Senior Manager – Project Delivery & Operations

Confidential Jobs; United Arab Emirates; On-site; AED 600,000 - 800,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential Jobs is seeking an experienced executive leader to partner with the CEO and drive strategic delivery across multiple departments. You will own program governance, enable scale, and ensure delivery against contracted scope, budgets and KPIs.

You will lead a cross-functional team, coordinate with Finance, HR and project managers, and establish robust reporting, risk management and continuous improvement practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.

Responsibilities

• Translate the CEO's vision, priorities and mandate into clear plans across departments.
• Act as the CEO's thought partner on operational strategy and readiness to scale.
• Protect the CEO's time by resolving operational matters at management level and presenting options with recommendations.
• Own delivery of all active projects against scope, KPIs, milestones and budget.
• Set up contract obligations registers for each project with KPIs, reporting and payment milestones.
• Enforce disciplined change control: document, price and approve variations.
• Provide weekly delivery dashboards and monthly performance scorecards to the CEO.
• Build governance, SOPs and digital project systems across the organization.

Skills

Strategic mindset

Executive communication

Leadership

Operational planning

Stakeholder management

Problem solving

Coaching

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field

Tools

Asana

SharePoint

QuickBooks

Job description

Key accountabilities

1. Strategic Partnership with the CEO

Translate the CEO's vision, priorities and the company's strategic mandate into clear plans, owners, deadlines and measurable outcomes across all departments.

• Act as the CEO's thought partner on operational strategy, organisational design and readiness to scale.
• Protect the CEO's time by resolving operational matters at management level and bringing forward only strategic, commercial or exceptional decisions, each with options and a recommendation.
• Make sure the company's culture, standards and expectations are understood and lived across the headquarters and every project.
• Business development, commercial terms and key client relationships remain with the CEO unless the CEO delegates them.
• Own delivery of all active projects against contracted scope, deliverables, KPIs, milestones and budget.
• Set up and maintain a contract obligations register for every project, covering deliverables, client KPIs, reporting duties, payment milestones, notice periods and liability triggers.
• Enforce disciplined change control: scope changes are identified, documented, priced and approved as variations before work proceeds.
• Make sure every milestone, invoice and payment claim is backed by complete delivery evidence (reports, delivery notes, sign-offs and records).
• Find delivery risks early and elevate them to the CEO with options and a recommended course of action.

3. Executive leadership and department integration

• Lead, coach and hold accountable the Project Development Manager, the Project Operations Manager and the Site Project Managers, and work closely with the Finance Manager, so that projects, operations and finance work as one delivery system.
• Chair the weekly operational leadership meeting; clear bottlenecks, settle cross-department priorities and make sure decisions are recorded and acted on.
• Run a structured lifecycle from opportunity to close-out: bid, award, mobilisation, delivery, handover and lessons learned.
• Act as the main point of escalation for managers on the delivery side, so that only strategic, commercial or exceptional matters go to the CEO.

4. Bid-to-delivery governance

• Work with Project Development from the RFP and proposal stage to confirm that every bid can be delivered: realistic scope, resources, programme, operating budget and KPIs.
• Approve the delivery plan, resource plan and cost basis before submission. The CEO approves commercial terms, pricing and final submission.
• Make sure contract award is followed by a formal mobilisation and handover into Project Operations, with agreed KPIs, budget, team and reporting set up from day one.

5. Financial performance and cash discipline

• Working closely with the Finance Manager, own project-level financial control: budgets, cost-to-complete, forecasts, cost overruns and project profitability.
• Align invoicing with contractual payment milestones and make sure invoices go out on time with complete supporting evidence.
• Work with Finance on receivables and cash-flow forecasting, so that delivery and cash position are always managed together.
• Produce a monthly project financial review for the CEO, with variance explanations and corrective actions.

6. Systems, governance and executive reporting

• Make sure the company's core operating systems are used consistently in every department and on every project: SOPs, Asana, SharePoint, QuickBooks and the animal-care records software.
• Provide the CEO with a concise weekly delivery dashboard and a monthly performance scorecard showing progress, risks, financial position, client KPIs and people matters.
• Maintain the risk and issues register and operate within the Delegation of Authority approved by the CEO.

7. People, performance and culture (in partnership with HR)

• With the Head of HR, co-lead the 2027 roll-out and adoption ofstaff assessment, KPI, bonus and reward framework across all delivery and support teams.
• Make sure every manager in the role's line sets clear accountability goals, holds regular performance conversations and supports each team member's Individual Development Plan.
• Develop the people managers: coach them, build their leadership capability and plan succession for critical project roles.
• Work with HR on project recruitment and deployment, so that every appointment meets our expertise, budget and cultural-fit standards.
• Champion a culture where people take ownership, feel valued and supported, and can see a clear future within our company

8. Quality, animal welfare and standards

• Uphold animal welfare, health and safety, and biosecurity as non-negotiable standards on every project.
• Run a structured programme of site visits and quality audits covering KPIs, welfare, safety, the guest experience and scope compliance.
• Make sure external consultants and partners deliver to the our Standard of Excellence and to their service-level agreements.

9. Scaling the delivery model

• Design and build the delivery structure we need for larger projects and new markets, including capacity planning, mobilisation playbooks and standard project set-ups.
• Within the first six months, define the Project Operations Manager role and lead its recruitment and onboarding, then move into full oversight of both project managers.
• Build lessons-learned and continuous-improvement routines so that every project strengthens the next one

Experience and qualifications

• At least 10 years' experience in project delivery, program management or operations, including at least 4 years managing project managers or multi-site teams.
• A track record of delivering complex, multi-site or multi-disciplinary projects against contracts, programs and budgets, for example in consulting, attractions, leisure, hospitality, development or specialist technical services.
• Strong contract-management skills: interpreting obligations, managing variations and claims, and protecting the company's commercial position.
• Strong financial skills: project budgets, forecasting, cost control and cash management.
• Experience leading managers and multi-disciplinary teams, with a coaching style that builds accountability.
• Experience introducing governance, SOPs and digital project systems in a growing organization.
• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field.
• Fluent English, with the ability to turn complex situations into short, clear executive updates.
• Experience in zoological, aquarium, wildlife, conservation, ecotourism or visitor-attraction projects.
• GCC experience, particularly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
• A formal project or program management qualification (for example PMP, PRINCE2 or MSP) or an MBA.
• Hands-on use of Asana, SharePoint and QuickBooks or similar tools.
• Experience implementing performance-management, KPI and reward frameworks.
• Arabic is an advantage.
• Ownership: takes full responsibility for outcomes and does not wait to be asked.
• Calm authority: makes clear decisions under pressure and holds people to account fairly and consistently.
• Evidence-based: backs positions with facts, records and documented agreements.
• People builder: develops managers, recognizes good work and creates an environment where people want to stay and grow.
• Trusted partner: discreet, loyal and transparent with the CEO; open and constructive with peers.
• Standards-driven: "Excellence is not what we aim for, it is how we work, how we lead, and how we support one another."

All applications are treated in strict confidence.