Practice Director

Keka Inc.; NTR; On-site; INR 14,451,000 - 20,231,000; Full time

Job summary

Keka Inc. is seeking a senior leader to own the North America Professional Services P&L, drive revenue, margin, and consultant utilization. You will oversee delivery across projects and ensure high customer satisfaction.

You will lead pre-sales and sales support, hire and mentor delivery staff, and partner with cross-functional teams to resolve issues and improve service quality. This role requires strong executive communication and strategic oversight.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in professional services, support, or consulting.
• 7+ years leading teams in technical or consulting environments.
• 5+ years in senior management at top-tier firms.
• Direct SaaS deployment experience for enterprise clients (HCM/LMS preferred).
• Proven P&L ownership and improvements in service quality.

Responsibilities

• Own NA Professional Services P&L, including revenue targets and margins.
• Lead pre-sales, scoping, and deal reviews with Account Executives.
• Hire, train, and onboard delivery staff; build bench strength.
• Mentor and coach delivery teams; foster accountability.
• Build client relationships from inception to post-implementation.
• Manage escalations; communicate options to executives clearly.
• Act as executive sponsor on strategic accounts.
• Oversee installation and acceptance of product suites.
• Monitor day-to-day delivery; coordinate with on-site and remote teams.
• Drive services sales and identify new opportunities within customers.
• Establish delivery methodology and quality standards.
• Drive continuous improvement across delivery and processes.

Skills

P&L ownership

Executive client comms

Cross-functional leadership

Forecasting & budgeting

SaaS deployment

Negotiation skills

Job description

• Own the North America Professional Services P&L, including revenue targets, margin management, and consultant utilization, with a target of 70%+ billable utilization across the team.
• Lead pre-sales and sales support activities, partnering with Account Executives on scoping, solution design, and deal reviews for Cornerstone OnDemand and Odoo opportunities.
• Hire, train, and onboard delivery staff, building bench strength across Project Management, Business Consulting, and Technical Consulting disciplines.
• Manage, mentor, and coach a team of direct reports, fostering a culture of accountability, quality, and continuous improvement.
• Build and manage client relationships with key decisionmakers from project inception through post-implementation, ensuring high customer satisfaction.
• Manage account and customer escalations, facilitating on-site client meetings where needed and articulating issues and resolution options clearly and succinctly to executive stakeholders.
• Act as executive sponsor on strategic accounts, working closely with Customer Support, Engineering, and Product Management to resolve product-related implementation issues.
• Oversee installation and client acceptance of Cornerstone OnDemand and Odoo product suites across the region.
• Monitor day-to-day delivery activities between client and Phenom Cloud personnel, both on-site and remote.
• Manage partner relationships in coordination with the Sales and Partner Management teams and provide governance for partner-delivered projects.
• Interact with Sales, Systems Engineering, and Product Development to ensure continuity and effective coordination between the organizations.
• Plan and manage service schedules, budgets, and resourcing forecasts for the region.
• Drive sales of Services products and projects, both by working with Sales on deals and by developing customer relationships to identify and create opportunities within the existing customer base.
• Own the Services sales number for North America.
• Establish delivery methodology, quality standards, and best practices for the region.
• Drive best practices and continuous improvement across delivery, methodology, and internal processes.

SKILLS & REQUIREMENTS

• Minimum of 10 years' experience in Professional Services, Support, or Consulting within the enterprise software industry.
• 7 or more years' experience managing people and leading teams in a technical or consulting environment.
• 5 or more years' experience in a senior management role at a top-tier management or technology consulting firm.
• Direct experience managing SaaS deployments for enterprise clients, ideally within HCM/LMS platforms such as Cornerstone OnDemand, Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, or Oracle.
• Proven track record owning a consulting P&L and driving measurable improvements in service quality and client satisfaction.
• Strong executive-level client communication and relationship management skills.
• Experience with SOW structuring, staff augmentation models, and managed services delivery.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams (Sales, Engineering, Product, Support) to resolve technical and operational challenges.
• Strong financial acumen, including budget management, forecasting, and margin analysis.
• Excellent presentation and negotiation skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders.
• Highly organized, with the ability to manage multiple complex client engagements simultaneously.
• Self-driven with a strong sense of ownership and accountability for measurable outcomes.