Head of Programme Management Office

Clifford Chance; Delhi; On-site; INR 8,450,703 - 11,267,605; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Professional development opportunities

Participation in charitable events and volunteering

Employee affinity groups

Job summary

A leading international law firm is seeking a Head of the Programme Management Office (PMO) to oversee the firm’s transformation portfolio. This pivotal role involves translating strategic initiatives into structured programmes, ensuring governance, and driving transformation delivery. The ideal candidate will have an MBA, extensive PMO experience, and strong leadership skills. You will engage with senior stakeholders and manage cross-functional teams, facilitating effective collaboration and accountability. This role offers opportunities for professional growth and development in a dynamic environment.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in a department/firm-wide PMO, ideally in professional services.
• Demonstrated ability to inspire and work as part of a team.
• Willingness to work hard and creatively solve problems.

Responsibilities

• Establish and operate a fit-for-purpose PMO.
• Translate firm strategy into structured programmes and roadmaps.
• Lead firm-wide demand intake, prioritisation, and portfolio planning processes.
• Produce clear, decision-oriented dashboards and executive reporting.
• Act as a trusted advisor on transformation delivery risks.

Skills

Data analytics skills

Excellent written and verbal communication

Organised and detail-oriented

Ability to build cross-functional relationships

Ability to manage multiple projects

Education

MBA or advanced degree in a related field

Tools

PowerBI

Job description

Head of Programme Management Office (PMO)

The Head of the Programme Management Office (PMO) plays a critical leadership role within the Transformation Office, responsible for enabling the successful execution of the firm’s firm‑wide transformation agenda. The role provides end‑to‑end oversight of the transformation portfolio, ensuring that strategic initiatives are translated into well‑governed, executable programmes that deliver measurable business outcomes. Acting as the connective link between the firm’s CC@40 strategy, investment, delivery and value realisation, the Head of PMO ensures that change is prioritised correctly, delivered predictably and governed transparently. This role requires operating confidently at executive level while remaining deeply connected to delivery realities. The Head of PMO sets the standards for how transformation is governed and delivered, while continuously evolving PMO capabilities to support changing business priorities.

What you will do

• Establish and operate a fit‑for‑purpose PMO within the Transformation Office, including governance, standards, single source of data in the PPM tool and ways of working.
• Translate firm strategy into structured programmes, roadmaps and delivery plans.
• Be the custodian of the firm‑wide Transformation Methodology and drive pragmatic adoption of consistent delivery disciplines across Agile, Waterfall and Hybrid models.
• Design and run stage‑gates, investment reviews and governance forums.
• Lead firm‑wide demand intake, prioritisation and portfolio planning processes.
• Provide ongoing portfolio‑level oversight of scope, schedule, cost, risk and dependencies/interdependencies.
• Partner with Finance to govern investment decisions, funding controls and benefits tracking.
• Produce clear, decision‑oriented dashboards and executive reporting that enable timely intervention.
• Conduct or commission delivery assurance reviews on critical and high‑risk initiatives.
• Actively manage cross‑programme dependencies, conflicts and resource constraints.
• Escalate risks and issues early with data‑backed options and recommendations.
• Coach and develop Programme Directors, PMs and PMO professionals.
• Improve PMO effectiveness through tooling, automation and AI‑enabled insights; proactively identify opportunities to enhance decision‑making and ways of working.
• Influence senior stakeholders to drive accountability, pace and outcome ownership.
• Act as a trusted advisor to executives on transformation delivery risks and trade‑offs.
• Lead TMO level resource, capacity and skills planning across the transformation portfolio.

What you will be responsible for

• Overall governance of the firm‑wide transformation portfolio.
• Alignment of transformation initiatives to the firm’s strategy, priorities and value outcomes.
• Effectiveness and maturity of the PMO within the Transformation Office.
• Consistent application of firm governance, stage‑gates and delivery standards.
• Decision‑orientated, data‑driven transformation reporting and executive insights, enabling timely intervention.
• Delivery predictability, risk management and dependency management across programmes.
• Realisation of approved benefits and return on transformation investments.
• Effective prioritisation and sequencing of transformation demand, underpinned by high‑quality, well socialised business cases progressed through robust review and governance processes.
• Early identification and escalation of systemic delivery risks and execution bottlenecks.
• Confidence of executive leadership in transformation oversight and decision‑making.
• Capability, performance and development of the PMO leadership and delivery community.
• Continuous improvement of PMO tools (including the core PPM tool), processes and ways of working including the use of AI.
• Compliance with financial, risk, regulatory and internal control requirements across transformation initiatives.
• TMO level resource, capacity and skills planning across the transformation portfolio.

Your experience

• MBA or advanced degree in a related field from a reputed institute.
• Significant experience working within a department/firm‑wide PMO, ideally in a professional services environment.
• Proven ability to build relationships with cross‑functional teams of diverse styles, skill sets and experience levels and achieve results.
• Organised and detail‑oriented with the ability to prioritise.
• Demonstrated ability to work as part of a team and inspire others.
• Ability to manage resources and multiple projects simultaneously under pressure and within deadlines.
• Willingness to work hard, take direction and creatively solve problems whose answers are not obvious or known.
• Ability to think critically and demonstrate good judgement.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Data analytics skills and experience of dashboarding tools such as PowerBI, drawing conclusions and insights from the data.
• Willingness to ‘get their sleeves rolled up’ and ‘get things done’.

How we will support you

From your first day with us, you will have varied opportunities to continuously grow and develop your skills and knowledge, from formal training, informal coaching and mentoring through to skills‑based and technical training and on‑the‑job learning.

You can also get involved in a variety of employee affinity groups and participate in charitable events and volunteering.

Equal opportunities

At Clifford Chance we understand that our true asset is our people. Inclusion is good for our team and their families, our firm and society.

We are committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally regardless of their gender, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation or age. This applies to recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of employment including pay, promotion, training, transfer and every other aspect of employment.

Our goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity, an equality of aspiration and an equality of experience to everyone who works in our firm.