Head of firm support services

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The firm

We're a young, dynamic, creative and entrepreneurial consulting firm on a mission.

Having established ourselves as a respected, trusted, source of advice and support to clients in the public service sectors we currently operate in over the last seven years, we are framing a new ambition and strategy for the next strategy cycle.

Through that work, we expect to diversify into new sectors, including health and social care, and will build new capabilities, including not least with respect to emerging tech and data. We expect those diversifications and investment will enable us to more that double in size by 2030.

Our support services are crucial. We need to maintain an operating environment in which our consulting colleagues can focus relentlessly on our markets and clients - confident that the machinery of the firm is optimised to support all aspects of their work.

We are looking for an experienced, astute, operations leader who can sustain and continuously improve our support services - whilst working directly with our senior leaders to make some of the commercial moves, and strategic investments, that will help us diversify and grow.

To succeed in this role you will, above all else, need to be hugely energetic, ambitious and determined - and have incredibly high standards in everything you do. You will need to revel in the value that support services can add to the firm's market and client work.

Role specification

The post holder will be accountable for successful delivery and incremental transformation of all the firm's support services - people, tech, finance and compliance - working direct to the firm's senior management team. Under that flexible banner the role includes e.g.

• Accountability for the timely, candid and commercial, operation of the firm's governance processes - such that senior leaders are able to take decisions based on robust, current, data; and, that we have open, challenging and supportive, conversations with colleagues across the firm about how we can improve and grow.

• An evolving slate of projects and improvement actions to optimise our performance, drive growth and support our diversification into new markets and capabilities. In 2025, this will likely include digital automation of firm processes; formation of a joint venture with some of the firm's clients; and, support for the creation of tech-led service lines.

• Accountability for the firm's financial management, working with an external partner to ensure that the firm's financial management is tight, compliant, commercial and entrepreneurial. This includes e.g. oversight of monthly payroll, management of a c£400k non-pay budget, and preparation of commercially astute monthly finance / commercial reports.

• Accountability for the firm's people, development and resourcing policies, processes and investment - working with / to colleagues who lead our consulting colleague group. This work includes e.g. facilitation of colleague engagement; facilitation of recruitment and selection; ownership of the firm's learning and development investment; and, daily management of consulting resource management - working with the senior management team.

• Accountability for the firm's tech stack - including continuous exploration and implementation of improvements that will enhance our consultants' and clients' experience. This includes e.g. management of the firm's tech support partner, gen AI adoption; and, support for senior colleagues as we consider diversification into substantially tech-led services.

• Accountability for a diverse variety of compliance requirements including e.g. insurance cover, GDPR, and compliance with other public sector client / framework expectations.

• Leadership of a team of three, which we should expect to grow with the firm.

Person specification

• High levels of ambition, energy and resilience, consistent with the firm's plans for future diversification and growth - and the implications of that trajectory for the role.

• Experience and enjoyment working in an acutely entrepreneurial, commercial and creative organisational context to drive performance and growth.

• Experience working directly with / to senior leaders in a dynamic, fast-faced, commercial environment to translate strategic direction into operational action.

• Experience delivering against substantial, diverse, accountability for support service process, policy and performance - spanning e.g. finance, people, tech support.

• Domain expertise in either finance, people and / or tech support such that you are confident leading the development of policy, process and implementation in these areas.

• Strong communication and people management skills - both as a direct manager of colleagues, and working across dynamic, matrix, structures.

• High levels of precision and presentational pride with respect to work product of all kinds. We presume that how you do one thing is how you do everything.

Working location

Four days / week based in the firm's Farringdon office; one working from home.

Package

• Basic salary of £70-80k depending on expertise of successful candidate.

• Up to 20% bonus based on firm and individual performance.

• 25 days' annual leave, rising to 30 within five years.

• Private medical and dental insurance.

• 4% pension contributions.