Advanced Specialist, Program Manager

Overview

The Program Manager will lead end-to-end delivery of CSDD Strategic Initiatives, driving execution, governance, documentation quality, and achievement of Key Results across multiple program workstreams. This role requires not only strong program management capabilities but also proven experience working remotely, managing cross-functional teams, and ensuring seamless communication across global time zones (India, UAE, UK, US).

The role requires strong executive presence and gravitas, with the ability to confidently brief senior leadership and influence C‑suite decision-making. This position demands proactive, forward‑looking leadership—someone who anticipates risks, drives clarity, removes ambiguity, and maintains momentum rather than simply coordinating updates. The Program Manager will also act as a champion for program management excellence, standardising delivery approaches and embedding best-practice frameworks across all teams

The Program Manager will work closely with the PMO and Business Support function to governance adherence, consistent documentation, accurate reporting, and high operational discipline. The ideal candidate has 10+ years of project management experience, 2–3 years in program management, strong remote delivery discipline, and is PMP-certified (PgMP desired).

Key Responsibilities

• Program Leadership: Lead the planning, execution, and delivery of CSDD Strategic Initiatives, overseeing multiple interdependent projects remotely to achieve desired outcomes within scope, schedule, budget, quality, and risk constraints. Maintain a real-time, accurate view of all projects in the portfolio — including release dates, dependencies, risks, and RAG status.
• Governance & Documentation: Develop and maintain high-quality program artefacts including Program Charters, Schedules, Budget Plans, RAID logs, and Key Results tracking. Ensure all documentation adheres to PMO governance standards and is stored correctly in SharePoint/Smartsheet for accessibility across global teams.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Serve as a key liaison to senior leadership stakeholders, providing structured updates, progress reports, and clear communication of risks, issues, and required decisions. Build strong relationships across time zones and ensure timely escalation and resolution.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Foster alignment and collaboration with Product, Operations, Technology, Content, Marketing, and Commercial teams. Facilitate effective communication, problem-solving, and decision-making to drive shared objectives, despite remote working conditions.
• Issue Resolution: Identify, prioritise, and resolve program-level issues, blockers, and conflicts through strong analytical skills, diplomacy, and influence. Drive proactive mitigation planning and implement structured problem-solving approaches.
• Strategic Planning: Work closely with senior leadership to define program objectives, establish roadmaps, and develop KPIs to track business outcomes and continuous improvement. Ensure strategic goals are translated into executable, measurable delivery plans.
• Budget Monitoring: Support development of program budget plans and monitor spend forecast and variance. Ensure financial discipline across initiatives and proactively highlight risks to budget, timeline, or quality.
• Quality Assurance: Implement and monitor quality assurance processes to ensure all content, accessibility, mobile readiness, and digital release standards are met. Drive a culture of excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Remote Collaboration & Communication: Demonstrate strong discipline working fully remotely, ensuring high clarity in communication, adherence to timelines, and effective asynchronous collaboration with teams in UAE, UK, US, and India. Maintain high responsiveness during critical collaboration windows.
• Digital Delivery Lifecycle Management: Apply understanding of digital content and product delivery lifecycles, including accessibility, mobile experience, platform dependencies, release criteria, and quality gates. Track readiness of deliverables from inception to release.
• AI‑Enabled & Agentic AI Program Management: Leverage AI tools such as Copilot, semantic search, analytics, and metadata tagging to automate reporting and improve documentation quality. Apply or demonstrate awareness of agentic AI for predictive risk insights, workflow automation, dependency mapping, and resource optimisation. Contribute to shaping the PMO’s AI framework and future-ready delivery practices.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Project Management, or related field; PMP certification required and PgMP is preferred.
• Proven experience of 10 plus years in project management and 2 plus years in program management roles, with a track record of successfully leading complex, cross-functional initiatives in a dynamic environment.
• Prior experience delivering programs remotely in a global/matrixed environment is necessary.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively engage and influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization, including executive leadership.
• Strategic mindset with the ability to think critically, analyse data, and develop actionable insights to inform decision-making and drive program success.
• Proficiency in project management methodologies, tools, and software, with a strong understanding of Agile, Scrum, or Waterfall principles.
• High proficiency in digital PM tools: Smartsheet, Jira, Confluence, SharePoint, Teams, AI-enabled PM tools.

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