Group PMO Manager

ROLE OVERVIEW

The Group PMO Manager is responsible for establishing, implementing, and maintaining a unified Project Management Office across all clusters and business units. This is a critical governance role that ensures project and initiative portfolio visibility, risk management, budget integrity, and executive-level reporting across a complex, multi-cluster organization. The PMO Manager works directly with the CEO and is accountable for creating a single source of truth for all active projects, M&A initiatives, and strategic programs.

This role is NOT an operational project management position. It is a strategic governance function focused on portfolio health, variance tracking, risk escalation, and ensuring that every project tracked through the PMO meets the organization's standards for data integrity and transparency.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Portfolio Governance & Unified Tracking

* Design, build, and operate a unified PMO tracker consolidating all active projects, programs, M&A initiatives, and strategic workstreams across all five clusters.

* Establish and enforce standardized project taxonomy, status definitions, and reporting formats across all business units.

* Create and maintain domain-specific PMO templates (construction, M&A, technology, healthcare, real estate) that feed into the portfolio view.

* Ensure all tracked projects meet governance and data-integrity standards suitable for board reporting and market disclosure.

Metrics, Variance & Risk Management

* Track and report monthly on all projects: budget vs. forecast vs. actual; schedule variance; cost variance; completion percentage; and health status.

* Identify and escalate variances above thresholds (>5% cost overrun, >10 days schedule slip) to cluster heads and the CEO.

* Maintain a consolidated risk register; prioritize and track top risks by impact and mitigation status.

* Provide monthly variance analysis and trend reporting with root-cause narrative.

Executive Reporting & Board Readiness

* Produce monthly executive dashboard suitable for CEO and board review.

* Generate quarterly board-pack materials with project status, financial impact, and strategic implications.

* Ensure all metrics, claims, and numbers reported are verified, traceable, and defensible.

* Prepare management commentary on portfolio performance and recommendations for board discussion.

Stakeholder Management & PMO Operations

* Coordinate with cluster heads, project managers, and finance teams on defined monthly cadence.

* Conduct monthly PMO forum; review portfolio health and escalate blockers.

* Build and maintain PMO tools: spreadsheets, dashboards, reporting templates.

* Train cluster teams on PMO processes, data standards, and submission timelines.

* Act as single point of contact for PMO queries from CEO, board, and external stakeholders.

Data Integrity & Governance Compliance

* Never fabricate or estimate metrics. Validate all numbers against source documents.

* Maintain audit trail and version control on all PMO reports and dashboards.

* Identify and remediate data gaps; escalate ambiguities rather than filling with assumptions.

* Support external audits and regulatory reviews with complete documentation.

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REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

* Bachelor's degree in project management, business administration, engineering, finance, or related field.

* Minimum 10 years of PMO experience in multi-cluster, multi-geography, or multi-billion-dollar portfolio environment.

* Demonstrated expertise in portfolio management, project governance, and executive reporting in a publicly listed company.

* Advanced proficiency in Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP, scenario modeling) and PowerPoint.

* Proven ability to design and implement PMO standards and templates that scale across diverse business units.

* Strong financial acumen: budgets, forecasts, actuals, variance analysis, project cost management.

* Meticulous attention to detail. Obsessive about data accuracy and governance compliance.

* Experience managing cross-functional teams without direct authority.

* Fluency in English. Arabic language skills.