Technical Chief Operations Officer

About the role Intercept seeks a commercially astute, technically credible Technical Chief Operations Officer (TCOO) to lead its technical delivery organisation. As an executive leadership team member, the TCOO will translate growth ambitions into reliable, profitable and scalable execution. The role integrates cyber and professional services, technical practices, service delivery, project management, resource planning and governance. It connects sales demand, technical capacity and customer outcomes, ensuring secure, consistent and commercially sound delivery of recurring services and projects. Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the TCOO combines strategic leadership with operational discipline: setting standards, developing leaders and using data, technology, automation and AI to improve customer value and service economics. Key responsibilitiesExecutive leadership and strategy ·      Contribute to company strategy, culture, investment priorities and growth as an executive leadership team member. ·      Translate business strategy into a clear technical operations plan with defined priorities, accountabilities, measures and investment requirements. ·      Advise the Chief Executive Officer and Board on delivery performance, operational risk, technical capability, service innovation and the investments required to scale. ·      Create an integrated operating model across managed services, professional services, technical practices, project management and resource planning. ·      Model sound judgement, transparency and accountability, with a commitment to excellent customer and employee outcomes. Technical operations and service delivery ·      Own end-to-end operational performance across Intercept's technical delivery functions and customer service portfolio. ·      Ensure managed services meet service levels, contractual obligations, security requirements and agreed quality standards. ·      Ensure professional services and customer projects are delivered to scope, schedule, budget and quality expectations. ·      Establish regular reviews of service performance, project health, capacity, change, risk, escalations and corrective actions. ·      Build scalable delivery models that support growth while protecting quality, resilience, security and the employee experience. Financial performance and commercial accountability ·      Own the technical operations profit and loss account, including revenue delivery, gross margin, utilisation, operating costs and profitability against plan. ·      Control project profitability, service economics, costs and changes, identifying overruns early. ·      Improve margin through disciplined delivery, effective workforce planning, automation, service standardisation and appropriate commercial models. ·      Lead operational budgeting, forecasting and investment planning, correcting deviations promptly. ·      Provide timely financial and operational reporting to the CEO, Finance leadership and Board. Resource management capacity and utilisation ·      Own capacity planning, central scheduling and resource allocation across technical teams and service lines. ·      Align workforce capacity and skills with contracted demand, sales pipeline, delivery priorities and forecast growth. ·      Manage utilisation, productivity and coverage targets while protecting delivery quality and team sustainability. ·      Use data-driven capacity models to guide hiring, outsourcing, partner use, organisational design and investment. ·      Ensure specialist skills are deployed effectively across projects, recurring services, presales activity and internal improvement priorities. Project management delivery governance and quality ·      Own the project management capability, including delivery methodologies, governance standards, reporting and portfolio oversight. ·      Implement consistent controls for scope, estimation, dependencies, risk, acceptance, change requests and commercial recovery. ·      Ensure project and service reporting is accurate, timely and useful to customers, delivery leaders and executives. ·      Intervene on material service or project risks, with clear ownership and measurable recovery outcomes. ·      Drive improvement through structured reviews, root-cause analysis and lessons learned. Sales presales and customer alignment ·      Partner with Sales and Presales to ensure proposed solutions are technically sound, commercially viable and operationally deliverable. ·      Provide executive oversight of complex scoping, estimation, delivery assumptions, service transitions and material contract commitments. ·      Align sales forecasts with delivery capacity so pipeline conversion leads to successful execution and an excellent customer experience. ·      Build trusted relationships with senior customers, acting as an executive escalation point and strategic adviser on technology and operations. ·      Use service reviews and executive business reviews to demonstrate value, address risks and identify appropriate opportunities for expansion. Technology automation and operational insight ·      Set strategy for service management, professional services automation, monitoring, reporting and workflow platforms. ·      Track service levels, project health, margin, utilisation, capacity, customer satisfaction and forecast accuracy using reliable data. ·      Drive automation and AI adoption where it improves customer outcomes, operational resilience, employee effectiveness or service economics. ·      Establish clear governance for AI-enabled operations, including data protection, security, quality, accountability and human oversight. ·      Use performance trends to prioritise improvements, shape the service portfolio and inform workforce and investment decisions. People leadership and organisational capability ·      Develop delivery and technical leaders, practice leads, project professionals and operational specialists. ·      Build an inclusive, high-performance culture with clear objectives, delegation, feedback and accountability. ·      Build leadership depth, technical career pathways and succession plans across critical operational and technical roles. ·      Identify capability gaps and implement targeted hiring, development, certification and retention plans. ·      Promote collaboration across Technical Operations, Sales, Presales, Finance, People, Security and the wider business. Risk security and compliance ·      Identify and manage operational, delivery, cyber, supplier, commercial and people risks. ·      Ensure services and projects comply with applicable laws, regulations, standards, contracts and Intercept policies. ·      Maintain effective controls aligned to relevant frameworks, including ITIL, ISO 27001, NIS2 and DORA where applicable. ·      Ensure business continuity, disaster recovery, incident leadership and operational resilience arrangements are tested and improved. ·      Track developments in cloud, cybersecurity, AI, automation and regulation; advise on operational implications. Key success measures ·      Growth in technical services revenue, gross margin and operating profitability. ·      Achievement of service levels, project milestones and customer quality commitments. ·      Improved billable utilisation, capacity alignment and resource forecast accuracy. ·      Reduction in project overruns, service failures, escalations and avoidable delivery risk. ·      Higher customer retention, satisfaction, advocacy and expansion across the portfolio. ·      Measurable productivity and quality gains from standardisation, automation and AI. ·      Strong employee engagement, leadership depth, skills coverage and succession readiness. ·      Reliable governance, management information, financial forecasting and risk control. Experience and qualifications ·      Substantial senior leadership experience in an MSP, technology services, cloud, cybersecurity or IT operations environment, ideally at Director, COO or equivalent executive level. ·      Proven accountability for a material services profit and loss account, with evidence of revenue growth, margin improvement and disciplined cost control. ·      Experience leading both recurring managed services and project-based professional services across multidisciplinary technical teams. ·      Deep understanding of service delivery, project governance, utilisation, scheduling, capacity planning and operational forecasting. ·      Strong commercial knowledge of recurring revenue, managed service contracts, project pricing, scope control, renewals and service economics. ·      Demonstrated success partnering with Sales and Presales on solution design, estimation, contracting, pipeline planning and delivery readiness. ·      Strong command of operational data and management reporting, with the ability to turn performance trends into clear decisions and action. ·      Knowledge of cloud platforms, cybersecurity services, service management tooling, professional services automation and AI-enabled operations. ·      Working knowledge of ITIL and relevant security and regulatory frameworks. Advanced ITIL, PMP, PRINCE2 or an equivalent qualification is desirable. ·      A master's or bachelor's degree in technology, engineering, business or a related field, or equivalent professional experience. Leadership profile ·      Strategic and technically credible, with the ability to connect market opportunity, commercial performance and delivery reality. ·      A decisive operator who creates structure, sets priorities and maintains calm, visible leadership during pressure or change. ·      Commercially astute and financially literate, with a strong instinct for value, margin, risk and sustainable growth. ·      An effective executive communicator who can engage credibly with the Board, senior customers, partners and colleagues at every level. Transparent and accountable, prepared to raise difficult issues, own outcomes and make principled decisions when required.