Adding an Operations Lead to the team

This week we welcomed an Operations Lead to the CM Beyer team. It’s our second hire in six weeks and the first non-client-facing role on the team. The role is fully remote — based in the West Midlands rather than London — and that’s a deliberate decision we want to write about.

Why an Operations Lead, and why now

We wrote a few weeks back about underestimating how much of running a consultancy is operational rather than strategic. Billing cycles, contract administration, client onboarding, internal knowledge management, supplier coordination, compliance filings — none of this is exciting, but all of it has to happen properly. For our first quarter the founders and the senior consultant absorbed it between us. That was always going to be temporary.

The trigger to hire wasn’t a single crisis. It was the realisation that we were collectively spending around a day a week on operational admin when we should have been spending it with clients. At our day rate, that’s expensive admin.

What the role covers

The Operations Lead will own — not coordinate, own — four areas. Client onboarding and engagement administration. Billing, invoicing, and accounts coordination with our accountants. Internal systems, including our document management and knowledge base. And supplier and contractor relationships, of which we now have more than we’d expected to have at this point.

Functionally, the role frees up roughly two consultant-days a week. That’s the productivity case. The quieter case is that some things — billing accuracy, contract turnaround, client communication during onboarding — get noticeably better when one person owns them rather than three people sharing them.

Why a remote hire

The best candidate for this role wasn’t in London, and we weren’t willing to lose them by insisting they relocate or commute. So the role is genuinely remote — not “remote-friendly” or “hybrid where you come in on Wednesdays”. Office days will happen for specific reasons; otherwise, work happens wherever the work gets done.

We’re aware of the arguments against full remote roles, and some of them are real, particularly around culture and learning for junior team members. For a senior operations role they apply less. Operations leads, in our experience, benefit from being slightly outside the day-to-day client noise. Remote working naturally provides that.

What this signals about the team

Two things, both small but worth saying. First, we’re going to hire whoever is right for the role and figure out the geography afterwards rather than the other way round. Second, we’re going to invest in operational backbone earlier than is strictly necessary, on the bet that it pays back in delivery quality. We’ll find out whether that bet was right over the next six months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this change anything for clients?

You’ll likely interact with our Operations Lead during onboarding, invoicing, and contract changes. Client-facing strategy and delivery work continues to come from the consultants you’re working with.

Are you hiring more remotely?

For most roles, yes. We don’t have a remote-by-default policy in writing, but in practice we hire for capability and trust geography to sort itself out.

How big is the team now?

Four people, three of whom are client-facing. We expect to add one or two more consultants before the end of the year.

What software do you use to run operations?

We’ve kept the stack deliberately small: a project management tool, a document store, time tracking, accounting software, and a CRM. We can recommend what works for similar-sized businesses if useful — drop us a note.