Director of Operational Excellence

Benefits

Additional Information

At ICF Next, we design and deliver integrated solutions that help organisations navigate complexity and create meaningful impact. To support our continued growth and ambition, we are strengthening our leadership team with a role dedicated to ensuring excellence, efficiency, and seamless collaboration across our delivery ecosystem. The Director of Operational Excellence is a transversal leadership role created to ensure that ICF Next E&A functions as a single, high-performance and efficient engine. Reporting to Senior Leadership, you are the guardian of ICF Next's standard of quality. While Delivery Directors (Events, Production, Outreach) own the expertise, the solutions and production of their specific pillars, you are responsible for the integrated quality, seamless cooperation and operational integrity and agility of the collective work. You serve as the strategic partner to the Solution Director; while the Solution Director and Account Management teams drive the innovation of the client solution, you ensure the operational feasibility and delivery excellence of these complex, integrated projects. You act as the final arbiter of transversal quality, ensuring that the agency's internal synchronisation results in a flawless, unified experience for the client from kick-off to final hand-off. Core Responsibilities: Integrated Quality Governance Define and audit the "Quality Gates" for large-scale, multi-pillar projects. You hold the authority to trigger internal quality reviews to ensure the agency's reputation for excellence is protected across all deliverables. Own the connective lines between departments. You create the delivery frameworks to ensure that the quality of work remains consistent as it moves through the production chain (Outreach, Events, and Production). Act as a relay for the MD and CSD. You provide a high-level view of project health, identifying risks to quality or delivery before they impact the client relationship. Strategic Resource Synergy & Validation Review the Project Delivery Model proposed by Delivery Directors and Communication Managers for complex projects. You validate that the project structure and workflow in line with the delivery framework is optimised for integrated delivery and meets the agency's quality benchmarks and cost control. Identify opportunities where transversal talent or shared roles can improve communication flow, as well as delivery & costs efficiency. This includes leveraging expertise from the wider ICF (Europe & Asia, and beyond). You propose these models to Delivery Directors to break down silo-based thinking. Conduct continuous audits of the agency's delivery capabilities, in consultations with Delivery Directors. Identify emerging skill gaps or misalignments between current talent and market demands. Provide recommendations to Senior Leadership for targeted skill development, training programmes, or new strategic hires to ensure the agency's talent pool remains future-proof and competitive. Efficiency & Productivity Monitor the production machinery to identify where quality and cost are being eroded or efficiency is lost. You investigate recurring "re-work" or departmental friction, partnering with Delivery Directors to implement structural fixes. Run market research analysis, identify potential new partnerships and support Delivery Directors in managing key vendors and suppliers Lead the analysis to identify where AI can improve the quality, speed, and cost-effectiveness of the agency's services. In partnership with Delivery Directors, identify concrete opportunities and drive the successful rollout and adoption of AI-driven solutions across the teams. Ensure all implementations are carried out under management approval and in strict accordance with ICF guidelines on the use of AI. Key Relationships & Client Engagement Serve as a direct reporting line to the Managing Director, and with a dotted line to the Client Service Director, providing a transparent, high-level "Heat Map" of agency delivery health. Act as the primary advisor to leadership on operational risk. Act as strategic partner to the Solution Director: Constant collaboration to ensure that the agency's creative and technical ambitions are matched by a robust and realistic delivery plan. Supportive Partner to Account Management: Provide the operational confidence needed for high-stakes client promises. At the request of Account Management, attend key client kick-offs or delivery reviews to represent the agency's commitment to Operational Excellence. Quality Escalation: Act as the senior operational lead in client meetings if transversal delivery issues require a high-level governance-based resolution. Work alongside the Directors of Outreach, Events, and Production to ensure their individual departmental crafts are unified by a seamless, integrated process. Act as a strategic operational resource for Service Directors, who may trigger a request for support to resolve com