Senior Manager - Project Management Office (PMO)

About Julphar

Julphar is dedicated to transforming workplace culture with a mission to enhance quality of life by delivering exemplary solutions with compassion and professionalism. Our values—Respect, Collaboration, Innovation, Integrity, and Compassion—combined with a commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunities, empower us to positively impact patients' lives, nurture talent, foster a healthy work environment, and achieve excellence through research and dedication.

Job Overview

The Senior Manager for the Project Management Office will oversee the complete portfolio of capital and operational projects within Ras Al Khaimah Technical Operations. This leadership role involves ensuring robust governance, managing tactical implementation plans across departments, guaranteeing timely project delivery within regulations, maintaining compliance with pharmaceutical standards, and aligning strategically with organizational goals.

Key Duties

• Direct and control the entire project portfolio, encompassing both Capex and non-Capex initiatives, ensuring adherence to timelines, budgets, scope, and compliance with GMP, safety, and engineering specifications.
• Develop and sustain PMO governance frameworks, including lifecycle templates, KPIs, risk management approaches, reporting mechanisms, and executive-level dashboards.
• Collaborate with finance and cross-functional teams to conduct feasibility studies, prepare cost estimates, calculate ROI, and justify capital expenditures.
• Track project status through milestone monitoring and periodic reviews, proactively identifying and escalating risks.
• Ensure that all projects comply with pharmaceutical regulations, anti-bribery and corruption policies, GMP, environmental health and safety, validation, quality assurance, procurement standards, and Julphar's cGxP project lifecycle procedures, serving as a liaison during GxP inspections if required.
• Facilitate effective communication among engineering, production, quality, supply chain, R&D, regulatory affairs, and finance business partners.
• Engage stakeholders by connecting technical teams with senior leadership and preparing updates for the Chief Technical Officer.
• Lead and mentor the project management team to build capabilities and support the evolution toward a centralized corporate PMO structure.
• Design prioritization processes to balance workload among departments ensuring project feasibility and resource effectiveness.
• Manage resource allocation across projects, identify over-allocated personnel, and propose corrective measures.

Required Competencies

• Comprehensive knowledge of project management standards such as PMI, PRINCE2, or comparable methodologies.
• In-depth understanding of pharmaceutical engineering, GMP requirements, validation, and quality compliance.
• Expertise in capital expenditure planning, budgeting, cost management, work breakdown structures, and procurement.
• Experience managing projects involving construction, utilities, equipment installation, automation, or new facility developments.
• Ability to administer risk management, change control, and engage effectively with stakeholders.
• Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving capabilities.
• Excellent oral and written communication, negotiation skills.
• Proven skill in managing multiple complex initiatives concurrently.
• Strategic thinker with a focus on long-term organizational planning.
• Leadership qualities including team guidance, coaching, and conflict resolution.
• Adaptability to organizational changes including transitions to centralized PMO environments.
• Interpersonal skills promoting cross-cultural and cross-functional collaboration.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Industrial, Electrical, Chemical, or related disciplines) is mandatory.
• Preferred qualifications include a Master's degree in Project Management, Engineering Management, or Business Administration.
• Professional certifications such as PMP, PRINCE2 Practitioner, or Lean Six Sigma are highly advantageous.
• 8 to 12+ years of project management experience within the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries.
• Demonstrated success managing capital expenditure projects and involvement in operational improvements and non-Capex initiatives.
• Experience in greenfield or brownfield facility expansions is desirable.
• Familiarity in establishing or operating PMO frameworks and coordinating multi-site, international projects.