Head of PMO in Hemel Hempstead

We are looking for an experienced Head of PMO to establish and lead a central PMO hub across EMEA. This is a newly created role, so we are looking for someone hands-on, structured, and confident building processes from the ground up. The successful candidate will play a key role in improving project visibility, reporting discipline, governance, and project controls across the region. The role will act as a central point of coordination between Project Managers, Operations, Finance, and wider support teams, ensuring key project information is complete, accurate, and available in one place. This will include oversight of project status, forecasting, billing readiness, timesheets, travel, applications for payment, purchase orders, contracts, scope, specifications, drawings, and other key project documentation. The role will also have management responsibility for office administration functions, ensuring administrative support, coordination, documentation, and office-based processes are aligned with business needs and delivered consistently. As the PMO function develops, the role may also expand to support additional international regions and business areas. This role would suit someone who has previously led a formal PMO function and is comfortable bringing structure, accountability, and practical process improvement into a project-led environment.

Responsibilities:

• Establish and lead the PMO function across EMEA, setting the standards, processes, templates, governance routines and reporting expectations required to support effective project delivery.
• Review current ways of working, identify gaps, and implement practical PMO structures that improve consistency, visibility, and control across the regional project portfolio.
• Develop and maintain a clear project governance framework, ensuring projects are tracked consistently from mobilisation through to completion, handover, and close-out.
• Ensure project documentation, approvals, reporting, risk management, financial tracking, and change control processes are followed consistently across the business.
• Create and maintain a structured weekly cadence with Project Managers and key stakeholders to review project status, forecasting, billing readiness, risks, issues, actions and documentation requirements.
• Own the project reporting rhythm across EMEA, including weekly PM updates, commercial reviews, finance/risk reviews, billing readiness reviews and leadership reporting.
• Work with Project Managers, Finance and Operations to support forecasting, applications for payment, billing dates, committed costs, purchase orders, timesheets, travel and cost-to-complete information.
• Identify missing, inconsistent or inaccurate project data and follow up with the relevant stakeholders to ensure information is corrected and completed on time.
• Support Project Managers and delivery teams across EMEA with planning, coordination, governance, documentation, and project control processes.
• Ensure project milestones, deliverables, actions, risks, issues, dependencies, billing dates, applications for payment, purchase orders, contracts, scope, specifications, drawings, and other key project information are clearly tracked and maintained.
• Support the implementation of improved project controls, including lessons learned, project reviews, standard operating procedures, and continuous improvement actions.
• Partner with operational teams to ensure project delivery activity is aligned with client requirements, contractual commitments, internal standards, and business priorities.
• Support business transformation activity, system improvements, reporting improvements, and operational change initiatives.
• Promote a culture of accountability, accuracy, structure, and proactive communication across project and support teams.
• Influence stakeholders to follow agreed governance processes and maintain accurate project information.
• Support client-facing or leadership meetings where PMO input, reporting, governance, or project performance updates are required.
• Set clear objectives, priorities, and expectations for direct reports.
• Conduct regular one-to-ones, performance reviews, workload reviews, and development conversations.

Qualifications:

• A recognised project management qualification such as PRINCE2, APM, PMP, Agile, or equivalent is desirable.
• A degree or equivalent experience in business management, project management, engineering, construction management, operations, or a related field would be beneficial.

Education/Experience:

• Significant experience in a PMO, project controls, project management, operations, or business leadership role is required, preferably within a project-led technical environment such as electronic security, fire and life safety, construction, engineering, data centres, technology infrastructure, or facilities services.
• The successful candidate should have experience setting project governance standards, improving reporting processes, managing project controls, and supporting senior leadership with portfolio-level visibility.
• Experience managing people is required, ideally including PMO, project coordination, or project administration.
• Experience working across multiple projects, stakeholders, and operational teams in a fast-paced environment is essential.
• Degree level education or equivalent relevant business experience would be beneficial.

What We Offer:

• Private Medical Insurance (PMI)
• Pension scheme
• Car allowance
• Phone allowance
• Company sick pay
• Access to wellbeing support services
• A supportive and collaborative working environment

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels respected and supported. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and experiences and make recruitment decisions based on skills, experience, and business needs.