Morson are recruiting a Head of PMO for an initial 6 month contract with our leading defence client, Thales. The Head of PMO will have an aerospace/defence/engineering background. 

The primary purpose of the role is to be the PMO Business Partner to the General Projects Portfolio ensuring that the execution and delivery of bids and projects is performed to schedule and cost with the requisite satisfaction of the customer requirement and in a manner which is compliant with corporate functional governance.

Key element of the role is to ensure that the PMO maintains full and accountable control for the consistent application of project management techniques across the Sector. In this role the post holder will be the “eyes and ears” for the Sector Director acting across the span of bids and projects and providing summary level information on the following key Sector performance metrics:

• Sales
• Cash
• Milestones
• Material
• Demand

Using the above metrics the post holder will provide an advanced warning of any potential issue which affects the project(s) cost or schedule baseline. Accordingly, the post holder will co-ordinate the activities of the Project Manager operating in the Sector in the raising of the associated variations for presentation at the Sector and UWS level PMRs.

The reporting of Sector performance against metrics will be presented in a bespoke stylised dashboard on a monthly basis derived from the Work Package Managers’ Digital Dashboards and submitted for review in advance of the Sector PMR.

In addition to the above, the post holder will support the Head of PMO to co-ordinate and manage the PMO resources ensuring that the allocated resource count is maintained, deployed staff are suitably qualified, allocated to projects and appropriately utilised.

The role will require an exceptionally business aware and focussed individual who can develop excellent relationships with varied and multiple stakeholders at all levels. It will demand an individual with highly developed networking and influencing skills that can support Thales in delivering the right Programme/Project outcomes at the right time and to the right cost and quality. It requires the application of demonstrable best in class professional PMO capabilities and a full mentoring and coaching approach to develop the necessary awareness and capability within the PMO and wider Sector project management staff.

Key Responsibilities and Tasks:

• Support key stake holders with the establishment of product aligned governance that supports a product driven delivery approach
• Accountable for PMO performance within the Portfolio
• Maintain the drumbeat and governance across the Portfolio
• Ensures best practice PMO processes and controls are adopted and adhered to within their Portfolio; accountable for putting in place appropriate metrics to ensure robust monitoring and control for all elements such as WBS, schedule, risk register, and EAC
• Review Bid /Programme schedules, ensuring they’re baselined, robust, coherent and optimised (including regular schedule risk analysis)
• Providing coaching and guidance on best practice implementation to the Project teams
• Indirect Line Management of PMO members, to support the Head of PMO
• Define and establish, where appropriate, local processes, controls and tools
• Where necessary “troubleshoot” problem projects
• Provide the Sector Director with regular PMO insight and recommendations
• Identify, analyse and facilitate resolution of Sector level issues/themes across programmes and projects
• Ensure a robust risk and opportunity management process is embedded across the Sector, supporting the Project Managers as required
• Accountable for configuration control of the Project Baselines and data management;  ensuring it is auditable and controlled
• Identify critical dependencies between projects within Sector
• Accountable for accurate and timely completion  of reporting packs/dashboards in accordance with Business directives; co-ordinating corrective action where required
• Ensure workload is allocated effectively across the PMO team
• Provide recommendations to resolve any PMO resource conflicts within Sector
• Ensure forward load across Portfolio is accurate and timely
• Ownership of the Portfolio demand profile both firm and prospect, by analysing labour, material and product profiles resulting from the monthly schedule update processes and making recommendations to reconcile anomalies
• Deputise for Sector Director in Demand Reviews where necessary

Experience

• An extensive track record of PMO for complex programmes.  
• An extensive track record of building strong relationships with key stakeholders and leading in complex environments
• Working in a complex, multidisciplinary, multi-site organisation
• Line management
• Evidence of the ability to provide coaching and development for less-experienced team members
• Comprehensive understanding of generic processes and techniques used to schedule Programme activities (WBS, OBS, milestones, dependencies , EVM)
• Comprehensive understanding of the PMO processes (including Change Control, Risk Management and Information Management)
• Comprehensive experience and knowledge of the Programme life cycle through delivery of Development, Implementation, Closure and Support activity
• Experience of working across boundaries/functions , e.g. Finance, Supply Chain
• Experience with Primavera or related ERP and MRP systems
• Experience with Power BI Tools preferred but not essential