Head of Service Delivery

We are an emerging AI infrastructure start-up building next-generation data centres and high-performance compute environments to power AI, LLM training, and cloud-scale workloads, powered by renewable energy, rooted in sovereign capability, and designed to give enterprises and innovators the compute they need. Backed by leading investors, we are rapidly expanding our site development pipeline, engineering capabilities, and commercial partnerships.

We're seeking an exceptional Head of Service Delivery, Assurance and Support to define and execute our service strategy, ensuring best in class service and support for our growing customer base. This is a unique opportunity to build from the ground up establishing the operational foundation that will scale with our business and set new standards for AI/HPC service excellence.

Reporting directly to the COO, you'll be accountable for the end-to-end service experience, from proactive infrastructure management to customer facing support. You'll build and lead a world class team, establish operational frameworks, and create a culture of operational excellence that balances technical sophistication with genuine customer obsession.

This is a foundational leadership role in a rapidly growing company, you'll have the autonomy to build the right team, implement the right processes, and establish the operational culture that will carry Carbon3.ai through hypergrowth.

Key Responsibilities: Strategic Leadership & Service Excellence:

• Define and execute service strategy for Carbon3.ai's mesh of interconnected HPC sites, building the organisation from scratch with scalable team structure, processes, and culture.
• Establish enterprise grade SLA frameworks and drive operational excellence through ITIL, DevOps, and SRE principles adapted for AI/HPC infrastructure.
• Manage service P&L, partner with Sales and Customer Success on service offerings, and represent operations at executive level.
• Lead quarterly business reviews with key customers, demonstrating service performance and strategic value.

Service Delivery, Assurance & Operations:

• Champion the customer voice by tracking satisfaction (NPS, CSAT), establishing effective escalation, and delivering clear reporting on service health, telemetry, and utilisation.
• Own end-to-end HPC service delivery across all sites, ensuring consistent performance, uptime, reliability, and operational readiness for diverse customer segments.
• Lead service assurance and resilience through robust monitoring, incident/problem/change management, critical incident response, disaster recovery, and business continuity.
• Enable scale, efficiency, and compliance by driving automation, optimising liquid cooling and environmental efficiency, and ensuring regulatory compliance including UK data and technology sovereignty.
• Build and lead high-performing service organisation including NOC/SOC, Service Desk, SRE, Field Engineering, and potentially Customer Success/Technical Account Management.
• Recruit exceptional talent, manage outsourced support providers, and establish performance management frameworks with clear KPIs and development pathways.
• Foster culture of technical excellence, customer obsession, and operational discipline across all service functions.
• Mentor team leaders and ensure seamless collaboration across the service organisation.
• 10+ years in service delivery, operations, or infrastructure management in HPC, cloud, or mission-critical environments, with multiple years in senior leadership building and scaling service organisations through hypergrowth.
• Deep AI/HPC infrastructure expertise including GPU computing, high-performance networking, storage systems, and workload management, with proven experience serving regulated sectors (financial services, healthcare, government).
• Track record defining and implementing service strategies that balance operational excellence with business growth, managing both internal teams and outsourced providers.
• Strong operational frameworks background (ITIL, SRE) with practical experience adapting to organisational needs and demonstrated success in incident/crisis management for critical infrastructure.

Technical Knowledge:

• Comprehensive understanding of data centre operations including power, cooling (particularly liquid cooling), networking, and environmental management.
• Expertise in service monitoring and observability, with experience implementing comprehensive solutions across complex infrastructure.
• Knowledge of AI/HPC components: GPU platforms, InfiniBand/RoCE, parallel file systems, workload managers, container orchestration.
• Understanding of cloud service models, security operations (SOC capabilities, threat detection), and automation/infrastructure-as-code approaches.

Leadership & Regulatory:

• Exceptional team builder with strategic thinking ability to translate business objectives into operational capabilities.
• Outstanding communication skills for technical and non-technical audiences, with proven change leadership in fast-paced environments.
• Customer-focused with genuine passion for service excellence, resilient and adaptable in rapidly scaling businesses.
• Knowledge of security standards (ISO 27001, SOC 2, Cyber Essentials Plus) and experience with audit/attestation processes.

3>One or more would be an advantage:

>Relevant certifications: ITIL Expert/ITIL 4 MP, PMP/PRINCE2, cloud certifications (AWS/Azure Solutions Architect), security (CISSP/CISM).
• Experience in UK AI/HPC ecosystem with established relationships in academia, research, or government sectors.
• Understanding of UK data sovereignty requirements and compliance frameworks for regulated sectors (FCA/PRA, NHSD/DSPT, government security).
• Background in environmental sustainability for data centres and energy efficiency initiatives.
• Knowledge of UK government procurement/security frameworks (G-Cloud, security clearances)

Why Join Carbon3.ai:

You'll be joining a mission-driven start-up building critical national infrastructure, where operational excellence directly enables growth. This role offers high visibility with leadership, real autonomy, and the chance to shape how a next-generation company operates at scale.