Project Manager (Campus Development)

MBZUAI (Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence); Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 240,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

MBZUAI in Abu Dhabi seeks a Project Manager to lead major campus development projects from planning through handover, coordinating consultants, contractors, and external partners to meet scope, schedule, and budget.

The role requires seven to ten years’ experience in capital development or facilities projects, with strong English communication and governance reporting skills for management oversight.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in architecture, engineering, construction management, project management, or related field.
• Seven to ten years of progressively responsible experience in building construction, capital development, or facilities projects.
• Experience managing projects through full lifecycle from planning to closeout.
• Experience gathering functional requirements from internal stakeholders and translating into briefs, scopes of work, design requirements, and implementation plans.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including presenting to management.
• Professional fluency in English.

Responsibilities

• Plan and deliver major campus development projects from definition through handover.
• Coordinate consultants, contractors, vendors, and external providers.
• Monitor alignment with scope, schedule, budget, quality, safety, and sustainability requirements.
• Identify project dependencies, constraints, and delivery risks, and implement mitigation measures.
• Manage project changes through structured review, approval, documentation, and communication.
• Engage internal stakeholders to validate functional requirements and secure approvals.
• Work with government partners and regulators to progress project activities.
• Develop and maintain project schedules covering design, approvals, procurement, construction, commissioning, and handover.
• Maintain a comprehensive project database and ensure accurate record-keeping.
• Prepare regular status reports for governance and committees.

Skills

Project management

Scheduling

Documentation control

Reporting

Stakeholder management

English proficiency

Education

Bachelor’s degree in architecture, Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, or a closely related field

Master’s degree in architecture, Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, or a related field

Job description

The Project Manager is responsible for managing the planning, design, and implementation of major campus development projects that support the university's strategic growth. The role ensures that projects are clearly defined, effectively coordinated, and delivered in accordance with approved requirements, schedules, budgets, quality standards, and university priorities.

Key Responsibilities

Project Planning and Delivery

• Manage major campus development projects from initial definition and feasibility through design, construction, commissioning, handover, and closeout.
• Coordinate the work of consultants, contractors, vendors, and other external service providers.
• Monitor project delivery to ensure alignment with approved scope, schedule, budget, quality, safety, and sustainability requirements.
• Identify project dependencies, constraints, and delivery risks, and implement appropriate mitigation measures.
• Manage project changes through a structured review, approval, documentation, and communication process.

Internal Stakeholder Coordination

• Engage internal stakeholders to identify and validate functional requirements.
• Facilitate workshops and meetings to establish user needs, resolve competing priorities, and secure timely decisions and approvals.
• Ensure stakeholder requirements are accurately incorporated into project briefs, designs, specifications, and implementation plans.
• Communicate project progress, risks, decisions, and upcoming activities clearly to relevant stakeholders.
• Manage stakeholder expectations and maintain effective working relationships throughout the project lifecycle.

External Stakeholder Management

• Work closely with government partners, design consultants, contractors, suppliers, utility providers, regulators, and government authorities to progress project activities.
• Review consultant and contractor deliverables and ensure that actions, decisions, and commitments are properly recorded and followed through.
• Address external dependencies and elevate issues that may affect project delivery.

Schedule and Timeline Management

• Develop and maintain comprehensive project schedules covering design, approvals, procurement, construction, commissioning, and handover.
• Track key milestones, deliverables, dependencies, and critical-path activities.
• Monitor actual progress against approved schedules and identify potential delays at an early stage.
• Work with project teams and external partners to develop recovery plans and corrective actions when required.

Project Information and Database Management

• Establish and maintain a comprehensive project database containing all project requirements, decisions, approvals, schedules, risks, actions, budgets, changes, and supporting documentation.
• Ensure project information is accurate, current, complete, and accessible to authorized stakeholders.
• Maintain requirements register, action logs, risk registers, decision logs, change-control records, and stakeholder contact lists.
• Track the status of stakeholder requirements from initial identification through design, implementation, testing, and final acceptance.
• Ensure effective document control, version management, record retention, and audit readiness.
• Produce dashboards and regular reports to support management oversight and decision-making.

Governance Reporting and Risk Management

• Prepare regular status reports for university management and project governance committees.
• Report clearly on progress, expenditure, risks, issues, changes, decisions, and forecast completion dates.
• Establish appropriate project controls and ensure compliance with university policies, governance requirements, and delegated authorities.
• Maintain project risk and issue registers, assign accountable owners, and monitor mitigation actions.
• Escalate significant risks, delays, cost pressures, and unresolved decisions in a timely manner.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in architecture, Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, or a closely related field.

Professional Experience

• Seven to ten years of progressively responsible experience managing building construction, capital development, or facilities projects.
• Demonstrated experience managing projects through the full lifecycle, including planning, design, procurement, construction, commissioning, handover, and closeout.
• Experience gathering functional requirements from internal stakeholders and translating them into project briefs, scopes of work, design requirements, and implementation plans.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects, priorities, schedules, and stakeholder requirements simultaneously.
• Experience developing and monitoring project schedules, milestones, dependencies, risk registers, action logs, and change-control records.
• Working knowledge of construction methods, design processes, building systems, contract administration, and project delivery methods.
• Proficiency in project management, scheduling, document-control, reporting, and database applications.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience preparing reports and presenting project information to management and stakeholder groups.
• Professional fluency in English.

Preferred

• Master’s degree in architecture, Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, or a related field.
• Professional certification or registration, such as PMP, PRINCE2, Chartered Engineer, licensed architect, or an equivalent recognized credential.
• Experience managing campus development, higher education, institutional, healthcare, research, or other complex occupied-site projects.