Director – Group Project Management Office

General Summary

The Director of Group Project Management Office (GPMO) is instrumental in the success of our client's most critical strategic projects and transformation programs.

This position involves overseeing end-to-end PMO process for large-scale strategic projects in the company, maintaining transparency with executive leadership and shareholders, and championing PMO processes and frameworks.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Lead project management initiatives

▪ Maintains an oversight of all programs in GPMO scope and surfaces potential risks for decision making by regularly liaising with stakeholders

▪ Coaches BU/ functional teams to develop end-to-end program roadmap (e.g., timelines, value impact, implementation milestones)

▪ Tracks and publishes reports for stakeholders (e.g., the Group CEO, Board) highlighting progress, risks, impacts, and decision points

▪ Pressure-tests the robustness of initiative design and implementation planning of initiatives for programs, with support of relevant cross-functional stakeholders

▪ Oversee delivery of tactical support (e.g., project NPV analysis, business case, scenario planning, market assessment, financial modelling, high quality presentations and dashboards) to relevant stakeholders (e.g., Group CEO, program teams) on a need-basis

▪ Escalates and assists in eliminating potential risks and issues in initiative journeys

▪ With guidance from senior leaders, ensures that BU/ functional teams recognise and execute opportunities of cross-functional synergies throughout the program lifecycle

▪ Encourages Workstream teams to aim for full potential and efficient deliveryby enriching the idea pipeline and stress-testing confidence level of initiatives supported by relevant stakeholders

▪ Establishes the ‘rules of engagement’ by defining cadence (e.g., forums, reporting), performance tracking architecture (e.g., stage gates), and decision rights (e.g., approvals, change requests)

▪ Prioritize programs for change management interventions and support the mobilization of relevant stakeholders (e.g., top leadership, HR, Corporatث Communications) to design and execute change communication initiatives

Foster team development

▪ Mentors and manages professional development of reports (e.g., Managers and Analysts) by identifying members’ strengths and areas of improvement

▪ Surfaces potential talent gaps in the team and supports HR on hiring process to ensure talent acquisition and onboarding needs are met

Knowledge, Skills and/ or Abilities required

▪ 10+ years of total experience, including 4-6 years in leading management consulting firm

▪ Advanced consulting toolkit and problem-solving skill in driving data-backed insights, developing business cases, conducting scenario planning, and devising financial model

▪ Excellent written and verbal communication with the ability to present clearly and persuasively to stakeholders

▪ Advanced skills in project management and planning, with proven experience in driving integrated planning and implementation of complex projects with broad impact within time and budget constraints

▪ Demonstrated ability to select and implement project management methods, tools, and metrics across planning, implementation, and value realization phases

▪ Broad knowledge of initiatives typically undertaken in heavy industries (e.g., mining, manufacturing, steel) and keen awareness of their impact on the organization

▪ Strong command of English; fluency in Arabic is an advantage

Behavioural Competencies

▪ Exceptional ability to build and nurture relationships with a diverse array of stakeholders. Strong organizational awareness – knows how to read organizational dynamics at the senior levels and navigate stakeholders

▪ Proven ability to coach, facilitate, and influence people at all levels

▪ Demonstrated capability to operate as a self-starter and take initiative without direct instruction

▪ Comfortable working in dynamic, fast paced, and ambiguous environments with ever-changing situations

▪ Cultural fluency and solid understanding of the UAE business landscape

Minimum education qualification

▪ B.A./B.S. (engineering related field preferred)

▪ Master’s degree in Business, Engineering, or a related field (MBA/ PhD is a

plus)

Location: Abhi Dhabi, UAE