Head of Project Management Office

Job Summary We are seeking a hands-on Head of Project Management Office (PMO) to lead UTEL Group’s enterprise-wide PMO, Project Controls, and Document Control capabilities across the Project Management function. The role will serve as the central governance and control hub for UTEL Group’s project portfolio, overseeing project governance, portfolio visibility, schedules, costs, financial performance, risks, changes, project evidence, and management reporting across both Government and Private-sector projects. The Head of PMO will work closely with Project Managers, Business Operations, Finance, Engineering, QHSE, Post-Contract Commercial / Claims, and Management to provide early visibility, protect project margins, maintain controlled and auditable project records, and strengthen clear end-to-end accountability across UTEL Group. Role Description
• Enterprise PMO & Governance: Lead the PMO function and establish enterprise-wide project governance, methodologies, stage-gate reviews, controls, templates, standards and reporting disciplines across the project portfolio.
• Portfolio Management & Executive Visibility: Maintain a consolidated portfolio view covering project status, milestones, schedule, budget, forecast, margin, billing, risks, issues, dependencies, quality / safety indicators and decisions required; provide concise executive dashboards and early-warning insights.
• Project Controls & Performance Management: Lead Project Controls across active projects by establishing and monitoring approved baselines for scope, schedule, cost and resources; identify deviations early and drive recovery or corrective actions with accountable owners and due dates.
• Budget, Cost & Financial Control: Work with Project Managers and Finance to monitor approved budgets, actual costs, commitments, forecasts, Estimate at Completion (EAC), Cost to Complete (CTC), revenue, margin, billing, cash flow and financial exposure.
• Schedule, Progress & Recovery: Monitor master schedules, key milestones, critical paths, progress and major dependencies; challenge schedule slippage and ensure practical recovery plans are developed and tracked.
• Risk, Issue, Dependency & Change Control: Maintain structured RAID and change-control processes with clear assessment of cost / schedule impact, approval status, owners, mitigation actions, due dates and escalation paths.
• Document Control Leadership: Lead the Document Control function and establish standards for document numbering, master registers, revision / version control, review and approval workflows, transmittals, distribution, access control, project correspondence and document retention.
• Controlled Project Evidence & Claims Support: Ensure project records are complete, traceable and audit-ready to support contractual evidence, Variation Orders (VO), Extension of Time (EOT), Claims, Liquidated Damages (LD), dispute prevention and management decision-making in coordination with Post-Contract Commercial / Claims.
• Project Close-out & Handover Documentation: Ensure completeness and control of project close-out documentation, including approved deliverables, as-built / final records, customer acceptance evidence, handover documentation, lessons learned and required archiving.
• Data Quality, Systems & Digital PMO: Own PMO and Document Control data quality and continuously improve dashboards, project control tools, document management / EDMS practices and management information reliability.
• Cross-functional Governance: Coordinate with Government / Private Project teams, Finance, Engineering, Business Operations, Procurement, QHSE, QA/QC, HSE and Commercial teams to resolve issues and maintain consistent enterprise controls throughout delivery.
• Team Leadership & Capability Development: Lead, coach and develop PMO, Project Controls and Document Control team members; establish clear roles, service levels, performance expectations and capability-development plans.
• Resource & Capacity Management: Monitor portfolio workload and resource requirements, identify capacity constraints or conflicts and recommend prioritization, allocation or escalation actions to Management.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify recurring delivery and control gaps, drive root-cause improvements, standardize best practices and ensure lessons learned are embedded into future project execution. What We're Looking For
• Bachelor's or master's degree in engineering, Business Administration, Finance, Accounting or a related field. Engineering or other project-based technical background is an advantage.
• 8+ years of relevant experience in PMO, Project Controls, Project Planning, Cost Control, Portfolio Management or complex project delivery, including demonstrated experience leading a team or function.
• Experience in System Integration, ICT, Engineering, Infrastructure, Construction, Data Center, Transportation, Power & Utilities or other project-based businesses is strongly preferred.
• Strong hands-on capability in schedule control, budgeting, cost control, forecasting, variance analysis, EAC / CTC, billing, cash flow, margin and project financial performance.
• Strong understanding of Document Control governance, document registers, revisions, transmittals, approval workflows, correspondence, close-out records and auditable project evidence; experience with EDMS / document management systems is an advantage.
• Good understanding of scope and change control, contractual records and evidence required to support VO, EOT, Claims and LD management.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, influencing and communication skills, with the ability to challenge project teams constructively and translate complex project information into clear executive recommendations.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint; experience with Power BI, Microsoft Project, Primavera P6, ERP / SAP, Jira, Smartsheet, SharePoint or EDMS / Project Control tools is an advantage.
• Hold PMP, PRINCE2, PgMP, PMI-SP, Agile or other relevant Project Management / Project Controls certification is an advantage.
• Good command in English, both written and spoken, with the ability to prepare management reports, review project / contractual documents and communicate effectively with international stakeholders.