Resource Planning & Allocation Manager

Job Type: FTE
Location: Flexible (US-based, works closely with offshore leadership)
Reports to: Chief Operating Officer
Salary Range: $80,000-$130,000


Role Summary
The Resource Planning & Allocation Manager is responsible for company-wide capacity planning, resource allocation, and utilization management across a multi-practice consulting organization of ~300 employees.
This role owns the end-to-end resource operations system — ensuring the right people are deployed to the right work at the right time, while balancing utilization targets (75%), delivery quality, margin, and employee sustainability.
This position sits within the Operations team, operates above individual practices, and acts as the single point of orchestration between:

• Onshore practice-aligned teams
• Offshore shared services and joint delivery model
• Sales, Pre-Sales, and Delivery leadership

The Resource Planning & Allocation Manager is not an administrative staffing role. It is a strategic operations function with direct revenue, margin, and scale impact.
Core Objectives

• Achieve and sustain 75% company-wide utilization (blended onshore/offshore)
• Establish a single, disciplined staffing and allocation system
• Optimize onshore vs offshore mix to support scale and margin
• Provide leadership with real-time visibility into capacity, demand, and risk
• Reduce delivery friction, bench inefficiency, and last-minute staffing escalations

Key Responsibilities1. Company-Wide Resource Planning & Allocation

• Own the single intake process for all resource requests across practices:
  • Billable delivery
  • Revenue-linked pre-sales
  • Strategic internal initiatives
• Validate all requests for:
  • Role clarity
  • Skill alignment
  • Start date and duration
  • Onshore vs offshore suitability
• Balance competing priorities across practices based on:
  • Revenue impact
  • Client commitments
  • Utilization targets
  • Strategic initiatives

Outcome: No ad-hoc staffing. No bypassing the system. Predictable delivery.
2. Utilization Management & Optimization (75% Target)

• Track and manage utilization across:
  • Company
  • Practice
  • Role
  • Onshore vs offshore
• Actively identify:
  • Underutilized resources
  • Bench aging risks
  • Over-allocation and burnout signals
• Drive proactive redeployment of resources to improve utilization
• Partner with Practice Leads to rebalance staffing when utilization drops or spikes

Outcome: Utilization is actively managed, not reviewed after the fact.
3. Offshore Shared Services Coordination

• Serve as the primary onshore interface to the Offshore Resource Manager
• Coordinate demand planning for offshore shared services across practices
• Enforce staffing guardrails:
  • Clear role definitions
  • Ramp expectations
  • Allocation discipline
• Ensure offshore resources are:
  • Appropriately leveraged
  • Properly utilized
  • Allocated based on company-wide priorities

Important:
The Offshore Resource Manager handles day-to-day offshore staffing logistics.
The Resource Planning & Allocation Manager owns global orchestration and prioritization.
4. Pre-Sales & Pipeline Alignment

• Partner with Sales and Pre-Sales leadership to:
  • Validate staffing feasibility for opportunities
  • Assess start-date realism
  • Identify capacity constraints early
• Ensure pre-sales resourcing is:
  • Intentional
  • Time-bound
  • Aligned to revenue outcomes
• Prevent over-allocation of top performers into excessive pre-sales cycles

Outcome: Fewer fire drills. Higher conversion with realistic delivery commitments.

5. Margin & Cost Discipline

• Optimize team composition:
  • Senior vs junior mix
  • Onshore vs offshore balance
• Identify margin risk due to:
  • Overstaffing
  • Skill mismatches
  • Prolonged non-billable allocations
• Partner with Finance and Ops to:
  • Track revenue leakage
  • Flag staffing inefficiencies early

Outcome: Staffing decisions support growth and profitability.

6. Workforce Forecasting & Hiring Signals

• Maintain rolling forecasts:
  • 30 / 60 / 90-day demand outlook
  • Practice-level capacity gaps
• Provide hiring recommendations based on:
  • Sustained demand trends
  • Skill shortages
  • Offshore leverage opportunities
• Inform decisions on:
  • Full-time vs contract
  • Onshore vs offshore hiring
  • Role seniority mix

Outcome: Hiring becomes proactive, not reactive.

7. Governance, SOPs & Cadence

• Define and enforce SOPs for:
  • Resource requests
  • Allocation approvals
  • Escalations
  • Swaps and backfills
• Run structured cadences:
  • Weekly utilization & bench review
  • Monthly capacity and forecast review
• Ensure consistency across practices while allowing for practical flexibility

Outcome: Resource operations run as a system, not tribal knowledge.

8. Reporting, Analytics & Leadership Visibility

• Own dashboards and reporting for:
  • Utilization trends
  • Bench aging
  • Allocation by practice
  • Offshore leverage
• Provide leadership with:
  • Clear insights
  • Risks
  • Options (not just problems)
• Partner with Ops and Finance to align metrics across systems (PSA, CRM, etc.).

Required Experience & Skills
Experience

• 8–12+ years in consulting, professional services, or IT services organizations
• Direct experience with:
  • Resource management
  • Capacity planning
  • Utilization tracking
• Experience operating in:
  • Multi-practice environments
  • Offshore / nearshore delivery models
• Comfortable supporting organizations in the 250–500 employee range

Core Skills

• Strong understanding of consulting delivery models
• Utilization, margin, and revenue math
• Workforce planning and forecasting
• Process design and operational discipline
• Advanced Excel / PSA / reporting tools

Critical Soft Skills

• Confident, neutral decision-making
• Ability to push back constructively
• Trusted partner to senior leadership
• Calm under pressure
• Systems thinker with strong judgment

Success Metrics (How This Role Is Measured)

• Company-wide utilization sustained at ~75%
• Reduced bench aging
• Improved offshore utilization and leverage
• Fewer last-minute staffing escalations
• Improved delivery predictability
• Positive feedback from Practice Leads and Delivery leaders

 

Cyclotron is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Cyclotron values diversity, equity and inclusion, and aims to practice DE&I in all that we do.