Global Project Manager

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics; Dubai; On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading logistics company is seeking a strategic leader for its Project Management Office (PMO) to oversee project execution and ensure alignment with company goals. This senior role requires extensive experience in project management, strong communication skills in English and German, and proven leadership in the freight forwarding industry. The successful candidate will support the Global COO and collaborate with multiple departments to establish project standards and ensure timely delivery of results.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years of proven operational/industry/relevant experience at a similar level.
• Experience in the freight forwarding industry is preferable.
• Business level fluency in both English and German (spoken and written) is essential.

Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain project management standards, processes and best practices.
• Monitor performance across various programs and report to COO.
• Manage global project portfolio and resource alignment.

Skills

Project management expertise

Business acumen

Strategic agility

Communication

Customer service

Education

Bachelors/Master’s in Business Administration and/or Logistics

Tools

Microsoft Office Applications

Job description

ABOUT THE ROLE:

Reporting directly to the Global Chief Operating Officer, the Project Management Office (PMO) serves as a central hub for project oversight, governance and support, ensuring that projects are executed effectively and aligned with the strategic goal of the company.

The primary role of a PMO is to define and maintain standards, for Project Management within the organization. The PMO is the source of documentation, guidance and metrics on the practice and project management execution and has the responsibility, of reporting project progress and any deviations to the Chief Operating Officer.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

General:

• Establish and maintain project management standards, processes and best practices (project methodology) and train Project Managers accordingly, to ensure efficient project execution.
• Ensuring that Project Managers are setting up their projects, as per global project standards (defining scope, clearly outlining project objectives, deliverables, success criteria (KPIs) and transparent project plan).
• Responsible for overseeing a group of related projects, that are aligned with a specific program and/or business strategy.
• Prioritizes projects based on strategic objectives.
• Monitors performance across the various programs, against the plan and making changes transparent to COO.
• Support Project Managers in defining the project team and by getting resources from other departments (resource requests).
• Middleman between corporate department and GST / maintain relationship to PMOs from other segments, for resource alignment and knowledge transfer.
• Sparring partner for Project Managers.
• Resolving conflicts/escalation management.

Communication and Stakeholder Management:

• Act as an interface between management, colleagues and stakeholders to ensure efficient and clear communication flow.
• Provide regular updates on project status to management and supporting business assessment.
• Prepare and follow-up on management meetings, with reports and presentations summarizing topics and decisions.

Reporting and Documentation:

• Maintain a uniform approach for project reporting, ensuring transparent and traceable documentation of progress, challenges and successes.
• Support stakeholders in planning and monitoring projects by providing effective tools and methods.

Collaboration and Standardization:

• Collaborate with other departments, to establish common standards ; Creating synergies across projects and teams.
• Define and implement uniform methods for planning, controlling and executing strategic projects.
• Stay updated on project management trends and explore new approaches and methodologies.

Project Management Office:

• Ensure compliance with legal and departmental requirements (e.g. SOP, ISO, Health and Safety, HWL policies, data protection and IT processes).
• Set up and manage regular project meetings and steering committees and prepare results for project teams and the Global COO.

Project Management:

• Manage the global project portfolio; It's internal and external teams and resources.
• Analyze project ideas for strategic impact, identifying opportunities, risks, investments and resource requirements.
• Monitor project milestones, quality and results using project monitoring to identify deviations and initiate corrective actions.
• Plan and moderate project retrospectives, deriving lessons learned for continuous improvement.
• Actively work on projects as needed to stay engaged with operations.

Daily Business:

• Support the Global COO in preparing board meetings and decisions papers.
• Analyze financial/operational data and prepare status/ key figure reports.

Behavioral Competencies and Soft Skills:

• Strategic Agility: Manages their part of the organization in the achievement of those strategies, that will ensure that the organization delivers on its business goals.
• Business Acumen: Making business decisions that have a positive impact on the profitability of the organization, in order to improve the organizations' financial position.
• Decision Making: Deliberates information, evaluates options, demonstrates decisiveness and implements effectively.
• Customer Service: Makes organizational changes in response to the changing needs of customers and ensures that, puts plans to achieve service excellence.
• Communication: Excellent communication skills in English and German - both written and oral, strong interpersonal skills and presentation skills.
• Diversity & Cultural Awareness: Cultural awareness and sensitivity relating to multi-nationalities.

SKILLS:

• Bachelors/Master’s in Business Administration and/or Logistics
• Minimum of 10 years of proven operational/industry/relevant experience, at a similar level
• Experience within the freight forwarding industry is preferable
• Project management expertise, with proven track record of timely delivery
• Proven track record of international collaboration, in cross functional/regional positions (international experience is an added advantage, but not essential)
• Proficient in all Microsoft Office Applications (Excel, Word and Power Point)
• Business level fluency in both English and German (spoken and written) is essential.