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Job description
Director – Head of Project Management, UAE
Project & Development Services (PDS) | JLL UAE
Job title
Director – Head of Project Management, UAE
Business line
Project & Development Services (PDS)
Location
UAE
Scope
UAE project management (PMC) business, including P&L ownership
Role type
Senior leadership: team leadership, work winning and financial performance
Role purpose
The Head of Project Management UAE owns the strategic growth, delivery and financial performance of JLL's PMC business in the UAE. The role combines developing and executing the strategic plan for the PM business in the UAE, leading the project management team, winning new PMC mandates, and running the UAE project management P&L.
The Director is the senior face of PDS to developers, owners, government-related entities and investors, and makes sure each project is governed, controlled and commercially sound from appointment to handover.
Key accountabilities
1. Team leadership and people
- Lead, coach and develop the UAE project management team across all levels.
- Plan resources against the pipeline and live projects, and place the right leaders on the right mandates.
- Build a succession pipeline, and recruit and retain strong project managers in a competitive market.
- Run performance reviews, development plans and talent conversations, with named accountability for each team member.
- Set a culture of technical rigour, safety, integrity and collaboration, and hold it under delivery pressure.
- Work with PDS leadership and other JLL business lines to bring the right expertise to clients.
2. Work winning and business development
- Lead PMC bids and proposals in the UAE, from the go/no-go decision through to submission, interview and contract award.
- Own the pursuit strategy for priority clients and sectors, including win themes, team selection, fee strategy and pricing approach.
- Build and maintain senior relationships with developers, owners, investors, government-related entities and key contractors and consultants.
- Convert existing client relationships into repeat and expanded mandates through strong delivery and regular senior engagement.
- Maintain a qualified, forward-looking pipeline and report it with a clear view of conversion.
- Represent JLL in bid presentations, client workshops and tender interviews.
3. Business planning and P&L ownership
- Own the UAE project management P&L, covering revenue, margin, utilisation, headcount and growth.
- Prepare and deliver the annual business plan and three-year outlook.
- Own fee proposals, fee structures and resourcing models, and make sure fees reflect scope, risk and delivery effort.
- Monitor revenue recognition, work in progress, fee burn, forecasts and debtors, and act early on variances.
- Manage scope change through timely variation and fee-adjustment discussions with clients.
- Report performance to PDS leadership with clear forecasts and corrective actions.
4. PMC delivery leadership and governance
- Provide senior leadership on live PMC mandates, including escalation points, client relationships and delivery risk.
- Set and enforce project governance standards, including reporting, risk and issue management, decision logs, and quality and safety assurance.
- Review key deliverables and reports for quality before they reach the client.
- Manage JLL's contractual and professional risk on PMC appointments, including scope definition, liability and exit points.
- Make sure the PMC interface with the following disciplines works on every project:
- Commercial management: budget control, cost planning, procurement strategy, tender evaluation, change control and final accounts.
- Claims management: early identification of entitlement and exposure, notice discipline, contemporaneous records, and dispute avoidance and resolution strategy.
- Project controls: programme, cost and risk baselines, forecasting, earned value and reporting integrity.
- Project governance: approval gates, authority matrices, assurance reviews and client reporting cadence.
5. Market presence, presentation and public speaking
- Act as a credible voice for JLL PDS in the UAE market at industry events, conferences, panels and client forums.
- Prepare and deliver senior-level presentations to boards, investment committees and client leadership.
- Track market developments, client priorities and the competitor landscape, and turn them into positioning, pricing and pursuit decisions.
- Contribute to thought leadership with JLL Research and marketing colleagues.
Qualifications and experience
Essential
- Degree in project or construction management, or in an engineering discipline (civil, mechanical, electrical or equivalent).
- Minimum of 8 years' experience in the UAE, with working knowledge of local authority processes, contract forms, market practice and client expectations.
- Business and financial acumen, including demonstrable strategic planning and execution leading to sustained business growth, P&L management, forecasting and budgeting.
- Demonstrated PMC leadership in the UAE, including senior responsibility for large or complex projects.
- Proven record of leading bids and winning work, with strong business development skills.
- Strong understanding of the UAE market and the competitor landscape, including how competitors position and price PMC services.
- Working knowledge of commercial management, claims management, project controls and project governance, and how they interact on a live project.
- Strong client-facing skills, with credibility at senior and board level.
- Clear written and verbal communication, and confidence presenting and speaking publicly.
Desirable
- Chartered status or equivalent professional membership (RICS, APM, PMI, CIOB or similar).
- Postgraduate qualification in project management, construction management or business.
- Experience across more than one asset class (for example mixed-use, residential, commercial, hospitality or data centres).
Core competencies
Competency
What it looks like in this role
Leadership
Builds business and holds high-performing teams, makes decisions and owns outcomes
Commercial judgement
Prices work to risk, protects margin and negotiates with clients
Client focus
Builds long-term senior relationships, anticipates needs and resolves issues early
Strategic thinking
Reads the market and sets a clear plan for growth
Influence
Persuades clients, colleagues and internal stakeholders
Delivery discipline
Enforces governance, control and quality consistently
Measures of success
- Win rate and value of new PMC appointments against the business plan
- Revenue, margin and utilisation against budget
- Client satisfaction and repeat appointments
- Quality of governance, reporting and project controls across live projects
- Team engagement, retention and developmen