Search, Discovery & AI Lead

Search, Discovery & AI Lead at Next Ltd

Role Overview

Customer discovery is undergoing a fundamental shift. Search is no longer limited to keyword-driven results pages; it is increasingly shaped by AI-led decision-making, conversational interfaces, and autonomous shopping agents operating both on-site and across third-party platforms.

The Search, Discovery & AI Lead is responsible for owning and evolving how customers discover, evaluate, and select products across the Next digital platforms. This includes on-site experiences as well as how Next products are interpreted, ranked, and surfaced by external AI-driven shopping environments.

This role will lead the transition toward agentic and conversational shopping, ensuring Next is technically, commercially, and operationally prepared for the next generation of ecommerce discovery.

Agentic & Conversational Commerce

• Lead the evolution of discovery from traditional search toward agent-led and conversational shopping experiences.
• Define how autonomous and semi-autonomous agents should interact with Next product data, availability, pricing, and business rules.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, and Data Science teams to design and test AI-driven shopping flows that reduce friction and improve decision-making.
• Ensure agentic shopping experiences are aligned with customer intent, brand standards, and commercial objectives.

AI-Led Search & Discovery Platforms

• Own the strategy and performance of AI-driven discovery systems across UK and International platforms.
• Ensure ranking, relevance, and intent modelling are optimised for modern AI-based algorithms rather than purely rules-based approaches.
• Translate complex AI and search capabilities into clear, measurable customer and commercial outcomes.
• Drive continuous learning and optimisation using feedback signals, behaviour data, and experimentation frameworks.

Third-Party AI & External Discovery Ecosystems

• Own how Next products are exposed to and interpreted by third-party AI, search, and discovery platforms.
• Ensure high-quality structured data, product signals, and feeds are optimised for use by conversational and agent-based systems.
• Maintain alignment between on-site discovery logic and off-site AI-driven shopping experiences.
• Work cross-functionally to ensure external platforms accurately reflect product availability, relevance, and trading priorities.

Commercial Ownership & Stakeholder Leadership

• Define and own success metrics for agentic and AI-led discovery, including conversion, revenue contribution, engagement, and customer satisfaction.
• Balance automation and AI decision-making with commercial control, governance, and brand consistency.
• Act as the senior authority on discovery and agentic shopping, influencing direction across Trading, UX, Product, and Technology teams.
• Communicate complex concepts clearly to senior stakeholders, focusing on outcomes rather than technical detail.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Proven experience leading ecommerce search, discovery, or AI-led shopping capabilities at scale.
• Strong understanding of how modern AI-driven discovery systems operate, including intent modelling, ranking signals, and continuous optimisation.
• Experience working with large product catalogues, structured data, and systems consumed by external platforms.
• Commercially minded, with a clear understanding of how discovery impacts conversion, revenue, and customer trust.
• Confident operating in ambiguous, fast-evolving problem spaces and shaping direction rather than waiting for definition.
• Excellent communication skills, able to influence senior stakeholders across business and technology functions.

Desirable

• Experience contributing to conversational commerce or agent-based shopping initiatives.
• Familiarity with governance, control, and risk considerations associated with AI-driven decision-making.
• Experience working in complex, multi-market ecommerce environments.

Personal Attributes

• Strategic, curious, and future-focused, with a pragmatic approach to delivery.
• Comfortable owning a critical, evolving capability with high visibility and accountability.
• Data-led and outcomes-driven, with a strong bias toward measurable impact.
• Credible, calm, and influential when working across senior teams.

Key skills/competency

• AI-driven discovery
• Ecommerce search
• Intent modeling
• Ranking signals
• Structured data
• Conversational commerce
• Stakeholder management
• Commercial strategy
• Experimentation frameworks
• Product lifecycle management