Program management office manager

Big4 Experience Preferred. Role Purpose Program Management Office Manager is responsible for establishing and leading the organization’s enterprise-wide Project Management Office (PMO), ensuring the effective execution of strategic initiatives, transformation programs, and key management priorities. The role provides centralized oversight of the organization’s portfolio of strategic projects, ensuring initiatives are appropriately prioritized, governed, resourced, monitored, and delivered in line with agreed objectives, timelines, budgets, and quality standards. Working closely with the CEO, Executive Management, and functional leaders, the role translates strategic priorities into structured execution plans and provides management with clear visibility over progress, dependencies, risks, decisions, and outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise PMO Leadership Establish, lead, and continuously enhance the enterprise PMO framework, governance structure, methodologies, standards, and reporting mechanisms. Maintain an enterprise-wide portfolio of strategic projects, transformation initiatives, and management priorities. Define project governance requirements, stage gates, approval processes, reporting standards, and escalation mechanisms. Ensure projects have clearly defined objectives, scope, ownership, milestones, deliverables, budgets, and success measures. Introduce consistent project management methodologies and tools across the organization. Ensure appropriate documentation and governance throughout the project lifecycle. Drive project management discipline and accountability across business and support functions.

Strategic Initiative Execution

Translate organizational strategy and executive priorities into structured programs, projects, and implementation roadmaps. Coordinate execution of high-priority initiatives involving multiple departments and stakeholders. Develop integrated implementation plans covering milestones, dependencies, resources, risks, and critical decisions. Monitor progress against agreed strategic objectives and ensure corrective actions are taken where required. Lead or directly manage selected high-impact strategic and transformation initiatives. Ensure strategic decisions are converted into clearly assigned actions with defined owners and deadlines. Track implementation through completion and validate achievement of intended outcomes.

Portfolio Management & Prioritization

Maintain a consolidated view of all major projects and strategic initiatives across the organization. Support Executive Management in prioritizing initiatives based on strategic importance, regulatory requirements, resource capacity, financial impact, and organizational readiness. Identify conflicts, overlaps, dependencies, and resource constraints across the project portfolio. Recommend project sequencing, reprioritization, or intervention where required. Monitor portfolio performance and highlight projects requiring executive attention. Support annual strategic and business planning by translating priorities into an executable project portfolio.

Executive Reporting & Management Information

Develop concise executive-level dashboards and reporting covering project status, milestones, risks, budgets, dependencies, and key decisions. Provide regular portfolio updates to the CEO and Executive Management. Prepare materials for management committees and other governance forums relating to strategic initiatives and project performance. Ensure management receives timely, accurate, and decision-oriented information. Highlight emerging risks, delays, dependencies, and areas requiring executive intervention. Maintain structured tracking of key management decisions and ensure agreed actions are followed through to completion.

Cross-Functional Coordination

Act as a central coordination point for major initiatives involving multiple business and support functions. Work closely with department heads to ensure alignment of priorities, timelines, responsibilities, and resources. Facilitate cross-functional project meetings, steering committees, and working groups. Resolve or elevate issues that may impact successful project delivery. Challenge project owners constructively where progress, governance, or accountability is insufficient. Ensure dependencies between departments are clearly identified and actively managed.

Transformation & Change Management

Support major organizational transformation programs including technology, operational, digital, regulatory, organizational, and business transformation initiatives. Ensure transformation programs have clearly defined business cases, implementation plans, governance structures, and measurable outcomes. Coordinate organizational readiness and change management activities where required. Monitor adoption and realization of expected project benefits following implementation. Identify opportunities to improve organizational effectiveness, operating models, processes, and ways of working.

Project Governance & Risk Management

Establish appropriate project risk management and escalation frameworks. Maintain consolidated project risk, issue, dependency, and decision logs. Ensure material project risks are escalated to the appropriate management level. Monitor project budgets and resource utilization in coordination with Finance and relevant functions. Ensure regulatory, compliance, risk, legal, technology, and operational considerations are appropriately incorporated into project planning. Conduct periodic project health checks and post-implementation reviews.

Performance & Accountability

Establish clear KPIs for major projects and strategic initiatives. Monitor delivery against agreed milestones and outcomes. Drive accountability for commitments made by project sponsors, owners, and workstream leads. Ensure delayed or at-risk initiatives have clearly defined recovery plans. Track actions arising from executive meetings and strategic discussions where they relate to organizational priorities and major initiatives. Provide independent challenge and escalation where execution is not progressing as required.

Key Stakeholders Internal Chief Executive Officer Executive Management Business Heads Investment Teams Operations Information Technology Finance Risk Compliance Human Resources Marketing Corporate Services Quality Assurance / Internal Control functions External Strategic consultants Technology and implementation partners Professional advisors Key vendors and service providers Other external stakeholders involved in strategic programs Qualifications & Experience

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Engineering, Technology, Project Management, or a related discipline. MBA or relevant postgraduate qualification preferred. PMP, PRINCE2, Agile, MSP, Pg MP, or equivalent project/program management certification preferred. Approximately 10–15 years of relevant professional experience. Significant experience leading PMOs, enterprise transformation programs, strategic initiatives, or complex cross-functional projects. Experience within banking, investment management, financial services, consulting, or another highly regulated environment strongly preferred. Demonstrated experience working directly with senior executives and department heads. Strong experience managing multiple concurrent projects with significant organizational dependencies. Experience establishing or enhancing enterprise PMO governance frameworks is highly desirable. #J-18808-Ljbffr