent tools.
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