Head of Product AI

Life Unlimited. At Smith+Nephew we design and manufacture technology that takes the limits off living. The Head of Product, AI is responsible for defining and executing the enterprise AI product strategy, transforming AI into a durable competitive advantage across the company’s portfolio and internal product development ecosystem.

What will you be doing?

This leader owns the end‑to‑end lifecycle of AI‑enabled products, platforms, and capabilities—ensuring AI is systematically designed, built, tested, deployed, and scaled to deliver differentiated customer value and measurable productivity gains. Beyond customer‑facing features, the role plays a critical leadership function in embedding AI across product development, R&D, and engineering workflows, shaping how products are conceived, delivered, and evolved. This is a highly cross‑functional role requiring deep cross-functional collaboration including NPD Engineering, Early Innovation teams, and IT leaders, as well as strong influence across business units.

AI Product Features & Platforms (80%) across the enterprise

Own the AI product portfolio, including embedded AI features, AI services, and internal platforms.

Define requirements and roadmaps for AI capabilities that deliver differentiated customer value.

Partner with research and engineering to move models from experimentation to production at scale.

Establish reusable AI components (models, APIs, tooling) to reduce duplication across teams.

AI-Enabled New Product Development (NPD) (10%)

Design and lead an AI first NPD framework that accelerates:

Customer discovery and insights

Concept generation and prioritization

Design and prototyping

Development and testing

Launch readiness and post-launch learning

Identify opportunities to apply AI across the NPD lifecycle, including:

Market and customer insight generation

Requirements synthesis and backlog creation

Code generation, test automation, and simulation

Experimentation, A/B testing, and feedback analysis

Standardize AI workflows, tools, and best practices across product and R&D teams.

Enterprise Enablement, Governance & Change Leadership (10%)

Act as the enterprise product owner for AI in R&D, driving adoption across business units.

Partner with Product, Engineering, Design, Data, and IT leaders to embed AI into daily workflows.

Define success metrics for AI-driven productivity, speed, and quality improvements.

Location: Pittsburgh, PA or Andover, MA

Education: Master’s or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field preferred, BA required.

What will you need to be successful?

10+ years of product leadership experience, preferably in R&D‑intensive, platform‑driven, or technology‑first organizations.

Demonstrated success delivering AI‑powered products and platforms from concept through scale.

Strong background working with R&D, or applied research teams, with the ability to translate technical capabilities into product value.

Proven ability to influence without direct authority in complex, matrixed organizations.

Preferred Experience:

Experience as a senior leader as Sr. Director/VP

Experience driving AI transformation of internal workflows, not just customer features.

Familiarity with developer tooling, and AI assisted software development.

Experience operating in regulated or IP sensitive environments.

Travel Requirements:  25%

You Unlimited.

• The anticipated base compensation range for this position is $254,000 - $362,875 USD annually. The actual base pay offered to the successful candidate will be based on multiple factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge/skills, experience, and geographic location. Compensation decisions are dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each position and candidate. In addition to base pay, we offer competitive bonus and benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k), tuition reimbursement, medical leave programs, parental leave, generous PTO, paid company holidays, 8 hours of volunteer time annually, and a variety of wellness offerings such as EAP.

• Inclusion + Belonging: Committed to Welcoming, Celebrating and Thriving. Learn more about our Employee Inclusion Groups on our website https://www.smith-nephew.com/

• Your Future: 401k Matching Program, 401k Plus Program, Discounted Stock Options, Tuition Reimbursement  

• Work/Life Balance: Flexible Personal/Vacation Time Off, Paid Holidays, Flex Holidays, Paid Community Service Day  

• Your Wellbeing: Medical, Dental, Vision, Health Savings Account (Employer Contribution of $500+ annually), Employee Assistance Program, Parental Leave, Fertility and Adoption Assistance Program 

• Flexibility: Hybrid Work Model (For most professional roles)  

• Training: Hands-On, Team-Customized, Mentorship  

• Extra Perks: Discounts on fitness clubs, travel and more!  

Smith+Nephew provides equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability.