Director Project Management Office

Confidential Careers; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 320,000 - 390,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential Careers is seeking a Director PMO/PMO Manager to lead corporate PMO governance and CoE activities across regions. The role collaborates with executive leadership, business units, and regional leaders to standardize delivery, reporting, and controls.

You will drive knowledge management, local content development, and change leadership while aligning with corporate strategy and governance requirements across projects.

Qualifications

• Recognized project management or program management certification is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain the corporate PMO mandate, operating model, governance framework, and service offering.
• Establish proportionate project and portfolio controls, including stage gates, approval authorities, reporting requirements, escalation routes, and assurance reviews.
• Create a consolidated view of the project portfolio, covering scope, schedule, cost, cash flow, risk, resource demand, change, quality, safety, and commercial exposure.
• Provide executive leadership with timely, evidence-based reporting on portfolio performance, emerging risks, decisions required, and corrective actions.
• Coordinate portfolio planning, prioritization, capacity reviews, and strategic alignment with business and regional leaders.
• Promote consistent use of project management and project controls practices across bids, mobilization, engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and closeout.
• Work with project leadership to identify troubled or strategically significant projects and support recovery planning, assurance, and escalation.
• Monitor the effectiveness of governance and controls, adapting them to project size, contract type, delivery model, and risk.
• Support governance of joint ventures, consortia, and subcontracted delivery arrangements where applicable, in coordination with accountable business leaders.
• Establish and lead a Project Management Center of Excellence (CoE) with standards, tools, guidance, and templates.
• Develop a PM framework covering lifecycle, roles, planning, controls, risk, contracts, reporting, and handover.
• Provide templates, playbooks, maturity assessments, and guidance adaptable to regions and environments.
• Define capability expectations for PMs and key control roles, partnering with HR and leaders on development paths.
• Coordinate communities of practice and peer reviews to share effective approaches across projects.
• Promote continuous improvement using performance data, assurance findings, and lessons learned to refine standards and ways of working.
• Encourage disciplined use of digital project tools and data practices in collaboration with IT and project teams.
• Develop a knowledge management approach to capture, validate, preserve, and reuse project knowledge.
• Establish structured lessons‑learned processes at bid, mobilization, execution, commissioning, and closeout.
• Ensure lessons have owners and are incorporated into standards or training where appropriate.
• Curate technical, commercial, delivery, and regional knowledge in accessible repositories with security controls.
• Promote knowledge exchange while protecting confidential and client-owned information.
• Work with engineering, procurement, construction, quality, safety, and commercial leaders to identify repeatable practices.
• Establish a corporate approach for identifying and managing local content commitments with regional leadership, procurement, HR, and project teams.
• Translate applicable local content requirements into measurable plans, responsibilities, reporting, and delivery actions.
• Promote participation by local suppliers and workforce in line with project needs and requirements.
• Encourage supplier development and knowledge transfer to build local capability.
• Monitor local content performance with auditable records and clear data definitions.
• Coordinate with regional teams to identify local market capacity, constraints, and development opportunities.
• Keep local content plans aligned with contract obligations, laws and procurement ethics.
• Build a high-performing corporate PMO and related capabilities; balance oversight with delivery realities.
• Influence senior leaders and project teams across a matrix organization.
• Lead adoption of governance and management practices through engagement, training, and communication.
• Establish constructive relationships with regional and project teams.
• Represent the PMO in executive reviews, portfolio boards, and governance forums.
• Model ethical conduct and accountability.

Job description

The role operates at corporate level and works across functions and regions. It partners closely with executive leadership, business unit and regional leaders, project directors, engineering, procurement, construction, project controls, finance, legal, human resources, quality, health and safety, sustainability, information technology, and commercial teams.

The position may lead a multidisciplinary corporate team and coordinate designated focal points or functional leads in regions and projects. Specific reporting lines and team structure should be aligned with the company’s organization.

