Delivery Manager

ABOUT THE ROLE
This role is about relationships that move business forward.
As a Client Partnership Lead at Speed & Function, you are the person clients genuinely trust. Not because you always say yes — but because you understand their business more deeply than they expect, you speak honestly, and you actually deliver what you promise.
You build long-term partnerships: you know key stakeholders by name, understand their priorities, and sense problems before they become crises. You are not a relay manager between client and team — you are the person who holds the full picture and steers the relationship in the right direction.
This role exists because S&F is growing. And growth without real client partnership means transactional work, burnout, and missed opportunities.

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WHAT YOU WILL DO
Client partnership

• Be the primary point of contact for client stakeholders — from day-to-day interactions to strategic conversations
• Build genuine trust at the management level: know the people, understand their motivations, know when and who to engage
• Maintain a deep understanding of each client's business: goals, constraints, internal dynamics, what has changed and why
• Run regular account reviews and business development calls — and follow through to make sure what is discussed actually gets done
• Proactively identify opportunities to deepen the partnership or expand the scope of work

Account ownership

• Know each account inside out: the people, the business, the dynamics, the history
• Maintain a living account strategy — where it is now, where it needs to go, and how to get there
• Drive the account forward without being pushed

Pre-sales and business development

• Lead pre-sale conversations, scoping discussions, and proposals — with real thinking behind them, not templates
• Identify up-sell and cross-sell opportunities based on genuine understanding of client needs
• Represent S&F credibly and honestly with both technical and business stakeholders

Delivery oversight

• Stay close to delivery realities on your accounts without micromanaging PMs or teams
• Identify risks early and act before they escalate
• Be the first escalation point — for both the client and the team

Team partnership

• Support PMs with context, stakeholder management, and escalation paths
• Help teams understand client priorities — and help clients understand team constraints
• Be the person people bring a problem, an idea, or a concern to

Research and strategic thinking

• Continuously research the client's market, business model, and competitive context
• Surface insights from delivery, client feedback, and team dynamics to inform what S&F does next

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WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Client-centricity

• Builds genuine, long-term relationships — not transactional ones
• Knows when to listen and when to speak; when to agree and when to push back constructively
• Manages expectations honestly, without being sycophantic or evasive
• Naturally adapts communication style to the audience: CTO, PM, or operations manager

Account ownership mindset

• Takes full responsibility for what happens on an account — no "that's not my part"
• Drives the account forward without being pushed
• Knows the account inside out: people, business, dynamics, history

Delivery fluency

• Understands SDLC well enough to have meaningful conversations about delivery
• Does not need to be the most technical person in the room, but cannot be out of depth on delivery topics
• Spots when a process is not working and proposes changes

Proactivity and initiative

• Identifies gaps and acts on them without being asked
• Brings ideas, hypotheses, and proposals — not just status updates
• Comfortable working in ambiguity without needing everything defined in advance

Strategic thinking

• Connects S&F strategy, client strategy, and account-level execution into one coherent direction
• Thinks about where an account is going, not just where it is today

Communication

• Excellent spoken and written English — C1 is a hard minimum
• Documents decisions and context clearly so nothing is lost when things change

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EXPERIENCE

• 5+ years in IT service delivery, account management, or client partnership — specifically in IT / software development companies
• Proven experience building client relationships at a management level, not just executing requests
• Experience with pre-sales, scoping, and proposal preparation
• Track record of managing multiple accounts simultaneously
• Familiarity with Agile / SDLC environments and engineering team dynamics
• Experience in a remote, distributed team is a strong plus
• C1 English — firm requirement for this role

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WHY THIS IS WORTH YOUR TIME
This is not a role where you relay messages between clients and teams. You build relationships, shape strategy, and own outcomes. The accounts you take on will grow or stagnate based on what you do with them.
You will be joining a Deliberately Developmental Organization, where growth is not a perk or a talking point — it is built into how we work every day.
It is a place for someone who wants ownership, depth in relationships, and real impact — and who is ready to operate where not everything is defined in advance.

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Hiring process

• Recruiting interview — initial conversation about background, motivation, fit
• Tech interview — 60 min
• Interview with Head of the Department — 60 min
• Interview with Founder — 60 min