Unit Head - Program & Project Management Delivery

Role Overview

Unit Head - Program & Project Management Delivery at ADIB, based in Abu Dhabi. Lead the Program & Project Management Delivery function within Technology Transformation & Portfolio Management and provide end-to-end oversight of technology program and project execution.

Role Purpose

Lead the Program & Project Management Delivery function and ensure initiatives are delivered within approved scope, schedule, budget, quality and governance requirements, with effective management of risks, dependencies, resources, vendors and stakeholders. Build a sustainable delivery organization through disciplined FTE and capacity planning, UAE National development, succession planning, coaching and professional capability development.

Key Responsibilities

Program & Project Delivery Leadership

• Lead the planning and execution of the assigned technology program and project portfolio.
• Ensure approved initiatives are delivered within scope, schedule, budget, quality and governance expectations.
• Set delivery priorities, accountabilities, milestones and recovery actions across project teams.
• Provide timely oversight and intervention for material delivery risks, delays and constraints.

Delivery Planning & Controls

• Ensure robust integrated plans, baselines, resource plans, financial forecasts and delivery schedules are maintained.
• Monitor milestones, critical paths, dependencies, changes, risks, issues and decisions throughout the lifecycle.
• Maintain delivery discipline through accurate status reporting, evidence-based forecasting and corrective action tracking.
• Ensure project closure, handover, lessons learned and benefits transition are completed effectively.

Stakeholder & Business Outcome Management

• Partner with project sponsors, business and technology stakeholders to confirm outcomes, priorities and acceptance criteria.
• Maintain clear stakeholder communication, decision logs, escalation routes and governance updates.
• Ensure delivery outcomes support approved business cases, strategic objectives and measurable benefits.
• Manage competing priorities and facilitate resolution of cross-functional dependencies.

Vendor & Financial Delivery Management

• Oversee vendor and strategic partner performance against contractual commitments, milestones, quality and service expectations.
• Monitor project financials, forecasts, commitments, variances and corrective actions within approved budgets.
• Work with Procurement, Finance and Legal stakeholders on commercial, contractual and delivery matters.
• Promote value for money, delivery accountability and effective use of internal and external resources.

Governance, Risk & Quality

• Ensure programs and projects comply with PM Governance standards, stage gates, controls and reporting requirements.
• Maintain effective management of delivery, operational, technology, regulatory and third-party risks.
• Support project assurance reviews, audits and remediation activities, ensuring actions are closed on time.
• Embed quality management, testing readiness, implementation governance and post-implementation review practices.

Workforce, FTE & Capacity Management

• Develop and maintain the PM Delivery workforce and FTE plan aligned with portfolio demand, budget and approved structure.
• Forecast delivery resource demand and balance permanent FTE, UAE National talent, contractors and strategic partners.
• Monitor vacancies, recruitment, allocation, utilization, productivity, skills gaps and succession risks.
• Provide capacity insights and recommendations to the Head of Technology Transformation & Portfolio Management and HR.

UAE National & Staff Development

• Create and maintain individual development plans for UAE Nationals and other staff in the PM Delivery function.
• Provide role-based pathways for project management, program management, stakeholder leadership, financial control and delivery governance.
• Coordinate mentoring, coaching, job rotations, stretch assignments, knowledge transfer and professional certifications.
• Review progress regularly, evidence capability growth and build succession readiness for critical delivery roles.

Leadership & Continuous Improvement

• Lead, coach and develop program managers, project managers and project management associates.
• Set clear performance objectives, delivery standards and accountability across the function.
• Use lessons learned and performance trends to improve delivery methods, tools and ways of working.
• Champion ADIB values, customer focus, ethics, ownership, collaboration and continuous improvement.

Role Complexity & Decision-Making

• Lead delivery across a large and complex portfolio comprising a large number of concurrent technology projects and programs.
• Manage significant financial exposure, regulatory criticality, delivery risk and cross-functional dependencies across business and technology.
• Make and recommend time-sensitive delivery, sequencing, resource and recovery decisions, including where outcomes depend on stakeholders outside direct authority.
• Balance strategic priorities, operational constraints, risk appetite, customer impact, architecture direction and regulatory commitments when resolving delivery trade-offs.

Technology & SDLC Delivery Ownership

• Ensure adherence to the approved technology delivery lifecycle and SDLC requirements across programs and projects.
• Ensure architecture alignment, cybersecurity and control readiness are addressed and evidenced at the appropriate delivery stages.
• Oversee testing readiness and completion, release planning, cutover governance, hypercare and operational acceptance.
• Ensure technology, operational and control stakeholders provide required approvals before implementation and closure.

Benefits Realization & Change Leadership

• Lead and/or support the tracking of outcomes from approved business case through delivery, operational handover and post-implementation benefits validation.
• Work with sponsors and benefit owners to define measures, baselines, ownership and validation arrangements for expected outcomes.
• Oversee change readiness, stakeholder adoption and embedding of new operating practices where programs require business or technology change.
• Escalate material benefit, adoption or readiness gaps and ensure agreed corrective actions are tracked.

Delivery Continuity & Resilience

• Establish succession and continuity arrangements for critical programs and delivery leadership roles.
• Identify and mitigate key-person dependencies across internal teams, vendors and strategic partners.
• Maintain transition and exit arrangements for vendor changes, contract expiry, performance failure or insourcing scenarios.
• Ensure critical project knowledge, plans, decisions and delivery evidence remain accessible and transferable.

Delivery Performance Measures

• Monitor portfolio delivery KPIs including milestone predictability, budget variance, delivery health, dependency ageing, benefits realization and closure quality.
• Use performance trends and leading indicators to prioritize interventions, recovery actions and resource decisions.
• Provide transparent KPI reporting and commentary to technology leadership and relevant governance forums.

Skills & Competencies

Enterprise Delivery Management

• Enterprise program and project delivery management
• Agile, waterfall and hybrid delivery methodologies
• Integrated planning, scheduling, dependency and critical path management
• Project financial management, forecasting and budget control
• Risk, issue, change, quality and benefits management
• PMO governance, stage gates, project assurance and audit readiness
• Executive reporting, stakeholder engagement and escalation management
• Vendor, commercial and strategic partner delivery management
• FTE planning, workforce analytics and resource capacity management
• UAE National development, succession planning, mentoring and capability frameworks
• Leadership, coaching, negotiation, decision-making and continuous improvement

SDLC & Technology Governance

• SDLC governance, architecture alignment, cybersecurity and control readiness
• Testing governance, release management, cutover, hypercare and operational acceptance
• Benefits realization, post-implementation validation and change adoption
• Delivery continuity, key-person risk, vendor transition and exit planning

Stakeholder & Decision-Making

• Influencing and decision-making across complex stakeholder groups without direct authority

Additional Information

• Reports to the Head of Technology Transformation & Portfolio Management.
• Manage delivery and project management capacity, including program managers, project managers, project management associates and PM Partner resources supporting the portfolio.
• Work closely with complementary stakeholders including Transformation, Digital, PM Governance, IT Governance, Architecture, Cybersecurity, Risk, Compliance, Finance, Procurement, Operations and Business functions.
• Clarify accountabilities between portfolio governance and delivery execution while maintaining effective hand-offs, challenge and escalation.