Head of Professional Services

Answer Digital; Leeds; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible annual leave

Performance bonus (biannual)

Training and development

Pension - flexible contributions

Healthcare cash plan

Social events calendar

Parking at Leeds HQ

Cycle to work

Job summary

Answer Digital is an award-winning technology consultancy based in Leeds. We seek a Head of Professional Services to own client delivery, shape strategy, and lead senior teams across engagements in software, platform and process transformation.

The role blends delivery assurance with commercial oversight and people leadership. You will mentor delivery teams, drive AI-enabled client work with responsible practices, and partner with capability, account and programme leads to ensure engagements are

Qualifications

• Senior delivery or programme leadership in a technology/digital consultancy or professional services environment.
• Track record of delivering complex, multi-disciplinary client engagements across software, design, data, or related areas.
• Experience managing the commercial aspects of client engagements (margin, scope, change control, contractual risk).

Responsibilities

• Portfolio ownership: set delivery methods, standards, and ensure consistent quality across teams; act as escalation point for at-risk engagements.
• Mobilise and win work: understand pipeline, plan resourcing, contribute to bids and public sector procurements.
• Commercial stewardship: align delivery with account performance, control scope and margin.
• Client relationships: build trusted sponsors and pursue opportunities to grow accounts.
• People leadership and AI-first delivery: mentor teams, embed responsible AI practices, feed lessons back into selling and resourcing.

Skills

Leadership

Delivery governance

Client relationships

Strategic planning

AI in delivery

Job description

Answer Digital is an award-winning, employee-owned technology consultancy based in Leeds, delivering software, platform and process transformation for clients across the private and public sectors.

The Head of Professional Services owns the successful delivery of client work across Answer Digital. This is a senior leadership role — part delivery assurance, part commercial oversight, part people leadership — working closely with capability leads, account and programme leads, and the senior leadership team to keep engagements well-resourced, well-governed, and on track.

What you’ll be doing

• Portfolio ownership — Own how our client engagements perform as a whole: quality, pace, and client experience. This includes setting delivery methods, reporting and quality standards that are consistent and genuinely usable across every team. You're the escalation point when an engagement is at risk, and the person colleagues turn to for help resolving it.
• Winning and mobilising work — Work with practice management and commercial teams to understand the pipeline and what each engagement will need to succeed, so teams are resourced and briefed before day one. Take an active role in bids and proposals — including public sector procurements — shaping delivery approach and resourcing assumptions.
• Commercial stewardship — Work with account leadership so delivery and account performance are managed together, contributing to health checks and service reviews. Give delivery teams early, active control of scope, change and margin — not just a report on what's already happened.
• Client relationships — Build trusted relationships with senior sponsors and escalation contacts for the life of each engagement, partnering with account leadership to identify and pursue opportunities to grow each account, and ensuring we stay aligned and never surprise a client.
• People leadership and AI-first delivery - Mentor and coach colleagues to embed strong delivery practice across Answer, and lead how we use AI in client work — setting safe, appropriate practices for regulated settings and showing where it adds real value. Feed lessons from live engagements back into how we sell, resource and deliver, and flag emerging skills needed to capability leads.

What you’ll bring to Answer

Experience

• Substantial experience in a senior delivery, consulting, or programme leadership role within a technology/digital consultancy or professional services environment.
• A track record of successfully delivering complex, multi-disciplinary client engagements — ideally spanning software delivery, design, data, or similar capability areas.
• Experience managing commercial aspects of client engagements (margin, scope, change control, contractual risk).
• Experience leading and developing other senior leaders or managers.
• Familiarity with public sector and/or regulated-industry delivery frameworks is an advantage (e.g. Government Digital Service standards, agile delivery frameworks etc).

Skills & Attributes

• Strong commercial acumen, balanced with genuine care for client outcomes and team wellbeing.
• Excellent stakeholder management — comfortable operating at both executive/client level and hands‑on with delivery teams.
• Confident, calm decision‑making under pressure, particularly when engagements are at risk.
• A collaborative leadership style that fits naturally with an employee‑owned culture — leading through influence and trust as much as authority.
• Strong analytical skills, able to spot patterns and risks across a portfolio of concurrent engagements.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including experience presenting to senior clients and internal stakeholders.

What success looks like for us

• Engagements delivered on time, on budget, to a consistently high standard
• Delivery risks spotted and resolved before they affect clients or margin
• Strong client advocacy and a growing reputation as a reliable delivery partner

The perks of being at Answer

We’re an Employee-Owned Company. After 12 months – through the Employee Ownership Trust you will be part of the ownership of Answer; a major factor in driving engagement, retention and growth for our people

• Flexible annual leave (buy/sell and carry forward)
• Twice a year income‑tax free bonus based on company performance - it’s a reward for being a part of our EOT journey
• Continuous training and development - if you want to learn, we’ll provide the support you need
• Flexible Pension - we match your own contributions up to 5%
• A flexible Healthcare cash plan so you can fund the care you value most
• A packed social calendar including; end of year party (partners invited) and Summer away days, monthly and quarterly company team socials.
• Parking at Head Offices in central Leeds, plus Cycle2Work & Green Car Lease schemes to help get you here
• The chance to give back – get involved nationally and regionally with partnerships to get people from different backgrounds into tech, as well as lots of charity and community events

Diversity and Inclusion

At Answer we proudly embrace diversity and inclusion - we want to create a safe environment for everyone to bring their true selves to work.

We will do everything we can to support your application. If you require any adjustments to be made to your application (whether that’s support with our interview questions, adjusting how we interview, or financial support with our hiring process) then please speak to Jonny Hiles, TA Lead ([e-mail])

A bit more about us.

Answer Digital is a highly successful digital transformation consultancy headquartered in Leeds. We’re a company on a fast growth trajectory with a reputation of delivering large-scale, operational critical solutions.

People are at the heart of everything we do - so much so we’re owned by our people. It sets us apart from most digital businesses you’ll meet and defines our culture and values. Our people are invested in everything we do, because we are invested in them.

Don’t believe us? Well check out our glassdoor and here what our people have to say

Our Interview Process

We pride ourselves on having a fair but flexible recruitment process, we want to create a platform where you can show us your best. For us, keeping it simple means you can focus on understanding if our people, values and the work we do are right for you. Our typical process can be broken down into 3 stages;

• Recruiter call: This normally lasts 15-30 minutes. We will talk to you about Answer Digital, the type of work we do, and an overview of the role. We’ll ask you some questions about your current situation and why you’re interested in working here. Here, we’d advise asking any “people” questions, anything about our culture, career progression or approach to flexible working.
• Skills based interview: This interview will be with 2 people, normally from the team you’re applying to work with. We can do this stage remote or in person, whichever you’d prefer. This interview will involve questions around your experience, the skills you’ve gained and the work you’ve done. We’ll also ask questions about the role and challenges you might face and how you’d face them. Here, we’d recommend asking questions about the role, the day to day responsibilities and what life in the team is like.
• Cultural/Value interview: This interview will be with 2 of our Leadership team, either our Directors or Capability Leads. It will focus on our culture and values, talking about our values and what they mean to us as well as understanding what values are important to you and how you like to work. This interview is about making sure Answer is right for you, as much as the other way around. Here, we advise you to ask as many questions around our business model, our ambitious growth plans and anything to do with Answer as a business.