Freelance Lead Product Manager

Elsewhen; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 92,000 - 111,000; Full time

Job summary

Elsewhen, a London-based AI consultancy, seeks a Freelance Lead Product Manager to own a data and AI engagement from day one. The role focuses on rapid pilot builds, Databricks dashboards and Next Best Action modelling, with a small cross-functional team including an AI Engineer and a Data Scientist.

You will lead discovery, shape the solution and validate with the client, ensuring the work aligns with their wider vision and outcomes.

Qualifications

• Proven track record delivering data and AI solutions.
• At least 2 years in a consultancy, leading client-facing engagements end to end.
• Hands-on experience with Databricks / Azure and data modelling.

Responsibilities

• Understand client business, vision and priorities; align engagement.
• Lead discovery and shape the build across three workstreams.
• Drive delivery from concept to production-grade solution; maintain backlog.

Skills

Consultancy leadership

Client-facing engagements

Pilot delivery

Stakeholder management

Effective communication

Workshop facilitation

Tools

Databricks

Azure

Job description

Freelance Lead Product Manager

• IR35: Outside

• Contract Length: 12 months

• Start Date: November 2026

• Location: Hybrid with twice per month in the London office

• Day rate: £500-600

About the role

Elsewhen is a London-based AI consultancy. We design and build technology for clients like Spotify, Google, Inmarsat and Zego. We value outcomes over hours and agility over rigid process.

We're looking for an experienced Lead Product Manager to own a data and AI engagement from day one. The work focuses on rapid pilot builds, Databricks dashboards and Next Best Action modelling. You'll own discovery, shape the solution and validate it with the client, making sure what we build fits their wider vision and the outcomes they care about.

You'll lead a small, cross-functional team alongside an AI Engineer and a Data Scientist.

What you'll do

• Get up to speed fast

  • Understand the client's business, vision, terminology and priorities, and how the engagement fits into them

  • Run early technical deep dives with the client's data and engineering teams

• Lead discovery and shape the build

  • Align on goals, constraints and success metrics with stakeholders for three workstreams, incl. Model explainability, Dashboard creation and agentic research.

  • Understand current models and drive towards model improvements, media spend and next best action

  • Run workshops to agree a realistic scope, balancing value, feasibility and speed

• Drive delivery

  • Take the team from concept to production-grade solution

  • Keep a clear, prioritised backlog and make progress visible through regular updates and demos

  • Spot risks early, manage scope firmly and escalation only what needs escalating

• Validate with users and stakeholders

  • Run SME sessions, playbacks and early user testing

  • Turn feedback into clear, actionable improvements and iterate quickly

• Own client communication and outcomes

  • Lead client touchpoints, including weekly reviews and the final playback

  • Turn findings into clear recommendations that support go/no-go decisions and next steps for scaling

What we're looking for

Experience

• A proven track record delivering data and AI solutions

• At least 2 years in a consultancy, leading client-facing engagements end to end

• Hands-on experience with Databricks / Azure, data models and paid media modelling - a huge advantage

• A history of delivering pilots and prototypes to tight timelines in fast-paced, iterative environments

• Can demonstrate how you handle client feedback positively and can balance competing priorities to reach mutually beneficial outcomes

• You're a calm, confident communicator who explains complex ideas simply and presents with quiet authority

• You build trust with senior stakeholders and are comfortable running workshops and playbacks

AI fluency

• You understand how AI is changing the industry, from tooling to the new products

• You use AI tools in your own work and know how to delegate tasks to LLMs well

• You can spot low-quality AI output and know what good looks like before anything goes in front of a client

Our commitment to diversity

Diverse thoughts, backgrounds and perspectives make stronger teams and better technology. We welcome everyone, whatever their culture, appearance or perspective, and we encourage our team to challenge norms, grow ideas and do their best work.

Interview process

1. Recruiter screen: your experience in rapid discovery and pilot delivery

2. 45 minutes with our Product Lead: your product approach and experience, plus a pilot-focused case study

3. 1 hour with our Product Director: product leadership, stakeholder management and driving outcomes in ambiguous environments