Head of Delivery and Operations

The post holder will own the operating system of the business. Your job is to turn the commercial plan into a single, prioritised delivery plan and ensure every department stays aligned to it. You will run the operating cadence, provide clear visibility of progress and risks, and ensure internal engineering and our nearshore engineering partner deliver the product roadmap on time and to the required quality. Other senior stakeholders will lead architecture; you will lead delivery, alignment, and accountability.

Reporting line: Reports to the CEO. Location: London (hybrid). Travel to Liverpool will be required.

First 90 days: two consecutive days every week in Liverpool (Monday & Tuesday). 90 days onwards: two consecutive days in Liverpool (Monday & Tuesday), minimum twice per month.

Role purpose

Key outcomes (what success looks like):

• A commercially‑led roadmap is agreed, understood, and delivered predictably across internal teams and the nearshore partner.
• The business operates to a single plan (one set of priorities, owners, dates, and decisions).
• Delivery becomes measurable, predictable, and higher quality (rework reduces, cycle time improves).
• Data and reporting become reliable enough to drive end‑to‑end optimisation and enable marketing automation.
• Stakeholders (internal and external) have confidence in what is being delivered and when.

Core responsibilities

• Own the business operating cadence and alignment.
• Design and run the company operating cadence: weekly priorities and trade‑offs, fortnightly delivery review, monthly performance review, and quarterly planning.
• Maintain a single source of truth for priorities, delivery dates, owners, dependencies, and risks.
• Drive decision clarity: ensure key decisions are made, documented, communicated, and then executed.
• Hold departments accountable to commitments and remove blockers quickly.

• Own delivery governance for product and engineering (internal + nearshore).
• Translate the roadmap into a delivery plan with milestones, dependencies, acceptance criteria, and definitions of done.
• Establish and run delivery governance: sprint rhythm, release planning, quality gates, change control, and escalation.
• Track delivery performance using simple, repeatable metrics (predictability, cycle time, defects/rework, throughput).
• Identify delivery risk early and drive corrective action.

• Nearshore partner management.
• Own partner governance: statement of work, service levels, quality standards, delivery cadence, communications, and escalation path.
• Implement a partner scorecard (capacity, velocity/throughput, quality, release readiness, responsiveness).
• Ensure partner output meets agreed standards and integrates smoothly with internal teams.
• Work with recruitment partners and internal leaders to ensure the nearshore model is effective and continuously improving.

• Commercial plan execution.
• Build a clear quarterly and monthly operational plan that ties capacity, delivery milestones, and priorities to commercial outcomes.
• Ensure delivery work is prioritised based on commercial value, not noise or internal politics.
• Create visibility on trade‑offs and resource constraints, escalating decisions where required.

• Become data‑led and drive end‑to‑end optimisation.
• Establish an agreed KPI framework linking acquisition cost, lead quality, conversion, and revenue.
• Ensure the right data flows and reporting exist to support decision‑making across marketing, product, engineering, and commercial teams.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that improve quality, reduce waste, and optimise performance end‑to‑end.

• Enable marketing automation through data (in partnership with Marketing/Data/Engineering).
• Coordinate delivery of the foundational capabilities needed for automation: event tracking, segmentation, trigger logic, data hygiene, and operational processes.
• Ensure cross‑functional alignment so automation initiatives ship in a staged, measurable way.

Key interfaces

• CEO (priorities, trade‑offs, escalation).
• Engineering and architecture.
• Product (roadmap, acceptance criteria, stakeholder needs).
• Data (tracking, reporting, optimisation).
• Marketing (automation enablement, funnel visibility).
• Commercial/Client (value‑led prioritisation, partner expectations).
• Nearshore partner leadership.

Decision rights and authority

• Chairs the operating cadence and can challenge any department on priorities, commitments, and delivery.
• Owns delivery outcomes and visibility (dates, risks, dependencies, delivery performance).
• Can recommend stopping or pausing work when priorities conflict, escalating trade‑offs to the CEO.
• Architecture decisions remain with other key stakeholders.

Experience and capabilities (must have)

• Proven experience leading cross‑functional delivery in a fast‑moving environment with multiple stakeholders.
• Experience managing external delivery partners (nearshore/offshore) with governance, SLAs, and performance management.
• Strong programme leadership: planning, dependency management, risk management, and execution discipline.
• Comfortable creating and running an operating cadence that forces alignment and follow‑through.
• Strong analytical mindset: able to define KPIs, build visibility, and use data to drive decisions and optimisation.
• Confident communicator who can challenge, escalate, and maintain standards with senior stakeholders.

Nice to have

• Experience in marketplaces, lead generation, martech, or data‑heavy consumer acquisition businesses.
• Experience enabling CRM/lifecycle marketing or marketing automation programmes.
• Familiarity with Agile delivery, product operating models, and modern data stacks.

PLEASE NOTE: This role is only open to those with the right to work in the UK without the need for sponsorship or visa, now or in the future.