Consultancy Director – Operations and Professional Services Delivery

Hybrid, travel to our London office twice per week.

Reporting to: Managing Director of Ark Workplace Risk  

Direct Reports: Head of Building Safety Assurance, Head of Professional Services, Head of Operations

 

At Ark Workplace Risk, we empower our clients to confidently manage risk, compliance, and safety through a trusted partnership built on expert knowledge, innovative solutions, and proactive guidance and insight.

 

Role Summary

The Consultancy Director – Operations and Professional Services Delivery is accountable for end-to-end delivery performance across Professional Services (PS), Building Safety Assurance (BSA), and Operations.

The purpose of the role is to  align accountability, establishing one integrated delivery system, driving performance across SLA, margin, productivity, quality, and client outcomes.

The role leads, manages, and supports the PS, BSA, and Operations teams in the pursuit of profitability and long-term business sustainability. This is achieved through strong employee engagement and retention, product excellence, operational discipline, and commercial performance.

The Consultancy Director is responsible for aligning the function to the company’s core values while delivering financial targets and building a high-performing, scalable organisation.

 

Key Responsibilities

 

End-to-End Delivery Ownership

Own delivery outcomes across PS, BSA, and Operations.

Drive SLA adherence, cycle time control and WIP management.

Improve book-to-bill conversion through integrated workflow control.

Lead client escalations and resolution of complex delivery issues.

Remove operational constraints to ensure predictable delivery flow.

 

Commercial Performance

Own gross margin, productivity, utilisation, associate mix, and cost-to-serve.

Ensure delivery performance aligns with budget and financial targets.

Implement corrective actions to deliver against business strategy and exceed financial objectives.

Drive margin improvement through standardisation, scope discipline, and efficiency gains.

Report performance into the Ark leadership team and ensure product roadmap execution.

 

Quality, Risk & Governance

Be accountable for the quality system and technical governance framework.

Drive right-first-time performance and audit readiness.

Ensure strong risk controls and compliance standards across all delivery functions.

Contribute to client troubleshooting and complex resolution matters.

 

Leadership & Culture

Lead and develop Heads of Function and operational leadership teams.

Align teams to core values and foster a strong culture of accountability and common purpose.

Recruit and develop high-caliber consultants and assessors.

Drive performance improvement individually and collectively.

Lead employee engagement initiatives using the Q12+ model in conjunction with HR.

Support succession planning, skills development, and long-term capability growth.

 

Operating Cadence & Performance Management

Establish disciplined weekly/monthly performance reviews covering SLA, margin, utilisation, WIP, and quality.

Drive constraint removal and continuous improvement.

Ensure workflow compliance, systems adoption, and data integrity.

Standardise ways of working to reduce variation and improve predictability.

 

Strategic Contribution

Contribute as part of the leadership team to strategic priority setting and execution.

Participate in strategy planning and long-term organisational design.

Improve tools, knowledge frameworks, and competence models to build competitive advantage.

Identify digital opportunities and technological improvements to enhance efficiency and customer success.

Research and implement lean management practices and waste reduction initiatives.

 

Product & Market Contribution

Deliver direction on high-level consulting projects and complex assignments where required.

Contribute to professional services product development and roadmap execution.

Support marketing and communications initiatives (blogs, webinars, thought leadership).

 

Financial & Growth Accountability

Be accountable for team budget, growth, quality performance, and people management.

Align capacity planning with demand forecasting and revenue targets.

Drive long-term business sustainability through disciplined execution and scalable operating systems.

 

Key Skills & Experience

• Proven experience leading team leads or managers in a delivery-driven environment.
• Deep understanding of QA frameworks, audit compliance, and risk governance.
• Strong commercial and operational mindset, with experience managing productivity and margin KPIs.
• Data-driven decision-maker with the ability to translate metrics into action.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

 

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• SLA performance
• Cycle time and WIP health
• Gross margin achievement
• Utilisation and productivity
• Right-first-time performance
• Employee engagement (Q12+)
• Client satisfaction and retention
• Delivery contribution to revenue growth