Delivery Manager roles and responsibilities in a software company

By definition, a Delivery Manager is a person who is in direct contact with a client.

His role is to explore and understand customer needs, propose the best solutions and implement them.

In this article, we will describe the Delivery Manager’s responsibilities at j-labs and explain why it is almost impossible to run IT projects without one.

We took a close look at the everyday duties of one of our employees – Damian Tworzydło, who works with customers from the DACH market, Scandinavia, and the United States.

Damian has over 9 years of experience in the IT market. He is a certified Scrum Master and speaks Polish, English, and German.

What is Delivery Management at j-labs?

First of all, the Delivery Manager is indispensable in the escalation process for both clients and developers. He is the client’s ambassador at j-labs who oversees the day-to-day work of developers. His contribution to the project starts with planning the work and recruiting specialists, however, his involvement is most significant during the actual project. He acts as a liaison between the development team and a client, ensuring the quality and timeliness of all tasks.

DM’s contribution to the project can be divided into 4 stages:

1. Technical dialogue.
2. Building a team.
3. Project kick-off.
4. Daily basis.

Who is Delivery Manager

At j-labs, all Delivery Managers are technical people with usually senior experience. Strong technological background allows them to understand the specifics of projects and significantly facilitates communication with both clients and the team.

As Damian Tworzydło describes:

“At j-labs, a Delivery Manager is a person with a strategic thinking worthy of a champion chess player, with planning skills equivalent to a parent of a dozen children, and budgeting ability desired by many CTOs.”

Who does a Delivery Manager work with?

In our company, the Delivery Manager is involved in many areas of the organization.

He works with Business Development Managers.

 to find out what a customer needs in terms of products and cooperates with the HR Recruitment department in the hiring process.

He develops a candidate profile in terms of technical and soft skills, participates in the first and last stages of the recruitment process, and focuses on candidates’ compatibility with the team and clients’ needs. 

Additionally, due to j-labs agile operations and relatively flat organizational structure for such a large company, the Delivery Manager supports all processes in the organization. His feedback is heard. He has a real impact on shaping the organization, and thus can quickly implement improvements needed by clients.

You will definitely feel the lack of a Delivery Manager in your project

From the client’s point of view, a Delivery Manager may not be crucial. However, we guarantee that his absence will be strongly felt. Without it, the product is not complete, difficult to use, and the entry threshold increases dramatically, which results in a lower retention rate.

As Damian says:

“A good Delivery Manager influences the culture of the organization. He takes care of the engineers development and keeps employee turnover low. He has a direct impact on product quality and is in charge of risk mitigation.”

Pros and cons of a Delivery Manager in a project

From the customer’s point of view, the obvious disadvantage is the cost. However, its share in the total cost of an IT project is only a few percent.

There are many more advantages, for instance, improved communication, greater understanding of the needs, solid strategies and logistics, and finally complementary products.

At j-labs, we make sure that every project is supervised by a Delivery Manager.

We can provide a sufficient number of experienced communication-oriented professionals. 

They allow us to carry out projects without involving a client, which requires constant reporting on the work status. In such cases, Delivery Manager enables smooth and quick contact.