About the Role
The Enterprise PMO Director / Director of Strategic Portfolios and Programs is responsible for leading and directing the planning and execution of the enterprise project portfolio. This role ensures the achievement of strategic objectives within the approved scope, time, and budget while applying strict governance and quality standards. The position involves strategic leadership, governance, financial management, team leadership, and the ability to effectively communicate with senior leadership.
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Key Responsibilities & Duties
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Strategic Leadership & Planning
- Direction: Lead and direct the planning and execution processes for all company projects and programs to ensure the achievement of approved targets.
- Approval & Scheduling: Approve project plans, timelines, major workflows, resource allocation, and critical interdependencies between projects.
- Prioritization: Evaluate and prioritize new projects and initiatives in coordination with senior leadership to serve strategic directions.
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Governance, Risk, & Change Management
- Framework Development: Implement and develop project governance frameworks and enterprise portfolio management methodologies to standardize practices and elevate organizational maturity.
- Risk Management: Lead the risk and issue management system at the portfolio level, approving proactive response and mitigation plans.
- Change Control: Evaluate and approve material change requests in project scope, costs, and schedules, measuring their cumulative impact.
- Compliance: Enforce approved policies, processes, and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for project management and ensure full compliance.
- Automation: Review and update project management templates and procedural guides to align with digital transformation and automation requirements.
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Coordination, Monitoring, & Reporting
- Conflict Resolution: Manage coordination and integration among project managers and relevant departments to resolve conflicts and accelerate execution pace.
- Performance Reviews: Lead periodic project performance reviews, follow up on decision implementation, and remove operational roadblocks facing working teams.
- Executive Reporting: Oversee the preparation of executive reports and key performance indicators (KPIs) for the project portfolio, submitting recommendations that support decision-making.
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Financial Management & Control
- Budgeting: Participate in preparing the PMO's estimated budget and monitor spending to ensure optimal resource utilization.
- Variance Analysis: Track actual project costs against approved estimated budgets, analyze financial variances, and submit supervisory/regulatory reports.
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Team Leadership & Talent Development
- Task Allocation: Lead and direct the team, distribute tasks and responsibilities, and set individual performance targets for subordinates.
- Professional Development: Evaluate team performance, identify training needs, and build professional development plans to raise human resource capabilities.
Qualifications & Requirements
- Work Experience: 10 to 12 years of progressive experience in project management, including at least 3 years in a managerial or leadership role.
- Educational Background: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Engineering, Project Management, or Information Systems. A Master’s degree is strongly preferred.
- Language Proficiency: Complete fluency (written and spoken) in both Arabic and English.
Required Skills & Competencies
- Leadership Skills: Outstanding capability in managing, directing teams, and leading strategic portfolios and programs.
- Methodological Knowledge: Advanced mastery of project governance frameworks (e.g., PMI, PRINCE2, PMO maturity frameworks) and organizational quality assurance.
- Analytical Ability: Advanced skills in risk assessment, prioritization, and managing complex dependencies across projects.
- Communication & Negotiation: High-level stakeholder management skills with the ability to effectively coordinate with executive leadership.
- Financial & Digital Literacy: High proficiency in project financial planning, KPI dashboard creation, and advanced utilization of digital project management software (e.g., MS Project, Primavera) and Business Intelligence (BI) tools.