Business Operations Partner

About the Role

The Business Operations Partner acts as a senior operational leader and trusted partner to the CLOO and wider Leadership Team. You will play a pivotal role in shaping, embedding and continuously improving how the business operates - ensuring our systems, controls, processes and ways of working are scalable, compliant and efficient as we grow rapidly.

This is a hands-on, delivery-focused role operating across Procurement, Business Assurance, Business Support and in close partnership with IT & Security. While IT & Security will not report directly into you, you will work very closely with this function, providing strong operational alignment, governance input and commercial oversight.

A core element of the role is ownership of the consultant, subcontractor, supplier operational lifecycle, ensuring controls, compliance, quality and experience are maintained at every stage.

You will balance strategic problem-solving with operational execution, driving improvement while maintaining high standards of service in a fast-paced, scaling environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the senior operational partner to the CLOO and Leadership Team, shaping priorities across the Business Operations Hub.

• Lead cross-functional initiatives that improve efficiency, governance and scalability.

• Build strong working relationships across Sales, Talent, Finance, Legal, Engagement and Delivery.

• Establish, monitor and report on Hub-level KPIs and performance metrics.

• Maintain oversight of ISO certifications (9001, 27001, 20000-1).

• Own business process optimisation and continuous improvement activity.

• Develop and embed business controls, SOPs and governance frameworks.

• Lead quality assurance input into strategic bids, audits and accreditations.

• Act as the operational partner to IT & Security leadership.

• Ensure IT, data protection and cyber security controls align with wider business operations.

• Support governance, supplier management and commercial oversight of IT services.

• Contribute to the evaluation and implementation of emerging technologies and AI governance.

• Lead procurement operations, supplier management, contract processes and commercial controls.

• Ensure procurement supports growth, cost control and risk reduction.

• Oversee HR operational administration for FTE and contractor workforce.

• Own onboarding, offboarding, vetting, screening and compliance workflows.

• Manage consultant, subcontractor and supplier contract lifecycles.

• Oversee IR35, security clearances and workforce compliance.

• Analyse operational performance across cost, quality, risk and timelines.

• Lead regular operational reviews across all Hubs.

• Build dashboards and reporting frameworks to track operational health.

• Embed a continuous improvement mindset across operational teams.

Who You Are and How You’ll Make an Impact

You are a commercially astute operational leader with experience in scaling consultancy, technology or professional services environments. You bring both strategic thinking and hands-on execution, with the credibility and confidence to partner at executive level.

You are calm under pressure, data-led in your decision-making, and relentless about quality, efficiency and control. You naturally spot inefficiencies, risks and opportunities for improvement, and you act decisively to resolve them.

You build strong cross-functional relationships quickly and are trusted to own high-impact operational problems end to end. Your impact will be seen in stronger controls, smoother ways of working, better governance, reduced risk, and a consistently high-quality experience for customers, suppliers and our workforce.

A Day in the Life

Reporting between the CLOO and the People Director, you’ll spend your time moving between strategic problem-solving and hands-on operational delivery across the business.

A typical day might include:

• Reviewing operational performance dashboards and identifying emerging risks or inefficiencies.

• Meeting with IT & Security to align on cyber, data and system governance.

• Leading a cross-Hub review on onboarding, procurement or workforce compliance.

• Supporting a strategic bid with assurance and quality input.

• Partnering with Finance on supplier cost control or contract optimisation.

• Working with Talent and Engagement on workforce operations or associate compliance.
  Preparing executive updates on operational performance and transformation initiatives.

This is a highly visible, high-impact role where you will shape how the business runs at scale, not just today, but for the future.