Lead Product Owner, AI & Automation
This is a Permanent, vacancy that will close in {x} days at {xx:xx} BST.
The Vacancy
Lead Product Owner – Staffology Payroll (Automation & AI)
About the Role:
We’re looking for a Lead Product Owner to drive and shape the Staffology Payroll solution, with a focus on Automation and AI. You will play a critical role in evolving our Autopilot functionality and introducing new AI-driven features to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and compliance in payroll processes.
This is a fantastic opportunity to join a growing, customer-centric business, work on cutting-edge payroll technology, and contribute to the broader Staffology Payroll & Bureau solutions while influencing adoption across customers and colleagues.
Key Responsibilities:
- Translate high-level product vision into detailed requirements, engaging stakeholders across the business.
- Enhance the platform to drive efficiency, accuracy, and compliance via automated and AI-enabled processes.
- Formulate and maintain a clear backlog with prioritised features sequenced for efficient delivery.
- Ensure Bugs, Stories, Features, and EPICs are accurately documented in Azure DevOps (ADO) for rapid sprint execution.
- Co-create acceptance criteria with engineering and QA teams to ensure development meets business needs.
- Partner with Content Designers to create guidance that drives awareness and adoption of new features.
- Drive adoption of Staffology Payroll and Staffology Bureau to maximise retention, NPS, and operational efficiency.
- Act as an external advocate for payroll software within IRIS and in the marketplace via marketing and social media.
- Collaborate closely with Product and Operational Directors to shape and deliver the total Managed Services offering.
- Engage with customers and colleagues to understand short-term needs and long-term aspirations, informing product, service, and technology roadmaps.
- Monitor the market and competitors, recommending enhancements to give payroll solutions a competitive edge.
- Manage relationships with internal stakeholders across sales, marketing, support, legal, compliance, professional services, and engineering.
- Maintain a regular pulse on customer feedback via shadowing sales calls, user groups, and insight surveys.
- Support sales enablement efforts and participate in high-value commercial presentations.
- Assist Product Managers in maintaining contractual and commercial documentation for managed services offerings.
- Communicate new product or service features to prospects and customers prior to release.
What We’re Looking For:
- 5–10 years’ experience as a Product Owner or Product Manager delivering engaging online software products or 5+ years’ experience in payroll software support, payroll service delivery, or payroll operations.
- Strong background in product ownership, delivery, or support within payroll, with the ability to work within a wider product team to ensure compliance and alignment with business strategy.
- Deep understanding of UK payroll and HR compliance, working conditions, and regulatory obligations.
- Demonstrable experience or strong interest in process automation and efficiency improvements (workflow automation, AI/ML, integrations, etc.).
- Ability to identify automation opportunities through analysis of customer pain points, operational bottlenecks, and repetitive processes.
- Understanding of AI/ML applications in payroll, HR, finance, or regulated industries (e.g., anomaly detection, predictive analytics, intelligent document processing, compliance checking).
- Excellent stakeholder management skills and experience working across operations, commercial, marketing, product, professional services, and board-level teams.
- Strong analytical skills and the ability to assess market trends and inform product strategy.
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with a commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction.
Why Join Us:
- Be part of a growing, innovative, and customer-focused business investing in its products and people.
- Opportunity to shape payroll solutions with AI and automation at the forefront.
- Collaborate with a talented, supportive, and ambitious team delivering world-class solutions.
About IRIS
As one of the UK’s largest privately held software companies, IRIS Software Group exists to simplify the lives of businesses, schools and organisations.
IRIS provides software solutions and services that substantially enhance operational compliance, efficiency and accuracy, empowering the users of our technology to look forward with certainty and confidence.
Over 4 million parents use our software to connect with their child’s school, 18% of UK employees are paid via an IRIS payroll solution, 50,000 SMEs use IRIS cloud bookkeeping and 21,000 firms rely on us for legislative compliance.
Our operational software is the invisible but essential beating heart of our customers’ businesses, supporting them in a range of objectives, from maintaining legislative compliance to boosting engagement with stakeholders and enhancing productivity.
It’s vital these mission-critical functions work first time, every time.
That’s why IRIS helps businesses run the tough stuff, stay compliant and get operational tasks done right first time, every time – so they can focus on productivity and growth.
IRIS is a company built on hiring the best people; our people are our greatest assets.
They enable us to be the innovative, market-leading, and high-performing company that we are today.
We’re delighted to be certified as a Great Place to Work and one of the UK’s Best Workplaces for Women.
These accolades confirm that our employees have a consistently positive experience at IRIS, with the certifications considering employee wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, trust in management, effective communication and recognition/reward.
IRIS is committed to engaging, rewarding and empowering our employees, and this is central to what we do.
This is why we work to create an environment where employees feel like they are part of a team.
Why work for IRIS?
The Benefits
Developing your career
We believe in creating a culture of engagement and reward to develop your potential and offer long-term career success. We do this by:
Supporting our managers to be great leaders, providing inspirational management resources and offering dedicated management development training.
Rewarding individual excellence through dedicated initiatives and Employee Awards for demonstrating our values.
Offering regular training and development programmes tailored to each employee’s development needs and providing a commitment to a ‘learning culture’ which shares knowledge, best practice and our long-standing expertise between employees.
We’re committed to a culture of continuous improvement and listen to our employees via regular feedback sessions and employee engagement surveys.
Our employees love the colleagues they work with. We promote a positive environment where our people feel comfortable, make friends and support each other.
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