Project & Change Lead - Data & AI Services

963 Damen Middle East Shared Services Limited; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 300,000 - 500,000; Full time

Job summary

Damen Shared Services in Abu Dhabi seeks a Project & Change Lead for Data & AI Services to drive onboarding of new data capabilities and ensure adoption across business units.

You will coordinate stakeholders, IT and business teams to deliver structured, sustainable services with governance and measurable outcomes. Proficiency in English is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Organizational Change, Information Management, Data Management, Information Systems, or related fields.
• Project Management and/or Change Management certifications are preferred.
• Experience delivering multi-stakeholder projects in IT, Shared Services, Digital Transformation, Data, or Operations.
• Exposure to enterprise platforms such as SAP, Workday, Salesforce, ServiceNow, or similar.

Responsibilities

• Lead onboarding projects for new data services and capabilities across Data SSC.
• Drive stakeholder engagement, communication, and readiness activities for adoption.
• Facilitate workshops and change discussions across functions; support training.
• Ensure services are understood, accepted, and embedded into daily operations.
• Coordinate decisions, priorities, risks, and dependencies across workstreams.

Skills

Project Mgmt

Change Mgmt

Stakeholder Mgmt

Risk Mgmt

Service Onboarding

SAP

Workday

Salesforce

ServiceNow

IFS

MS 365

Dashboards

English Proficiency

Education

Bachelor's degree

PM/Change certs preferred

Tools

SAP

Workday

Salesforce

ServiceNow

IFS

Job description

We offer you an Ocean of Possibilities. Join our family.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Position Title: Project & Change Lead - Data & AI Services

Department: Data & AI / Shared Services

Location: Damen Shared Services, Abu Dhabi

Reports To: Head of Data & AI

Employment Type: Full-Time

JOB PURPOSE

As a Project & Change Lead - Data & AI Services, you play a key role in scaling and maturing Damen's Data Shared Service Center (Data SSC). Your primary responsibility is to lead onboarding projects for new data services and capabilities, ensuring successful implementation, stakeholder adoption, and operational integration. You act as the link between business stakeholders, operational teams, and technology teams, coordinating activities across People, Process, and Technology. Success is measured not only by delivering projects on time, but by ensuring new services are understood, adopted, and embedded into daily operations. Working closely with Product Owners, business stakeholders, IT teams, and shared service teams, you help transform new opportunities into structured, sustainable, and value-adding services. Knowledge of Data Governance and Master Data Management is beneficial but not essential for success in this role.

About the Organization

Damen is investing significantly in Data, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Transformation to support its long-term ambition of becoming a truly data-powered maritime solutions provider. Existing foundations have been established, and the next phase focuses on scaling enterprise capabilities, improving governance, strengthening data quality, and accelerating business adoption of Data & AI. The Data Shared Service Center (Data SSC) is a key component of this journey, providing standardized, scalable, and sustainable data management services across multiple business domains. As Damen continues to expand its data capabilities, new services and data domains must be successfully onboarded, governed, and operationalized.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Project Delivery & Service Onboarding

• Lead onboarding projects for new services, capabilities, and data domains within the Data Shared Service Centre

Change Management & Adoption

• Drive stakeholder engagement, communication, and readiness activities to support adoption of new services
• Facilitate workshops, alignment sessions, and change discussions across business functions
• Support training and adoption activities that enable sustainable ways of working
• Ensure new services are understood, accepted, and embedded into daily operations

Stakeholder & Cross-Functional Coordination

• Collaborate with business stakeholders, product teams, and technical teams across Damen
• Coordinate decisions, dependencies, priorities, and risks across multiple workstreams
• Build alignment between business objectives and project outcomes
• Provide clear visibility on project status, risks, issues, and achievements

Continuous Improvement

• Support the development of operating procedures, service documentation, KPIs, and onboarding standards
• Identify opportunities to improve onboarding efficiency and service quality
• Capture lessons learned and incorporate improvements into future projects
• Contribute to the growth and maturity of the Data Shared Service Centre

