Staffing Operations Manager

Keystone is a premier economics, technology, and strategy consulting firm built to help companies lead through transformation. As breakthrough innovations reshape industries, redefine competition and change our society, complex and highly competitive ecosystems emerge. Keystone advises technology leaders, Fortune 100 companies, their legal counsel, and governments on business, economic, litigation, and regulatory strategy in relation to these innovations and competitive eco-systems. We operate globally from offices in New York City, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, London, Dubai, and Washington, D.C.

We’re growing quickly and looking for a Staffing Operations Manager to support the operational and strategic success of our Staffing & Workforce Deployment function.

About the Staffing Operations Manager Role

The Staffing Operations Manager oversees the firm's Staffing & Workforce Deployment function — reviewing and validating deployment decisions, resolving complex or contested staffing requests, and setting the strategic direction for how talent flows across the firm. Day-to-day staffing decisions and execution sit with the Staffing & Workforce Associate; the Manager's role is to review those decisions, navigate difficult calls, and communicate clearly with practice leadership when situations require escalation. Beyond oversight, the Manager leads the function's longer-horizon work: staffing technology evaluation and implementation, the firm's talent skills database, staffing analytics, utilization reporting, and monthly project balancing.

This is a hybrid role with a minimum in office requirement of 3 days per week.

We are not able to provide relocation support for this position. We value talent from all backgrounds; however, for this position, we are unable to sponsor employment visas. We welcome applications from individuals who are already authorized to work in the United Kingdom without sponsorship.

Key Responsibilities:

Decision Review & Complex Request Resolution

Review staffing placement decisions made by the Associate and approve, redirect, or escalate as appropriate

Resolve contested or complex staffing requests — cross-practice conflicts, competing priorities, specialized skill requirements

Navigate decision path and communication with practice leadership on difficult or sensitive staffing calls

Own the federated staffing governance model — the process by which requests escalate from CoE-level to the central function

Staffing Analytics & Utilization

Drive and report on staffing analytics for RevOps and firm leadership — utilization, bench time, deployment patterns, CoE-level variances

Raise utilization concerns proactively to RevOps leadership with recommended corrective actions

Own monthly project balancing across the firm — ensuring equitable and optimal deployment firmwide

In-Month Pacing & Demand Management

Monitor pacing by engagement throughout the month, tracking utilization against the staffed plan and identifying staffing deviation

Assess whether each engagement is trending to meet the month's demand target; escalate pacing risks proactively to RevOps leadership

Report pacing status by engagement, CoE, and geography on a regular cadence

Cross-Functional Partnerships

The Staffing Operations Manager works across multiple functions to ensure staffing decisions connect to the firm's financial, operational, and talent infrastructure.

Pipeline & Revenue Intelligence — Receive demand forecasts and pipeline signals and translate into near-term staffing projections and deployment plans; coordinate proactively when Revenue Intelligence surfaces demand cliffs, engagement extensions, or pipeline acceleration; feed in-month pacing data back to Revenue Intelligence to inform revenue forecast updates and flag where utilization deviation is creating revenue risk

Billing Operations — Surface staffing deviation and pacing gaps when utilization shortfalls create at-risk billing; coordinate on redeployment scenarios where overpacing creates uncaptured demand that can be converted to billable revenue; flag headcount changes — additions, rolloffs, redeployments — that affect the active invoicing pipeline

FP&A — Provide utilization, headcount, and capacity data that feeds financial planning models and period reporting; surface bench time and overallocation patterns that affect margin; own staffing input into firmwide headcount planning; coordinate on capacity cost assumptions during annual planning

HR & Recruiting — Raise hiring signals when staffing analytics reveal persistent capacity shortfalls or skill gaps that cannot be addressed through redeployment; provide demand-driven headcount projections to inform Recruiting's pipeline planning and sourcing timelines; coordinate on onboarding logistics to ensure new hires are deployment-ready from Day 1; partner on the talent skills database to ensure Recruiting understands what profiles the firm needs as it scales

Technology & Skills Infrastructure

Lead evaluation and selection of staffing technology / resource management application for the firm

Own implementation and adoption of the chosen staffing platform in partnership with IT and practice leadership

Lead build-out of the firm's talent skills database in partnership with L&D and the Product team

Ensure the skills database is maintained, adopted, and integrated into staffing decisions over time

Process, Policy & Workforce Planning

Own staffing policies, processes, and governance documentation; maintain and improve as the firm scales

Own staffing input into firmwide headcount planning

Team Management

Manage and develop the team

Build the team's capability as the firm expands

Ensure Associate has the tools, context, and decision frameworks to execute day-to-day staffing confidently

What Success Looks Like

Complex staffing decisions are resolved quickly and communicated clearly — practice leaders are never left waiting

Utilization data is visible, accurate, and acted on before variances become margin problems

A staffing platform and skills database are selected, implemented, and adopted firmwide

The Associate operates with confidence and autonomy on day-to-day placements; the Manager's time is spent on the harder problems

What You’ll Bring

Enthusiastic, team-player who is willing to dive in head-first in a fast-paced environment at a growing firm

5–7 years of experience in resource management, workforce planning, or staffing operations, preferably within professional services or consulting

Strong analytical skills; comfortable driving staffing analytics and presenting findings to senior and executive leadership

Experience evaluating or implementing resource management technology; familiarity with Salesforce and CRM platforms preferred

Proficient in Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)

Excellent judgment on complex staffing decisions; able to navigate ambiguity, competing priorities, and sensitive situations with discretion

High professional and ethical standards; experienced handling confidential information appropriately

Natural collaborator and people-person; able to work effectively with practice leaders, HR, Finance, L&D, and executive leadership

Able to work independently and provide guidance to senior stakeholders across operational areas

Organized, deadline-oriented, and comfortable managing ad hoc projects as business needs emerge

Enthusiastic self-starter who thrives in a fast-paced, growing environment

At Keystone we believe diversity matters. At every level of our firm, we seek to advance and promote diversity, foster an inclusive culture, and ensure our colleagues have a deep sense of respect and belonging. If you are interested in growing your career with colleagues from varied backgrounds and cultures, consider Keystone. In addition to annual salary, we provide an annual discretionary bonus, 401k contribution, and competitive benefits package. Actual Compensation within the range will depend upon the level the individual is hired into based on their skills, experience, and qualifications.

Annual Salary Range £55,000 — £94,000 GBP

At Keystone we believe diversity matters. At every level of our firm, we seek to advance and promote diversity, foster an inclusive culture, and ensure our colleagues have a deep sense of respect and belonging. If you are interested in growing your career with colleagues from varied backgrounds and cultures, consider Keystone.