Operations & Data Strategy Lead for MSP Growth in Salford

We are seeking a strategic Head of Operations to oversee the end-to-end lifecycle of our business functions, where your primary focus will be operationalising the customer journey and delivery experience. You will own the 'Quote-to-Cash' process, ensuring that the friction between Sales, Technical Delivery, and Finance is removed. You will also be the custodian of our Data Strategy, transforming our systems from simple ticketing tools into rich sources of business intelligence that drive decision-making. We are at an exciting but very challenging stage in our growth, and we are looking for an individual who has proven experience scaling and improving business operations in a growing, ambitious MSP.

You will work closely with our CTO to translate our product, front of house and service delivery visions into reality while challenging what is possible. The successful candidate will be analytical and process driven with the ability to drive change into departments. You will be able to demonstrate the ability to gain buy-in from stakeholders, peers and employees for your ideas and changes through the use of diplomacy and persuasion, all the time building trust and enthusiasm.

Day to day responsibilities

• Lifecycle Architecture: Map, manage, and optimise the entire operational journey from the moment we engage a new prospect to when the funds are received.
• Sales-to-Service Handover: Eliminate the 'throw it over the fence' culture. Ensure that what is sold is technically viable, properly scoped, and seamlessly transitioned into the Service or Projects team.
• Billing Automation & Integrity: Take ownership of the billing reconciliation process. Ensure that every license (Microsoft 365, SentinelOne, Acronis, etc.) and product purchased from distributors is accurately captured and billed to the client with zero revenue leakage.

Data Strategy & Business Intelligence

• Data Governance: Act as the owner of our "Single Source of Truth". Ensure data hygiene within our platforms (ConnectWise/Hubspot, IT Glue & M365) is immaculate.
• Business Intelligence (BI): Lead the execution of our data strategy using tools like Power BI, BrightGauge, or Cognition360. Move the business from reactive reporting to predictive analytics.
• Commercial Insights: Analyse operational data to provide the Board with actionable insights such as Product Margins, Effective Hourly Rates, and Resource Utilisation etc.

Operational Excellence

• Systems Integration: Ensure our ecosystem of tools (PSA, RMM, Quoting Tools, Accounting Software) integrates flawlessly. Reduce manual double-entry and administrative drag.
• Standardisation: Move the business away from "hero culture" by enforcing standard operating procedures (SOPs) and documentation.
• Process Engineering: Continually review and refine SOPs. If a process is repeated more than three times, your instinct should be to automate it.
• Working in collaboration with the CTO, support the development, maintenance and governance of security policies, practices, and protocols to protect company data and systems from potential breaches or cyber threats.
• Compliance: Support internal compliance initiatives, particularly regarding GDPR, Cyber Essentials Plus, and ISO 27001 maintenance.

People & Culture

• Team Development: Support and mentor your operational team, providing them with clear and achievable career development plans to provide mutual benefit to LIMA and the employee.
• Culture: Foster a high-performance culture that balances targets and objectives with employee wellbeing to minimise churn in a competitive UK tech market.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Experience and Background:
• MSP Operations Veteran: You have worked in a 50+ user MSP and understand the complexity of high-volume transactions and recurring revenue models.
• Process Architect: You have a track record of fixing broken processes. You can look at a "Sales to Support" handover and immediately spot where time and money are being lost.
• Scaling: Experience working in a business of similar size (50-100 staff) or helping a smaller business grow through that ceiling.
• Data-Literate: You may not be a data scientist, but you understand data structures. You know how to ask the right questions of a dataset to find out which clients are actually profitable.
• Commercial Mindset: You understand that an operational decision is a financial decision. You are comfortable discussing P&L, EBITDA, and Gross Margin and know the difference between busyness and profitability.
• Key Skills:
• Systems: Deep familiarity with major MSP platforms (ConnectWise Manage, Autotask, HaloPSA) and how they link to finance packages (Xero/Sage/QuickBooks).
• Leadership: The ability to influence teams that don't all report to you (e.g., getting Sales to fill in forms correctly or getting Finance to change a billing cycle).
• Personal Attributes:
• Data-Driven: You make decisions based on reports and dashboards, not gut feeling.
• The "Finisher": You are excellent at taking loose ideas from the Directors and turning them into executed, documented processes and outputs.

About LIMA

At LIMA, we help organisations achieve their ambitions through insight-led technology strategy and managed services that enhance resilience, drive performance, and support sustainable growth. But we know that our success is powered by our people. We're proud to be a Great Place to Work company for the second year running, and our team consistently tells us that the people are the best thing about working here. We recognise and reward the hard work of our colleagues with competitive salaries, professional development opportunities, wellbeing support and a strong benefits package.