Senior Services Delivery Lead
Chicago, Illinois /
Qarik – Services Delivery /
Full-time (Onsite)
Qarik Overview
Co-Founded by Google Cloud Engineering leaders and backed by Peak 6 Investments, Qarik (pronounced “KAR-ik,” meaning “rock” in Gaelic) is an IT Solutions company with a focus on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) strategy and implementation. We’ve grown to over 100 employees in less than three years and continue to attract brand name (F1000) clients.
We strive to work “with” our clients. We embrace agile instead of deliverables and milestones - establish a vision, create a theme-based roadmap and execute. We work in the trenches with our clients to learn from each other's experiences and capabilities.
We’re an enabler (in a good way). Unlike the traditional IT Solutions model, where consultants can remain long beyond project completion, we enter our engagements with the end in mind. Core to our ethos is the ability to solve complex problems and teach clients to do the same.
Qarik Group is looking for a Senior Services Delivery Lead to join our growing Services Delivery team. Just a few years old, Qarik Group is fast-growing, helping companies transform and modernize their IT infrastructure to power growth and drive efficiency.
The lifecycle of a Qarik project runs all the way from planning to sales through execution and closure, with many stops in between. As a Senior Services Delivery Lead, you look after all of them. Reporting to the Head of Services Delivery, this is an opportunity to leverage our existing foundation and help build out our program and project management function, which is imperative to the successful execution of the large-scale IT transformation projects that we implement and manage in partnership with our customers. Day-to-day, you will:
Presales, Resourcing, and Sales
- Set up projects in project tracking systems, lead, and own the resourcing of new projects.
- Work with internal stakeholders, engineering managers, to source the right resources for new projects sold.
- Manage customer expectations on project dates, timelines accordingly.
- Configure project, team, and financial/task setup in Qarik systems for future time and financial reporting.
- Actively manage the project budget, escalating any risks of overage, managing resources and scope accordingly, and elevating awareness of PnL. Report progress and issues in reporting.
Own Project Delivery
- Initiate project work with team members ensuring they are set up for success internally and externally. Coordinate, prepare, lead all kickoff activities with partners, Qarik, and customer team.
- Partner with customer executives, project teams, partners, and project leadership.
- Create project plans, take meeting minutes (with team collaboration), run meetings, create project status reports, decks, and ad hoc meeting structure/ assets.
- Manage the day to day, ensuring the Qarik team is delivering against expectations or where needed to manage the change.
- Handle project scope, create change requests as needed.
- Identify and manage risks, issues, and asks. Escalate appropriately and early.
- Utilize agile and traditional program management backgrounds to craft the right delivery and management process and tools to effectively guide teams from need to goal, communicating within.
Manage Internal Team Communications
- Clearly articulate scope and expectations to Qarik team members, making sure their roles are clear and they are set up for success.
- Partner effectively with other teams engaged, treating the customer as an equal and actively coaching others to avoid common consulting behavior.
- Look for ways to innovate and use new tools, your own thinking and tool chest to improve how projects are run. Have the foresight to build for a client with an eye to building for future reuse.
- Regularly check in and manage the team. Keep a regular cadence of internal strategy and syncs.
- Comfortability with managing direct reports (i.e., Services Delivery Managers), aiding in their growth and development.
Agile Player/Coach
- Coach customer and partner teams in agile philosophies
- Know the difference between recommending a standard set of rules and strategically, creatively finding the right behaviors to coach and change.
- Use past experience and knowledge to apply the right agility to the job
- Create tools, pick the right tools to allow teams to communicate, brainstorm, design, and build effectively
Partner with the Customer
- Build relationships, becoming the customer’s advocate and coach.
- Success is when the customer trusts you and believes you will do it better than they can, and/or when they ask you for advice.
- Keep a regular cadence of discussions and progress updates.
- Manage communication with stakeholders of multiple levels, knowing when to change tone.
- Actively seek out and develop opportunities to expand the customer account.
Technical Skills and Knowledge:
- 10-15 years of experience in managing large-scale and complex programs and projects with experience managing project teams of various sizes, locations, and skillsets/ levels.
- Recommended experience in professional services or client delivery; this is a client-facing role.
- Experience with team/employee career management is a plus.
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Computer Science, or a technology-related field.
- Experience working with product companies, working both in the weeds and strategically.
- You enjoy working with minimal structure and you enable change around you.
- You think and work systematically and logically, and your strong communication skills are backed up by technical skills and knowledge.
- Trained in project management and agile disciplines required either self-taught or formal. You may also have experience with Agile disciplines, software development methodologies, various agile delivery tools and administration thereof have a background in engineering, software architecture, or delivery.
- Helpful certifications or training may include CSM, Scrum Master Certified (SMC) or Advanced Certified ScrumMaster (A-CSM), and other project management certifications (PMI, PMP…).
Other Relevant Details:
- Desired location is the US, preferably on the east coast, but open as long as you have a great internet connection and are willing to overlap US CT mornings.
- Willingness to travel up to 25%
Qarik offers a competitive and comprehensive employee compensation and benefits package.
Qarik is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. For further information please contact our careers@qarik.com
