Program Director

Role overview

Program delivery

• Own delivery across solution packages from design freeze through steady-state operations; coordinate vendors and manage interfaces and dependencies.
• Own the integrated master schedule, milestones, critical path, and interface plan.
• Lead on-site installation, integration, commissioning, and vendor work sequencing.
• Direct Senior Project Managers, Project Managers, and PMO; provide senior escalation for technical, commercial, integration, and vendor issues.
• Lead governance, steering committees, executive reporting, decisions, and escalations.
• Oversee FAT, SAT, integration testing, commissioning, qualification, and acceptance; own readiness and go-live decisions.
• Manage risks, issues, dependencies, recovery, replanning, scope, contracts, change, and claims.
• Integrate automation, robotics, MES, digital platforms, utilities, infrastructure, and operational workstreams.
• Monitor schedule, cost, quality, commissioning readiness, OEE readiness, and operations using dashboards, analytics, and AI-enabled reporting.
• Lead operational readiness, ramp-up, knowledge transfer, and transition to steady state, including maintenance handover.

Minimum qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Technology, Manufacturing, Automation, or a related field.
• 12+ years managing large-scale industrial, automation, manufacturing, or infrastructure programs, with program-director or delivery-lead-level experience.
• Must have personally delivered a comparable program in the UAE; regional exposure alone is insufficient.
• Hands-on experience importing and mobilizing complex capital equipment into the UAE.
• Direct experience with secure, sovereign, or restricted-access environments and elevated compliance, clearance, and export-control requirements.
• Experience owning full delivery through design, installation, commissioning, and go-live in a multi-vendor, highly governed environment.
• Experience coordinating 10+ OEMs and suppliers and leading project management and PMO teams.
• Knowledge of program governance, controls, risk management, change and claims management, and delivery assurance.
• Experience integrating automation, digital platforms, manufacturing systems, and IT/OT; experience in commissioning, operational readiness, ramp-up, or industrialization.
• Strong stakeholder management, leadership, communication, and executive decision-making capabilities; experience with digital project tools, dashboards, and data-driven delivery.

Preferred qualifications

• Industry 4.0, smart factory, MES, industrial automation, or digital manufacturing program experience is preferred.
• Exposure to robotics, IIoT, AI-enabled manufacturing, digital twins, or advanced analytics is preferred.
• Aerospace, defense, highly regulated industry, system integration, factory commissioning, and international OEM experience are preferred.
• OEE optimization, Lean Manufacturing, continuous improvement, and wider GCC experience are preferred.
• PMP, PgMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent program/project management certification is preferred.

Workplace

• The program includes on-site installation, integration, and commissioning work at a UAE manufacturing facility.

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