Project Management Operations Director

JLL; Charlotte (NC); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

JLL seeks a PMO Lead in Charlotte, NC to act as strategic integrator and operational catalyst across a key client account. You will own playbooks, onboarding, governance, and client engagement while ensuring teams operate efficiently and risks are controlled.

The role bridges finance, BI, sourcing, HR, risk, communications, and facilities management, driving continuous improvement and account-wide governance.

Qualifications

• PMO leadership in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
• University degree or relevant certification is required.
• Experience managing through team structures and hierarchies.
• Strong integration across disciplines and functions.
• Ability to train and uplift team members and trainers.

Responsibilities

• Drive PMO strategy and operating model evolution for the account.
• Lead client-facing governance discussions with executive presence.
• Identify operational challenges and drive concrete action plans.
• Serve as TRIRIGA subject matter expert and optimize workflows.
• Develop onboarding programs and maintain account playbooks.
• Mentor the Operations Manager and project coordinators.

Skills

PMO leadership

Integration mindset

Builder mentality

Technical proficiency

Training capability

Education

University degree or relevant certification

Tools

TRIRIGA

Job description

JLL empowers you to shape a brighter way.

Our people at JLL are shaping the future of real estate for a better world by combining world class services, advisory and technology for our clients. We are committed to hiring the best, most talented peopleand empowering them tothrive, grow meaningful careers and to find a place where they belong. Whether you've got deep experience in commercial real estate, skilled trades or technology, or you're looking to apply your relevant experience to a new industry, join our team as we help shape a brighter way forward.

We are seeking an exceptional PMO Lead to serve as the strategic integrator and operational catalyst for a key PDS client account. This senior account-facing leader is responsible for the overall effectiveness of the PDS PMO, operating at two levels simultaneously: leading the bigger-picture agenda of playbook ownership, onboarding, training, governance, special initiatives, and client engagement, while staying close enough to understand team efficiencies, workload pinch points, and operational risk. The role sits above a tactical Operations Manager who manages Project Coordinators, requiring someone who can architect scalable PMO frameworks while maintaining the operational credibility to step in, solve problems, and drive execution when needed.

The PMO Lead functions as the central connector across all account disciplines-bringing together finance, business intelligence, sourcing, human resources, risk management, communications, and facilities management into a cohesive delivery ecosystem. You'll be the person who sees problems before they become crises, assembles the right teams, drives solution development, and holds everyone accountable to execution. Success requires understanding not just what your team does, but how they work, where the friction points exist, and how to eliminate inefficiencies while building capability and maintaining the altitude to lead account-wide governance and continuous improvement.

What This Role Will Do

Strategic Integration & Account Leadership

Drive PMO strategy and operating model evolution for the account, ensuring delivery practices scale with client needs and organizational growth. Serve as the integrator who connects disparate account functions into unified delivery-burning l down silos, facilitating cross-functional collaboration, and ensuring teams understand how their work connects to broader account objectives. Lead client-facing governance discussions with executive presence, translating complex operational realities into clear, actionable insights that drive decision-making and build client confidence. Recommend and collaborate with senior management to resolve strategic issues that affect delivery performance and client satisfaction. Administer business unit policies that directly affect employees and recommend policy changes for the work group or wider team, exercising judgment and discretion on issues of importance to account success.

Proactive Problem Solving & Execution

Identify operational challenges before they escalated, rapidly assemble the right stakeholders, facilitate ideation sessions, and drive development of concrete action plans. Hold teams accountable to execution without micromanaging-knowing when to step back and when to step in. Build a culture where problems surface early and teams respond with urgency and ownership. Frequently work on issues where analysis of situations or data requires review of relevant factors across multiple work groups. Identify issues, gather facts, and resolve operational problems by exercising judgment within defined procedures and policies to determine appropriate action. When critical situations demand it, roll up your sleeves and get directly involved in execution, demonstrating that leadership means doing what's needed to ensure success.

Client System Expertise & Workflow Optimization

Serve as the subject matter expert for TRIRIGA, partnering with the client to develop and execute complex workflows that improve operational efficiency and service delivery. Understand the system architecture deeply enough to identify opportunities for optimization, guide configuration decisions, and troubleshoot sophisticated challenges. Support the client in maximizing platform value through strategic workflow design that aligns technology capability with business process requirements. Apply advanced knowledge of specific professional disciplines to manage significantly complex technical tasks and system integrations.

Knowledge Management & Capability Building

Own development, management, and reinforcement of account playbooks as the authoritative source of truth for how work gets done. Ensure documentation reflects current reality, captures lessons learned, and provides clear guidance for consistent execution. Design and lead comprehensive onboarding programs that accelerate new team member productivity and cultural integration. Serve as an E1 subject matter expert with the ability to train trainers and build capability across the broader team, creating multiplier effects that strengthen overall account performance. Establish goals and priorities that impact the direction for new or revised services, programs, processes, standards, and operational plans across the account.

