Head of Delivery

Candyspace are tried and tested digital product experts, creating apps, websites and digital products for ambitious, results-focused organisations investing in growth, including some of the best-known brands in the UK and beyond. Working at Candyspace is about building products that people love. We all work hard to define the sweet spot between customers' needs and the demands of the businesses who employ us. And by building products that they all love, we love those products too. To do this you will be a part of a diverse and inclusive team of like-minded people, ambitious for themselves and passionate about what you do. You will work on exciting and challenging projects.

Candyspace is an equal opportunities employer and we strongly encourage people of colour, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and non-binary people, veterans, parents and individuals with disabilities to apply for roles here. If you need reasonable adjustments at any point in the application or interview process, please let us know and feel free to note which pronouns you use (she/her, he/him, they/them, etc).

Summary of Role

The Head of Delivery is a pivotal senior leadership role responsible for driving delivery excellence, strategic growth, and operational efficiency across all client engagements at Candyspace. This is a hands-on, commercially-aware position that will shape our delivery methodologies, secure new business, and ensure the successful, profitable execution of our most significant digital design, build, and optimisation projects. The Head of Delivery will lead a team of Delivery Managers, fostering a culture of high performance and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

• Strategic delivery leadership and excellence: Define, implement, and continuously refine Candyspace's delivery methodologies (e.g., Scrum, Kanban, Waterfall, hybrid approaches) and best practices to ensure the production of best-in-class work that is consistently on time, on budget, and to specification. Champion and embed a culture of delivery excellence across the entire agency, promoting efficiency, quality, and client satisfaction. Oversee the development and maintenance of all delivery-related documentation, templates, and project management systems, ensuring they support scalable and transparent operations. Lead initiatives for process refinement, identifying opportunities for innovation and implementing solutions that enhance overall delivery capabilities.
• New business & commercial acumen: Actively participate in the new business process, leveraging deep delivery expertise to accurately scope, estimate, and propose solutions for prospective clients. Collaborate closely with sales and client services teams to articulate Candyspace's delivery capabilities, build client confidence, and contribute directly to winning new business. Take ultimate commercial responsibility for project margins, driving proactive margin management and optimisation strategies across the entire portfolio. Implement robust financial reporting mechanisms, providing clear and actionable insights on project profitability, burn rates, and financial forecasts. Identify and mitigate commercial risks across the project portfolio, proactively addressing potential issues.
• Hands-on project leadership & setup (Key client engagements): Serve as the Delivery Lead for at least the first three months of enterprise projects (typically £500k-£1m+). This includes direct involvement in planning, scoping, team setup, and initial execution. Ensure robust project foundations are established, including comprehensive budget management, detailed timing plans, resource allocation, milestone definition, deliverable tracking, dependency management, and Statement of Work (SOW) finalisation. Establish strong client relationships during project inception, setting clear expectations and communication protocols. Transition projects smoothly to assigned Delivery/Project Managers after the initial setup phase, providing ongoing senior oversight and strategic guidance.
• Project performance and risk management: Oversee and analyse project burn rates, health reports, and performance metrics across the entire portfolio. Proactively identify projects at risk of over-run (budget, time, or scope), recommending and implementing decisive corrective actions. Generate regular, financial reports on project performance against budget, identifying key variances and cost drivers. Ensure adherence to defined project processes, conducting regular audits and reviews to maintain standards. Manage complex stakeholder relationships, including clients and partner agencies, ensuring clear communication and alignment throughout all project phases.
• Resource management and team leadership: Work closely with department heads to optimise allocation of design, build, and optimisation talent across current and prospective projects. Lead, mentor, and line manage a team of Delivery Managers and Senior Delivery Managers, fostering their professional growth through guidance, training recommendations, performance management, and troubleshooting assistance. Contribute to the hiring and development of new talent within the delivery function, building a high-performing and adaptable team.

What you should have:

• Extensive agency-side experience in a senior delivery leadership role, with a demonstrable track record of successfully leading multi-disciplinary design, build, and optimisation projects for diverse clients.
• Proven experience in leading project delivery of £1m+ engagements.
• Deep expertise in defining and implementing appropriate delivery methodologies (e.g., Scrum, Kanban, Waterfall, hybrid models) based on specific client and project needs.
• Excellent commercial acumen, with extensive experience in proactive margin management, profitability optimisation, and financial reporting within project-based environments.
• Significant experience with headless CMS's and commerce solutions implementations, and a working knowledge of DXPs such as Optimizely is a strong advantage.
• Exceptional leadership skills with a proven ability to manage, mentor, and inspire a team of project managers.
• Highly analytical with the ability to interrogate data, solve complex problems, and drive continuous process improvement.
• Calm under pressure, capable of managing multiple concurrent project streams in a fast-paced, rapidly-changing agency environment.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills, both internally and client-facing.

What you'll be doing:

• Leading new business scoping and proposal development.
• Taking on the initial three-month+ delivery lead role for major projects.
• Developing and refining Candyspace's delivery processes, methodologies, and documentation.
• Actively managing and optimising project margins and overall portfolio profitability.
• Preparing and presenting financial reports on project health and performance.
• Strategic resourcing planning and allocation across the agency.
• Line managing and developing the Delivery/Project Manager team.
• Preparing and reviewing comprehensive project performance reports.
• Facilitating high-level client and partner agency communications.
• Driving internal initiatives to promote and improve delivery best practices.

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