Strategic Projects Manager

Cognita; Dubai; Sur place; AED 420 000 - 650 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

Cognita in Dubai is seeking a Strategic Projects Manager within People & Culture to turn priorities into deliverable projects across markets. You will own the P&C portfolio from scoping to handover and work with Heads of P&C, Technology teams, and regional stakeholders.

This is an individual contributor role with high visibility, requiring 7–10 years in project management, change management and HR transformation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in HR, Business Administration or related field.
• 7–10 years of progressive experience in project or programme management, HR transformation or HR business partnering.
• Proven record delivering multiple strategic initiatives to agreed timelines.
• Experience partnering with senior leaders and heads of function to align projects with wider strategic priorities.
• Experience working with technology-enabled HR initiatives such as HRIS implementations or enhancements.
• Experience managing external vendors and consultants.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, and ability to present insights at all levels.
• PM/PRINCE2/Agile or HR certification such as CIPD or SHRM-CP/SCP are a plus.
• Experience in a global or regional role across multiple markets.
• Exposure to the education or wider services sector.
• Working knowledge of HR systems and digital HR tools.

Responsabilités

• Deliver strategic projects end to end.
• Shape the roadmap and people practices.
• Collaborate with Technology teams and business across markets.
• Manage external vendors and implementation partners, tracking deliverables and timelines.

Connaissances

Stakeholder management

Change management

Project management

Vendor management

Communication

Data-driven insights

Formation

Bachelor's or Master's degree in HR/Business Administration

Outils

HRIS implementations

Description du poste

Cognita is a global family of over 90 schools across 21countries, with more than 100,000 students, 22,000 colleagues, 14 curricula and9 languages of instruction. Our strength lies in our diversity. There is nosingle model of a Cognita school because education is inherently local. Whenfamilies choose a school, they are making a deeply personal and community-baseddecision, and our schools reflect this.

What unites us is a shared ambition to deliver consistentlyhigh-quality education, alongside an exceptional experience for students andparents. We define this clearly through group-wide standards that articulatewhat “great” looks like, while allowing schools the freedom to express theirlocal identity.

We have recently launched a new vision and strategic plan.It is ambitious and sets a clear direction for the years ahead.

Job Overview

Cognita's People & Culture (P&C) function hasambitious plans for the years ahead. As Strategic Projects Manager, you'll makesure they get delivered, turning strategic priorities into projects that landon time and make a lasting difference.

You'll own P&C's portfolio of strategic projects fromscoping through to handover. You'll work with P&C Heads, Technology teamsand stakeholders across the business to make sure projects land on time,deliver their intended value and become part of everyday practice. This is anindividual contributor role with high visibility and real influence on how webuild forward-looking people processes across multiple markets.

What you'll do
Deliver strategic projects end to end

• Turn strategicpriorities into clear plans with defined scope, milestones, owners andsuccess measures
• Run project governance,including status reporting, risk and dependency tracking, prioritisationand escalation
• Spot risks,interdependencies and resourcing constraints early and drive timelyresolution
• Track outcomes afterdelivery so projects realise their value and embed into business as usual

Shape the roadmap and people practices

• Partner with P&CHeads to align each priority to the P&C roadmap, sequencinginitiatives for maximum impact
• Design and embed robust,forward-looking people processes with internal and external stakeholders
• Bring market trends,benchmarks and best practice to inform the roadmap and project design
• Lead change managementand communications, building awareness and adoption among managers,employees and P&C colleagues

Collaborate across Technology and the business

• Work with Technologyteams to scope, prioritise and deliver technology-enabled initiatives,including HR systems enhancements and digitisation of people processes
• Partner withcross-functional stakeholders, regional HR teams and school and functionleaders to secure input and shared ownership of outcomes
• Manage external vendors,consultants and implementation partners, tracking deliverables, timelinesand performance

What you'll bring
Essential

• Bachelor's or Master'sdegree in Human Resources, Business Administration or a related field
• 7-10 years' progressiveexperience in project or programme management, HR transformation or HRbusiness partnering, ideally in a large, multi-country organisation
• A proven record ofdelivering multiple strategic initiatives to agreed timelines, includingleading projects end to end, ideally in a People & Culture or HRcontext
• Experience partneringwith senior leaders and heads of function to align projects with widerstrategic priorities
• Experience working withTechnology teams on technology-enabled initiatives such as HRISimplementations or enhancements
• Experience managingexternal vendors and consultants
• Strong stakeholdermanagement and influencing skills, and confidence analysing and presentingproject and people insights at all levels
• A confident communicatorwith strong change management skills, who is collaborative, people-centredand able to bring others through change
• Professional projectmanagement certification (e.g. PMP, PRINCE2, Agile) and/or HRcertification such as CIPD or SHRM-CP/SCP
• Experience in a globalor regional role, partnering with HR teams across multiple markets
• Experience leadingchange management and communications for people-related initiatives
• Exposure to theeducation or wider services sector
• Working knowledge of HRsystems and digital HR tools

This role is based in Dubai, and you'll work with colleaguesand stakeholders across multiple markets, so some flexibility across time zoneswill be needed.

Cognita is committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and young people and expects the same from its employees. All new staff will be subject to detailed and enhanced pre-employment clearance, including identity checks, criminal background checks for all countries lived in, qualification checks, employment checks to include an exploration of any gaps in employment, and satisfactory reference checks for all employment in the last 10 years.