Key responsibilities

1. Corporate PMO leadership and portfolio governance

• Define and maintain the corporate PMO mandate, operating model, governance framework, and service offering.
• Establish proportionate project and portfolio controls, including stage gates, approval authorities, reporting requirements, escalation routes, and assurance reviews.
• Create a consolidated view of the project portfolio, covering scope, schedule, cost, cash flow, risk, resource demand, change, quality, safety, and commercial exposure.
• Provide executive leadership with timely, evidence-based reporting on portfolio performance, emerging risks, decisions required, and corrective actions.
• Coordinate portfolio planning, prioritization, capacity reviews, and strategic alignment with business and regional leaders.
• Promote consistent use of project management and project controls practices across bids, mobilization, engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and closeout.
• Work with project leadership to identify troubled or strategically significant projects and support recovery planning, assurance, and escalation.
• Monitor the effectiveness of governance and controls, adapting them to project size, contract type, delivery model, and risk.
• Support governance of joint ventures, consortia, and subcontracted delivery arrangements where applicable, in coordination with accountable business leaders.

2. Project Management Center of Excellence

• Establish and lead a Project Management Center of Excellence (CoE) that defines practical standards, tools, methods, and guidance for project delivery.
• Develop and maintain a project management framework covering the project lifecycle, roles and accountabilities, planning, controls, risk, change, contracts, reporting, and handover.
• Provide templates, playbooks, maturity assessments, and technical guidance that can be adapted to different regions and project environments.
• Define capability expectations for project managers and key project control roles, partnering with Human Resources and business leaders on development pathways.
• Coordinate communities of practice and peer reviews to share effective approaches across projects and regions.
• Promote continuous improvement by using project performance data, assurance findings, and lessons learned to refine standards and ways of working.
• Encourage disciplined use of digital project tools and common data practices in collaboration with Information Technology and project teams.

3. Knowledge Management and organizational learning

• Develop a knowledge management approach that captures, validates, preserves, and makes reusable project knowledge accessible.
• Establish structured lessons‑learned processes at key project phases, including bid, mobilization, execution, commissioning, and closeout.
• Ensure lessons are assigned owners, assessed for relevance, incorporated into standards or training where appropriate, and tracked through implementation.
• Curate technical, commercial, delivery, and regional knowledge in accessible repositories, subject to information security and document‑control requirements.
• Promote knowledge exchange between projects, functions, and countries while protecting confidential, client‑owned, and commercially sensitive information.
• Work with engineering, procurement, construction, quality, safety, and commercial leaders to identify repeatable practices and prevent recurring issues.

4. Local Content and capability development

• Establish a corporate approach for identifying and managing local content commitments in coordination with regional leadership, procurement, human resources, legal, and project teams.
• Support bid and project teams in translating applicable local content requirements into measurable plans, responsibilities, reporting, and delivery actions.
• Promote appropriate participation by local suppliers, contractors, professionals, and workforces in line with project needs and applicable requirements.
• Encourage supplier development, workforce capability building, knowledge transfer, and sustainable local partnerships where relevant.
• Monitor local content performance and commitments using clear data definitions and auditable records.
• Coordinate with regional teams to identify local market capacity, constraints, and development opportunities.
• Keep local content plans aligned with contract obligations, applicable laws and regulations, and the company’s procurement and ethics requirements.

5. Leadership, stakeholder engagement, and change

• Build a high‑performing corporate PMO and related functional capabilities, clarifying priorities, roles, and service expectations.
• Influence senior leaders and project teams across a matrix organization, including where direct authority is limited.
• Lead adoption of common governance and management practices through engagement, training, communication, and practical support.
• Establish constructive relationships with regional and project teams, balancing corporate oversight with delivery realities.
• Represent the PMO and its related functions in executive reviews, portfolio boards, and relevant governance forums.
• Model ethical conduct, accountability, collaboration, and respect for local context.

6.Decision-making and authority

Within delegated authority, the Director PMO Manager is accountable for the design and operation of corporate PMO processes, standards, reporting, and assurance activities. The role may recommend portfolio actions, elevate material risks, and require agreed reporting or corrective‑action plans under the company’s governance framework.

Project investment decisions, contract commitments, market‑entry approvals, legal interpretations, and acceptance of compliance risk remain with the executives or functions formally accountable for those decisions.

Qualifications

• Recognized project management or program management certification is desirable.