PFH Technology Group
Head of Professional Services
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Head of Professional Services
Department
Professional Services
Reporting to
Director of Delivery
Location
Dublin/Hybrid, Ireland & UK
Contract
Permanent, full time
Team Size
20 direct or functional reports across 5 practice areas
Travel
Moderate – client visits/vendor events/UK practice activity
About PFH Technology Group
PFH Technology Group is one of Ireland's leading technology services companies, delivering end-to-end ICT solutions across Modern Infrastructure, Networking, Cybersecurity, Digital Workspace, Managed Services, and Professional Services. We operate across Irish and UK markets, partnering with enterprise and public sector organisations to design, deliver, and manage complex technology environments.
Key clients include HSE, Gas Networks Ireland, Cork County Council, Vodafone, and a growing roster of enterprise accounts. The Professional Services practice is a revenue-generating profit centre at the heart of PFH's growth strategy, having grown from €3.5m to €6.5m over three years and targeting €12m+ over the next 24–36 months.
Role Purpose
The Head of Professional Services provides the technical leadership, commercial governance, and people management layer that PFH's PS practice requires to operate at scale. This role is accountable for the 20-person team of engineers, consultants, and architects that sits beneath the Director of Delivery — a population that currently spans five distinct practice domains and delivers the majority of PFH's professional services revenue.
This is not a project manager role. It is not a senior consultant role with a management title attached. The Head of PS owns the health, performance, and direction of the practice as a whole — from how work is won and resourced, to how it is delivered and quality-assured, to how the people within it are developed and retained. The successful candidate will have come from a delivery background and still hold the technical credibility to lead a senior engineering and architecture population, while operating with the commercial awareness of a practice P&L owner.
Why This Role Exists
PFH's PS practice has doubled in three years. The next phase of growth – is to double in size again - cannot be led by a Director of Delivery who is simultaneously accountable for 20 technical direct reports, programme governance, field operations, managed services, and board-level strategy. The Head of PS role creates the management infrastructure that scale requires - technical governance, utilisation discipline, career architecture, and practice identity. This is the most important hire in the Delivery Organisation's current growth phase.
Practice Structure
The Head of PS has functional leadership across five practice domains. Each domain is led at a senior technical level by Principal Consultants or Lead Architects, who are themselves direct or functional reports to the Head of PS. The Head of PS is responsible for the coherence, quality, and commercial performance of all five practices as a unified portfolio.
Practice
Primary Focus Areas
PS FTE (approx.)
Data Centre & Infrastructure
Server, storage, HCI, virtualisation (VMware, Hyper-V), SAN/NAS design and migration; data centre transformation and consolidation projects
4–5
Network & Security
SD-WAN, firewall architecture (Cisco FTD/FMC, Fortinet), Azure vWAN, network design, ExpressRoute, cybersecurity overlay and secure access
4–5
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Microsoft Practice
Modern Workplace, M365, Teams, Intune, Entra ID, Azure AD, Copilot readiness, Microsoft security stack; Inforcer multi-tenant management
4–5
Cloud Practice
Azure architecture, cloud migration, IaaS/PaaS design, hybrid connectivity, cloud governance frameworks, FinOps discipline
3–4
Digital Workspace
EUC strategy and design, VDI, device management, digital employee experience; bridge between PS and EUC Field Operations
3–4
Key Responsibilities
Practice Leadership & Technical Governance
- Own the technical standards, delivery quality and architectural integrity of all five practice domains.
- Establish and maintain a practice governance framework: peer review, solution assurance, design authority sign-off on complex or high-value engagements.
- Act as the escalation point for technical decisions across practices — the person consultants and architects come to when a problem requires collaboration.
- Drive cross-practice collaboration: identify where multi-domain engagements (e.g. Network + Cloud + Security) require orchestrated delivery and ensure the right people are coordinating.
- Represent PFH's PS capability in pre-sales and solution design discussions alongside Sales and Solutions Architecture.
Commercial & Utilisation Management
- Own the practice P&L contribution: revenue, gross margin, and utilisation performance across all 20 PS FTEs.
