Services Delivery Lead
Chicago, Illinois /
Qarik – Services Delivery /
Full-time (Remote)
/ Remote
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 Services Delivery Manager 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 Services Delivery Manager, you’ll help support looking after all of them. Reporting to a Senior Services Delivery Lead, this is an opportunity to leverage our existing foundation and help build out our project management function, which is imperative to 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.
- Partner with account teams to be sure they have the information they need to make informed decisions.
- Lead SOW contracting for your project, writing SOWs, managing the redline process through to close.
- Manage your project budget, aligned with your Sales partners.
- Participate in MSA redline processes.
- Actively look for ways to grow the account you are on; suggesting ideas for next projects to your SSDL or account team.
Own Project Delivery
- Initiate project work with team members ensuring they are set for success internally and externally. Coordinate, prepare, lead all kickoff activities with partners, Qarik, and customer teams.
- Partner with customer teams, partners, and project leadership.
- Create and manage project plans, communicating plans internal and external stakeholders in formats suitable to the audience. Identity and manage dependencies proactively.
- Moderate, lead, meetings with strong communication and efficiency. Take meeting minutes (with team collaboration), create decks, and ad hoc meeting structure/ assets.
- Manage the day to day project ensuring the Qarik team is delivering against expectations or, where needed, creatively changing our approach.
- Manage scope, 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.
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.
Technical Skills & Knowledge:
- 5-8 years of experience in managing large-scale and complex 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.
- You are a clear communicator both verbally and in writing. You know how to convey information through illustration, words, or diagram/workflow.
- Trained in project management and agile disciplines required either self taught or formal.
- You may have a background in engineering, software architecture, or delivery.
- Priority certification as a scrum master or more. Potentially also helpful trainings may also include other project management certifications (PMI, PMP…).
- You generally are process oriented and like to reduce the chaos, find satisfaction in organizing people, activities, and delivery.
- You are a learner, proactive, and generally strive to do more.
- 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, other project management certifications (PMI, PMP…).
Other Relevant Details:
- Desired location is US, preferably on the east coast, but open to all as long as you have a great internet connection and are willing to overlap US CT mornings.
- Willingness to travel up to 25% and potentially timeshift to accommodate project needs.
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
