Manager, AI & Automation (m/f/d)

• Location: UK
• The AI & Automation Practice is where technology meets value creation within AURELIUS WaterRise. Our mission: unlock measurable efficiency and growth across the portfolio through practical, scalable use of AI and automation.
• Working directly with management teams, we identify real operational pain points — not abstract use cases — and turn them into working digital solutions. From rapid‑fire prototypes to enterprise‑grade roll‑outs, we test, iterate, and deliver.
• This team is built for people who bridge business and tech: curious enough to experiment, structured enough to execute, and bold enough to build what doesn’t yet exist.

What you'll do

• Engage directly with C‑level executives and business functions across our portfolio companies to identify opportunities for automation and digital transformation
• Conduct structured process analyses to capture, assess and prioritise improvement potential
• Design, prototype and implement AI and automation solutions in close collaboration with internal experts and external technology partners
• Manage and coordinate technology partners, start‑ups and consultancies to ensure measurable value creation
• Develop reusable frameworks, components and best practices to sustainably scale automation initiatives
• Prepare and lead contract and partnership discussions with technology providers and consulting firms
• Develop clearly defined business cases for AI and automation projects, including monitoring and reporting on achieved results
• Contribute to internal AURELIUS initiatives aimed at improving efficiency and optimising processes through targeted use of AI and automation technologies

What you'll need

• Completed degree in economics, engineering, or computer science
• 5-8 years of professional experience in consulting, technology, process automation or a start‑up / scale‑up environment
• Confident in engaging with C‑level stakeholders, with the ability to communicate complex topics clearly and with impact
• Proven experience in the successful delivery of digital, data‑driven or AI / automation projects
• Hands‑on experience with workflow and process automation tools (e.g. Make, Zapier, n8n, UiPath, Power Automate)
• Solid knowledge of prompt engineering (incl. structured prompts, tool integration and RAG basics)
• Ability to independently build and implement prototypes and automation solutions
• Highly self‑organised and reliable working style
• Business fluent in English and ideally in German
• Experience conducting user interviews, process analyses and structured problem‑framing is desirable
• Basic familiarity with version control (e.g. GitHub) to collaborate with developers and make minor adjustments
• Foundational knowledge of Python (e.g. for data processing, API calls or logic implementation) is preferred