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Successful onboarding of new data objects and services into the Data SSC.
• High levels of stakeholder adoption and engagement
• Delivery of transformation initiatives within agreed scope, timeline, quality, and budget objectives
• Effective implementation of change management and communication strategies
• Improved consistency, transparency, and governance of Data SSC services
• Increased operational efficiency through standardized service delivery models
• Strong alignment between business objectives, governance requirements, and operational capabilities
• Contribution to Damen's broader Data & AI transformation strategy

QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Organizational Change, Information Management, Data Management, Information Systems, Project Management, or a related discipline

Project Management and/or Change Management certifications are preferred

Experience:

• Experience in Project Management, Project Coordination, Change Management, or Transformation initiatives
• Proven track record of delivering projects involving multiple stakeholders and workstreams
• Experience working within IT, Shared Services, Digital Transformation, Data, or Business Operations environments
• Experience driving adoption of new processes, systems, or services
• Exposure to enterprise platforms such as SAP, Workday, Salesforce, ServiceNow, or similar solutions

Business Knowledge:

• Understanding of Project Management methodologies such as PMP, Agile, Prince2, Scrum, or similar frameworks
• Understanding of Change Management approaches such as ADKAR, Prosci, or similar methodologies
• Knowledge of stakeholder engagement, service onboarding, and organizational adoption
• Familiarity with Shared Services operating models
• Basic understanding of Data Governance and Master Data Management concepts is considered an advantage

Technical Skills:

• Project Management
• Change Management
• Stakeholder Management
• Risk & Dependency Management
• Service Onboarding & Service Transition Process Design & Improvement
• SAP, Workday, Salesforce, ServiceNow, IFS or similar enterprise platforms
• Microsoft 365
• Reporting and Dashboarding Tools

Soft Skills:

• Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills
• Strong facilitation and workshop leadership capabilities
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Structured and analytical mindset
• Strong problem-solving abilities
• Ability to create clarity in complex environments
• Collaborative and relationship-oriented approach
• Strong organizational and planning capabilities
• Professional proficiency in English, both written and spoken

WHO YOU ARE

You are a structured and pragmatic professional who knows how to deliver projects and drive change in complex environments. You are comfortable coordinating stakeholders, managing priorities, facilitating discussions, and helping teams adopt new ways of working. You bring a hands‑on approach to project delivery and are able to balance business needs, operational requirements, and technology considerations. You are proactive, collaborative, and results‑oriented, with strong project management, stakeholder engagement, and change management skills. You enjoy creating clarity, building alignment, and turning plans into practical outcomes that deliver measurable value and support the successful onboarding of new services and capabilities across the organization.

Damen has 35 shipyards on five different continents and operates in more than 100 countries. We are still growing and that gives you options. You contribute to this growth while benefitting from the diverse development and career opportunities that our company offers. We will continue to challenge you. With our extensive portfolio of products and solutions you will never get bored and never stop learning. We offer you a world of possibilities. Working at Damen means contributing to the highest quality in shipbuilding, with an eye to the future and future generations. We want to make the world a better place by becoming the most sustainable maritime solution provider. For that, we need you. Become part of our family. We are Damen. We’re a family company that has been building ships for almost 100 years. However, our focus is not on the past, however – we’re looking forward. Our ambition is to become the most sustainable and connected maritime solutions provider there is. To achieve this, we combine digital technology with our philosophy of standardised shipbuilding to offer a portfolio of services that takes care of vessels throughout the entire lifecycle. Working at Damen offers the best of several worlds. Active in more than 100 countries, with over 30 shipyards, we are internationally renowned for quality. And we are still growing, still innovating. Which means we will continue to challenge you. You will never stop learning, and you will never get bored – we promise you that. We offer you an ocean of possibilities. Join our family.