Pod Leader

job description This role sits within our Centre of Excellence - the engine room where SmartPA 's strategy comes to life - and is dedicated to one of our key client accounts, a global tech leader. As a Pod Leader, you'll lead a small, dedicated team of up to 7 people, known internally as a “pod.” You'll be responsible for the day-to-day running of your team's work, making sure it's delivered to a consistently high standard, on time and in line with our client's expectations. You won't be doing this in isolation - your pod is part of a wider group dedicated to this client, so you'll work closely with other team leads, quality assurance, and automation colleagues, as well as management above you and your team below you. You'll also be one of the friendly, familiar faces the client sees regularly. Alongside managing your team, you'll build genuine relationships with client contacts, keep them updated, and be the person they know they can rely on. This role suits someone who enjoys leading and coaching a small team, thrives in a fast-paced environment, is comfortable with technology, curious about how AI can make work better, and takes real ownership of getting things done well. key responsibilities and skills This is a hands-on leadership role where people, delivery and continuous improvement all matter equally. Leading Your Team - Leading and motivating your team to consistently deliver high-quality work, on time - Overseeing your team's day-to-day work from start to finish - balancing workloads and setting clear priorities - Keeping an eye on team capacity and making sure agreed service levels are consistently met - Working closely with your peer team leads, QA and automation colleagues to solve problems and keep improving how the account runs Developing Your People - Directly managing, coaching and supporting your team members so they can do their best work and grow professionally - Encouraging good ways of working and consistent standards across the team Innovation & Smarter Ways of Working - Spotting where automation or AI could save your team time or make their work more accurate - Clearly briefing our technical automation and AI colleagues on what your team actually needs - Helping your team adopt new tools and changes smoothly when they're rolled out Tracking Performance - Keeping track of service levels, team capacity and delivery using our internal tools - Working with the Service Delivery Lead to review performance, celebrate what's going well and flag any risks early - Being the first point of contact when something needs fixing, and taking quick action to sort it Working With the Client - Being an approachable, trusted contact for the client - running check-ins, onboarding new users and answering day-to-day questions - Working smoothly across SmartPA teams so communication stays joined-up and everyone's working toward the same goals skills An experienced people manager who's just as comfortable coaching a team as they are keeping daily workflows organised and running smoothly. You take pride in the quality of your team's work, build trust easily, and genuinely enjoy finding better ways of doing things. You'll thrive in this role if you: - Lead calmly and confidently, even when things get busy - Are a natural people manager who builds trust and gets the best out of your team - Are highly organised and confident managing several workstreams at once - Have a data-driven mindset and a good eye for detail - Are a strong problem-solver who takes quick, sensible action when issues come up - Enjoy spotting smarter ways of working and can explain what you need clearly to technical teams experience We hire for mindset as much as background - a strong sense of ownership and a willingness to learn go a long way. Essential - Experience leading, managing and developing a small team in a busy, fast-paced environment. - Confident building relationships with external clients as w