Pod Head / Lead - Strategic Service Delivery

Real opportunities. Real impact. Your career, redefined.

At Oceans, we believe that talent knows no boundaries. That’s why we connect the best and brightest professionals with career-defining opportunities that challenge, inspire, and accelerate their career growth. Our community, whom we call Divers, don’t just work—they dive deep, solve complex challenges, and make a real impact with global industry leaders. And in doing so, they don’t just support bold ideas—they expand their skills, broaden their expertise, and grow their careers.

We’re looking for a Lead - Strategic Service Delivery [internally referred to as Pod Head] to play a pivotal leadership role, being responsible for managing and coaching the 6 Pod Leaders who each oversee all aspects of 50 client-facing Divers within their pod. As the Pod Head, you will play both a strategic and hands-on role in shaping the performance, growth, and retention of our Diver workforce, aligning their work with Oceans’ mission, vision, and culture.

This role requires an exceptional people leader who can inspire, support, and develop a team of managers while embedding scalable systems and frameworks to ensure the success and sustainability of Divers.

Accountability

As a Head of Delivery & Operations / Leader of Pods, you will have five primary areas of focus, with the expectation that you will be measured on your ability to minimize Diver-related client churn, improve Diver retention, and elevate the leadership performance of Pod Leaders.

Here’s how you’ll make an impact:

Pod Leadership and Coaching

• Lead, manage, and coach the team of 6 Pod Leaders, ensuring consistency, quality, and excellence in how Divers are managed.
• Set clear expectations and rhythms for team communication, performance reviews, check-ins, and reporting.
• Support Pod Leaders in identifying and addressing Diver performance concerns, grievance escalations, and operational roadblocks.

Diver Experience and Retention Strategy

• Provide strategic oversight and continuous improvement of the Diver engagement and retention framework, working through Pod Leaders to drive execution.
• Monitor Diver satisfaction, attrition trends, and root causes of regrettable resignations; implement interventions with measurable impact.
• Own and refine retention-related OKRs, in collaboration with the Head of Diver Success.

Operational Effectiveness

• Design and implement systems, SOPs, and workflows that support Pod Leaders in their operational responsibilities (e.g., time-off approvals, grievance handling, issue resolution, etc.).
• Create internal alignment and visibility through shared dashboards, retention trackers, and feedback loops.
• Coordinate with Integration, Client Success, and HR teams to ensure operational cohesion and data-driven decision-making.

Talent Development and Training

• Partner with Training and HR teams to identify leadership development needs for Pod Leaders and support career development pathways.
• Drive quality control across performance management processes, ensuring timeliness and fairness in Diver reviews.
• Champion a learning culture that emphasizes feedback, coaching, and continuous improvement.

Strategic Leadership and Stakeholder Management

• Act as a key thought partner to the Head of Diver Success, contributing to long-term strategic planning and decision-making.
• Represent Diver and Pod Leader perspectives in company-wide initiatives.
• Maintain strong cross-functional relationships to ensure alignment and collaboration across departments.

Colleagues

Your primary partners will be the Pod Leaders themselves. You’ll work closely with our Training, HR, and Integration Success teams to help our Pod Leaders get the right support at the right time. At times you will also work with the Sales team to align our Diver management and selling motions.

While working cross-functionally, this role reports to Kavitha Gunesekera, our Head of Diver Success.

Skills and Qualifications

At Oceans, we believe in T-shaped people with one area of deep vertical expertise and broad horizontal interests. As Head of Operations, the legs of your T should be in leading leaders, designing scalable people systems, and delivering impact through cross-functional collaboration. Your arms should extend to understanding global talent dynamics, business operations, and growth strategy.

The interview process will include opportunities to demonstrate skills in each of the following areas:

• Leading through people: Have you confidently managed other leaders or managers towards common goals and consistent performance standards?
• Growth mindset: How successful have you been in transforming (as opposed to transacting) strategy into execution?
• Planning and prioritization: How adept are you at allocating resources, anticipating obstacles, monitoring progress, and communicating changes to ensure successful project completion?
• Business acumen: Are you aware of key business issues? How have you applied that knowledge and the confidence to take action informed by past experiences?
• Collaboration / Stakeholder management: Do internal teams feel you understand what they do and how to interface with them, including where you will take ownership and where you will collaborate?

Diversity of experience is core to Oceans. You are expected to work inclusively with individuals from a variety of backgrounds, ensuring that both personal and collective dignity are supported.

During the interview process, you’ll have the opportunity to showcase your skills in the following areas:

• Leading through People: Have you led a team toward shared goals and consistent performance?
• Growth Mindset: Have you helped a team evolve and grow - not just execute?
• Planning & Prioritization: How do you define goals, allocate resources, and keep work on track?
• Business Acumen: Are you aware of key business issues and how your team impacts the bigger picture?
• Collaboration: How do you manage cross-functional relationships and stakeholder dynamics?

Role Specifications

This is a hybrid role and you should expect to be in-person roughly 7 to 10 days a month. Information about our benefits and compensation philosophy, along with an opportunity to update our understanding of both market and individual factors, will be available during our offer process.

About Oceans

At Oceans, we build remote teams that connect the world’s top 1% of talent with visionary leaders. With us, you’re not just doing a job - you’re redefining your career with opportunities designed to unlock your potential. We welcome the chance to discuss the complementary parts of our business during your interview process and encourage questions about where we are and where we are going.