Team Leadership & Development

Provide leadership, mentorship, and professional development support to the Operations Manager and project coordination function. Oversee a midsized team and may become actively involved, as required, to meet schedules and resolve problems. Create an environment where team members understand the culture of opportunity within JLL and see clear pathways for growth. Monitor team fulfillment, workload balance, and performance dynamics. Estimate staffing needs and schedules, assign project work, and remain ultimately responsible for team success. When needed, support the Operations Manager in holding the team accountable and, if necessary, guide performance management processes with fairness and clarity. Build a high-performing team that takes pride in operational excellence and client service. Receive guidance for complex problem-solving situations while exercising increasing independence in day-to-day operational decisions.

Operational Vigilance & Quality Assurance

Maintain watchful oversight of how teams operate across the account, quickly identifying when groups drift into silos or individuals operate outside their areas of responsibility. Address these situations directly but constructively-calling out inefficiencies while engaging the appropriate teams to course-correct. Ensure clear role definition and accountability without creating bureaucratic barriers. Balance empowerment with governance, giving teams autonomy while maintaining standards that protect delivery quality and client experience. Monitor daily operations and ensure work is performed as prescribed by policies and procedures to achieve productivity, service, and quality standards within the parameters of the operating plan and budget.

Financial Partnership & Forecasting

Partner closely with the account finance team to support monthly forecasting and financial reporting that integrates seamlessly with capital planning processes. Provide operational insights that inform financial projections, helping finance understand delivery velocity, resource utilization, and portfolio health. Translate project-level financial data into portfolio-level trends that enable better planning and decision-making. Bridge the gap between project execution realities and financial planning requirements. Have responsibility for maintaining and monitoring budget, working within moderate financial parameters that may require occasional interaction with senior management on financial matters.

Communication & Stakeholder Management

Deliver efficient, effective communication that cuts through complexity and drives action. Take intricate operational challenges, technical workflows, or multi-faceted account dynamics and distill them into digestible, actionable information for both internal teams and client stakeholders. Know your audience-adjusting depth, framing, and format based on who needs what information to make decisions or take action. Build trust through transparency, clarity, and consistent follow-through on commitments. Frequently interact with functional peer managers and conduct presentations of technical information concerning specific projects, schedules, or operational matters between different parts of the business segment and work groups.

Governance, Visibility & Performance Management

Establish and maintain governance frameworks that provide real-time visibility into project health, delivery trends, resource constraints, and operational performance across the portfolio. Develop reporting mechanisms that give leadership and clients the information they need without overwhelming them with data. Identify leading indicators of risk or opportunity, enabling proactive intervention rather than reactive firefighting. Drive consistency in how projects are initiated, executed, monitored, and closed across the account. Apply established processes and operational policies in selecting methods and techniques for obtaining solutions while making recommendations to senior management regarding strategic policies when needed.

Continuous Improvement & Special Initiatives

Lead special initiatives that strengthen PMO capability, enhance delivery quality, and elevate client experience. Identify process inefficiencies, workflow bottlenecks, or capability gaps and develop targeted improvement plans. Champion innovation in how the PMO operates, testing new approaches and scaling what works. Create feedback loops that capture lessons learned and translate them into actionable improvements that prevent recurring issues. Lead definition and direction for new or revised services, programs, processes, standards, and operational plans based upon business sub-segment strategies while receiving assignments in the form of objectives and determining how to use resources to meet schedules and goals.

What We're Looking For

• PMO & Operational Leadership Experience: Proven track record leading project management offices, delivery operations, or program controls functions in complex, multi-stakeholder environments. Direct relevant experience in field of work, which may include management experience. Typically requires university degree or relevant certification. Experience managing through team structures and developing operational capabilities.
• Integration & Connection Mindset: Natural ability to see how pieces fit together across disciplines, functions, and teams. Comfortable operating at the intersection of technical delivery, finance, human resources, risk, and client relationship management. Advanced knowledge of specific professional disciplines in addition to operational knowledge of related work groups.
• Builder Mentality: Energized by creating structure from ambiguity, improving what exists, and getting hands-on when needed. Not someone who just directs-someone who builds, tests, and refines alongside their team. May spend a portion of time performing individual tasks related to the work group, but primarily delivers work through delegation and team coordination.
• Technical & System Proficiency: Deep expertise with TRIRIGA or comparable enterprise workplace management systems. Ability to design complex workflows, optimize configurations, and serve as a trusted advisor to clients on system strategy. Applies in-depth professional, technical, or industry knowledge to manage significantly complex tasks.
• E1 & Training Capability: Subject matter expertise in project management fundamentals with proven ability to train