- Maintain billable utilisation at target (75–80%) through active pipeline visibility, intelligent resourcing, and bench management — not reactive firefighting.
- Work closely with the Head of PMO and Client Value Director to ensure PS resources are allocated against the right engagements at the right time and at the right commercial terms.
- Identify and develop the commercial opportunity within the existing client base — where does current PS work create the opening for expanded scope, deeper advisory, or new service lines?
- Contribute to the annual operating plan: headcount forecasting, day rate strategy, practice-level revenue targets, and investment requirements.
People Development & Talent
- Provide direct line management to senior consultants, architects, and practice leads; ensure all 20 PS FTEs have a clear manager, a development plan, and a career trajectory.
- Define and own the PS competency and grade framework: what does a Grade 1 Engineer look like vs a Grade 4 Principal? What does progression require? What does excellent look like at each level?
- Build the talent pipeline: identify high-potential engineers, create stretch opportunities, and proactively develop the next generation of Consultants and Architects before you need them.
- Partner with the Director of Delivery on annual talent reviews, performance management, and succession planning.
- Lead the PS practice culture: create an environment where technical excellence is recognised, continuous learning is expected, and people feel they belong to something with a direction.
Practice Development & Capability
- Own the practice capability roadmap: which certifications, which vendor partnerships, which technical domains need investment over the next 12–24 months?
- Drive vendor relationship management at a practice level — Cisco, Microsoft, Fortinet, VMware, and others — ensuring PFH maintains and advances its partner status and deal registration position.
- Develop reusable IP: solution templates, architecture patterns, delivery playbooks, and knowledge assets that reduce delivery risk and improve consistency across engagements.
- Identify new service line opportunities — where is the market moving, and where should PFH be positioning its PS capability ahead of demand?
- Oversee the quality of practice-level documentation, SOWs, and technical proposals — not writing them all, but ensuring the standard is consistently high.
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Delivery Oversight
- Maintain visibility across all active PS engagements: not to manage individual projects (that is the PMO's role) but to spot delivery risk, resource strain, or quality issues before they become client problems.
- Participate in delivery governance alongside the Head of PMO — providing the technical lens to complement the programme management lens.
- Support the Client Value Director in evidencing and communicating the value of PS delivery to key account clients.
- Ensure smooth handover from pre-sales and solution design into delivery — scope is understood, resources are confirmed, and the client's expectations are aligned with what PFH has agreed to deliver.
Experience & Qualifications
Essential Experience
- 10+ years in IT professional services, technology consulting, or managed services — with a meaningful portion in a senior technical or delivery leadership role.
- Proven track record managing a technical team of 10 or more people, with accountability for their performance, development, and wellbeing.
- Hands-on delivery background across at least two of the five PFH practice domains — depth in one, credibility across others.
- Demonstrated commercial awareness: experience owning or contributing to a practice P&L, managing utilisation, or developing the commercial opportunity within an account base.
- Experience operating in a multi-practice or multi-discipline professional services environment — able to see the portfolio, not just individual engagements.
- Track record of developing people — promoting from within, building competency frameworks, creating career pathways for technical professionals.
Technical Credibility — Domain Depth
The Head of PS does not need to be an expert across all five practices. They do need to be deeply credible in at least one or two, and broadly conversant across the rest. Specifically:
| Practice Area | Level of Knowledge Required |
|---|---|
| Data Centre & Infrastructure | Working knowledge of server, storage, and virtualisation architectures; able to review and challenge design decisions at a senior level |
| Network & Security | Solid understanding of enterprise networking and security architecture; able to engage credibly with senior network and security architects |
| Microsoft Practice | Familiarity with the Microsoft stack and modern workplace landscape; able to sponsor and support the practice without being its lead technologist |
| Cloud Practice | Understanding of Azure architecture principles and cloud migration patterns; able to support practice positioning and quality assurance |
| Digital Workspace | Awareness of Virtual Desktop environments and associated services. The interface between PS and field operations; understands the commercial and delivery model differences |
Key Competencies
| Competency | What We're Looking For |
|---|---|
| Practice leadership | Thinks about the practice as a whole — its direction, its capability, its reputation — not just the project in front of them |
| **Commercial acumen |
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