Head of Resource Management

Dufrain is a leading pure-play Data & AI consultancy, we work with clients across a diverse range of industries to modernise data platforms, improve decision-making, and enable AI-driven transformation. 

At Dufrain, our people are at the heart of everything we do. Effective resource management is critical to delivering for our clients, supporting our people’s development and achieving sustainable commercial growth.

Responsibilities

Position Overview.

PSA Implementation

• Manage the implementation roadmap, governance and supplier relationships to ensure successful delivery.
• Drive business-wide change, user adoption and process improvement. 
• Define and oversee key milestones, risks, testing, training and data readiness.

Demand and Workforce Planning

• Lead workforce planning and resource forecasting across client delivery, pipeline opportunities and strategic growth.
• Partner with leadership team to understand future demand, critical roles and capacity requirements.
• Forecast where Dufrain is likely to be under- or over-resourced and provide clear, timely recommendations.
• Recommend recruitment actions based on forecast demand and capacity constraints, working closely with Talent Acquisition and business leadership.
• Drive monthly resourcing reviews, providing clear recommendations on staffing, hiring and workforce priorities, including contractor usage and offshore deployment.
• Identify emerging skills shortages and work with Capability Leads to develop recruitment, upskilling or offshore strategies.

Align People to Opportunities

• Work with Client and Capability Leads to identify and put forward suitably skilled resources for client opportunities, sold work, bids and internal projects.
• Optimise resource deployment across permanent, contractor, partner and offshore resources.
• Balance client demand, employee development, utilisation and commercial performance to maximise business outcomes.

 
Commercial Management

• Understand and actively manage the commercial dynamics of resourcing, including utilisation, revenue and margin optimisation.
• Identify opportunities to improve profitability through effective workforce planning and deployment such as backfills, contractor-to-employee swaps, effective bench deployment and resource mix changes.
• Work with Client Leads to manage customer timing expectations and reduce the commercial impact of deployment delays.
• Challenge resourcing decisions constructively to achieve the best overall client, people and commercial outcome.

Systems, Data and Management Information

• Own resource forecasting, planning and data accuracy across HubSpot, Kantata and internal systems.
• Deliver insightful reporting on utilisation, capacity, demand, bench and margin performance.
• Drive process improvements and data quality initiatives to support effective workforce decisions.
• Produce regular utilisation, demand, capacity, bench and margin analysis for the Executive Team and Business Unit leaders.

Bench Management

• Proactively manage the bench, identifying opportunities to deploy people to client assignments or valuable internal work.
• Work creatively with leaders across the business to reduce average bench time and use available capacity effectively.
• Ensure bench activity supports capability development, strategic priorities and future deployment readiness.

Third-Party Resource Management

• Manage the lifecycle of contingent labour, including partner, contractor and offshore resources.
• Ensure appropriate processes, controls and risk management are in place, including IR35 considerations and supplier governance.
• Optimise the quality, cost and performance of third-party resource solutions.

Business Partnering

• Build strong relationships with Account Directors, Client Partners, Capability Leads, Talent Acquisition and Finance.
• Support account management processes where appropriate, engaging key accounts on a recurring basis and driving forward planning around resourcing and team management.
• Create forward visibility of demand, delivery risks and growth opportunities.
• Work closely with Finance to improve the accuracy of real-time revenue forecasting and challenge stakeholders to achieve efficient commercial outcomes.

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

• Proven experience in leading resource management, workforce planning or project staffing within a consultancy or professional services environment or similarly complex delivery environment.
• Experience implementing PSA, ERP or other business-critical systems.
• Strong commercial understanding of utilisation, revenue, margin, bench cost and resource mix. 
• Ability to translate pipeline demand into practical workforce and hiring plans.
• Experience managing permanent, contractor, partner and offshore resource models.
• Ability to produce and interpret high-quality MI, identify trends and enable evidence-based decisions.
• Experience with CRM and PSA platforms; HubSpot and Kantata experience is beneficial.
• Understanding of contingent workforce governance and IR35 considerations.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders, resolve competing priorities and drive timely decisions.
• Experience leading business change, process improvement and organisational transformation.

Requirements

About the Role.

Resourcing

Lead Dufrain’s resource scheduling and allocation processes, ensuring the right people are aligned to the right roles at the right time. The role will support high-quality client delivery, maximise commercial opportunities and margin, and enable our people’s ambitions and development.

PSA implementation
 
Lead the successful implementation, adoption and continuous improvement of a PSA tool within Dufrain.

Benefits

• Join a leading Data & AI consultancy at an important stage of growth and operational development.
• Shape a business-critical resource management function with direct impact on clients, colleagues and commercial performance.
• Lead the implementation of a core PSA platform and help establish scalable, data-led ways of working.
• Work in a collaborative, inclusive and supportive culture where curiosity, innovation and individual contribution are valued.

If you are an experienced resource management leader who combines commercial judgement, strong stakeholder leadership and successful systems implementation experience, we would love to hear from you.