Director of Professional Services

Classera

Classera is looking for a seasoned, strategic, and execution-focused Senior Director of Professional Services to lead the delivery of enterprise implementations, custom development, and client-facing solutions across the MENA region. This role will oversee engagements with major public and private sector clients such as Ministries of Education, government agencies, and corporate training institutions.

You will be responsible for establishing Professional Services as a standalone, scalable, and financially disciplined function allowing Core Engineering to remain focused on long-term innovation. This role blends operational rigor, client strategy, and cross-functional leadership to ensure smooth execution, clear governance, and client satisfaction.

Mission & Function

The Product Professional Services function is responsible for:

• Delivering technical implementations and enterprise-grade rollouts
• Managing client-specific customizations under Time & Materials (T&M) billing models
• Supporting high-stakes tenders and integrating with internal/external platforms
• Working with Product to classify requests as custom, productized, or third-party delivery

As the head of this function, you will be tasked with building delivery structure, enforcing execution discipline, and owning end-to-end service quality and profitability.

Key Responsibilities

Organizational Leadership & Execution

• Build and lead a high-performance team including Implementation Consultants, Program Managers, Business Analysts, and Technical Account Managers (TAMs)
• Define Classera s delivery framework, onboarding playbooks, and governance model
• Manage a T&M-based resource pool, balancing quality, cost, and delivery timelines
• Transition current Ministry-aligned staff into this centralized delivery team

Customization Governance

• Build and implement a Customization Evaluation Framework with Product and Engineering
• Review client feature asks for feasibility and alignment with Classera s roadmap
• Define, price, and manage all Statements of Work (SOWs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
• Separate client-specific development from roadmap priorities with strict documentation

Executive Client Leadership

• Act as the executive point of contact for major clients, including:
• Ministries of Education (e.g., Oman, Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait)
• Government agencies and large enterprise accounts
• Lead client steering committees, quarterly business reviews (QBRs), and executive syncs
• Oversee national rollouts, integrations, and strategic client engagement plans

Product & Engineering Alignment

• Act as the bridge between delivery teams and Product/Engineering
• Flag high-demand features for roadmap inclusion
• Ensure that all services work integrates smoothly with Classera s products (LMS, C-Pay, Edumalls, C-Smarx)
• Maintain scalability and quality across all deployments

Vendor & Ecosystem Management

• Manage external System Integrators (SIs) and vendors handling outsourced delivery
• Ensure quality control and contractual compliance on third-party work
• Oversee integration of external solutions into Classera's platform when required (e.g. analytics, AI tools, reporting layers)

Operational & Financial Ownership

• Own the full intake and triage process for all services work (core vs. custom vs. external)
• Track delivery KPIs: project timelines, success rate, client satisfaction (CSAT), gross margin
• Collaborate with Finance, Legal, and Sales to enforce pricing, billing, and profitability
• Build financial discipline into all billable engagements

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in enterprise software delivery, consulting, or professional services
• 5+ years in leadership roles, with proven experience leading complex implementations
• Strong knowledge of education technology (K-12/Higher Ed) or government procurement environments
• Experience with SaaS delivery, customization lifecycles, and T&M billing
• Hands-on experience with SOWs, SLAs, and working with external development vendors
• Fluent in English and Arabic
• Bachelor s in Business, Engineering, or Education; MBA preferred

Key Competencies

• Strategic Thinker: Can balance near-term delivery with long-term scalability
• Builder: Comfortable designing new teams, processes, and structures from scratch
• Diplomatic Leader: Executive presence with excellent stakeholder engagement skills
• Metrics-Driven: Focused on KPIs, dashboards, financials, and performance
• System-Oriented: Understands the delivery stack from intake to rollout