Havas Life London, Havas SO and SCITERION are coming together to create an integrated network of three Centres of Excellence. By combining the commercial strength of Havas Life London, the PR and patient engagement expertise of Havas SO, and the medical communications leadership of SCITERION, we are building a model that delivers real impact for our clients.
Together, we're stronger: more strategic and creative, more efficient, and better equipped to solve our clients' most demanding challenges. Our shared ambition and cross-disciplinary leadership across creative, strategy, digital, social, medical and growth will drive the next chapter of our agencies.
Summary of Our Role
Reporting to the CEO of the three agencies, we're seeking an experienced Head of Operations to support this transformation and help shape the future of our collective. Someone who thrives on building systems from the ground up and isn't afraid to make tough calls. You’ll set the standards that unlock profitability and creative excellence. Your work directly translates resource into margin - this isn't a support function; it's a commercial driver.
What You Can Expect to Be Doing:
- Design and enforce operational frameworks that stick - You'll build the processes, workflows, and governance structures that three agencies actually use, then hold the line when people push back.
- Master resource planning at scale - Lead quarterly capacity planning cycles, manage the daily resource request process, and maintain the 85% utilisation target that keeps the business healthy and transparent across all levels.
- Become the Pronto expert - Own expert-level knowledge of our project management system: build templates, configure the scheduler, run estimation tools, and train teams independently. You're not calling the vendor; they're calling you.
- Drive profitability through efficiency - Oversee monthly KPI dashboards, job profitability reports, and client efficiency trackers. Every Ops hour is billable, you'll show exactly how operational investment recovers itself through improved team billability.
- Build compliance into culture, not bureaucracy - Ensure consistency in how we handle GDPR, ABPI, timesheet completion, and process documentation across three different business types, without creating chaos.
- Lead systems transformation - Champion the adoption of new platforms and tools (including AI rollout sequencing), partner with senior leaders on operational priorities, and recommend improvements that actually stick.
- Partner strategically with leadership - Conduct monthly account performance reviews with MD’s and Finance, translate data into commercial decisions, and communicate operational insights clearly to stakeholders at every level.
This Role Could Be a Great Fit for You If:
- You've built operations, not just maintained them - You have a track record of designing frameworks from scratch, you're comfortable with ambiguity in the early stages because you know how to create clarity.
- You're commercially literate and speak P&L fluently - You understand how headcount, utilisation, and resource decisions directly impact margin. You think like a business owner, not a coordinator.
- You're comfortable making resourcing decisions independently - You don't need consensus to hold the line with senior stakeholders. You can say no and explain why in a way that lands.
- You've led cross-functional teams through systems change - You've implemented or mastered platforms like Pronto, managed people through adoption curves, and turned processes into habits.
- You're analytically rigorous but a clear communicator - You can pull insights from data and translate them into decisions for MDs and finance teams. Excel, PowerPoint, and dashboards are your second language.
- You set standards and actually enforce them - You're not afraid of conflict when the process requires it. You follow through, and you expect others to do the same. You're a great communicator who builds credibility through consistency.
- You're curious about emerging tech and eager to shape the future - You're ready to sequence an AI rollout thoughtfully, build knowledge bases, and position the agency to lead in how we work.
- You believe in building inclusive, high-performance teams - You're committed to upholding diversity, ethical standards, and psychological safety while maintaining commercial rigour.
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