Project Manager, UAE Based

About Palladium Palladium is part of the Global Infrastructure Solutions Inc. (GISI) Consulting group, a privately held family of companies dedicated to delivering sustainable infrastructure and development solutions worldwide. GISI brings together leading firms in engineering, construction, environmental services, and consulting, enabling Palladium to offer clients integrated, end-to-end capabilities across sectors. Purpose of Position The Project Manager is a pivotal leadership role within Palladium's Management Strategy Consulting practice. Working alongside clients and cross-functional Palladium teams, the Project Manager frames goals and deliverables for each engagement, drives strategic change within complex organisational environments, and is directly accountable for the quality, timeliness, and commercial success of project delivery. The Project Manager designs, implements, and monitors performance frameworks including balanced scorecards and KPI architectures to ensure measurable outcomes are embedded in every engagement. They integrate findings across working teams to maximise client impact while remaining on time and on budget. The Project Manager also plays a critical talent development role, crafting meaningful growth opportunities for junior consultants, and building Palladium's client relationships and business development capabilities within the broader UAE and regional market. Primary Responsibilities: The primary responsibilities of the strategy consulting project manager: Performance Management KPI Development Design and implement structured performance management frameworks tailored to each client engagement, anchored in recognised methodologies such as the Kaplan/Norton Balanced Scorecard approach. Develop comprehensive KPI architectures that align organisational strategy with operational execution, ensuring that performance indicators are SMART, measurable, and actionable. Lead the facilitation of KPI workshops with client leadership to co-develop outcome-based metrics across financial, operational, customer, and organisational perspectives. Establish performance baseline assessments and conduct gap analyses to identify strategic priorities and inform data-driven decision-making. Monitor and report on KPI performance throughout the engagement, providing clients with clear dashboards, trend analysis, and actionable recommendations. Embed a culture of performance accountability within client organisations through structured performance review cadences, reporting templates, and escalation protocols. Advise clients on the selection and implementation of performance management systems and tools appropriate to their maturity and organisational capacity. Project Delivery Operations Oversee all aspects of project delivery, day-to-day operations, and decision-making, ensuring adherence to scope, schedule, budget, and quality standards. Develop and maintain detailed project plans, risk registers, and issue logs, proactively identifying and mitigating delivery risks. Support the team and client to identify, mobilise, and develop the technical expertise required to deliver innovative, evidence-based solutions within the public sector. Maintain rigorous financial oversight of project budgets, tracking actuals versus forecast and providing timely variance analysis to leadership. Knowledge Market Intelligence Stay current with local and international trends in management strategy, performance management, and public sector reform, and translate these insights into applied recommendations for UAE clients. Contribute to Palladium's internal knowledge management by documenting methodologies, lessons learned, and sector insights from each engagement. Reporting requirements Attend all weekly team meetings and other meetings as required by the Project Director or client. Provide regular structured project status updates to the Project Director, including progress against milestones, KPI performance, budget tracking, and key risks. Contribute to and maintain personal development goals in collaboration with the line manager, with regular activity updates against agreed targets. Prepare and present executive-level performance dashboards and strategy updates for client leadership on a cadence agreed at engagement initiation. Relationships Primary reporting line to the Project Director, with close collaboration across the wider Consulting team. On active client projects, works closely with the designated Project Director throughout the engagement duration. Serves as the central liaison between the client, Palladium's senior leadership, vendors, and all project team members. Builds and maintains strategic relationships with client executives, government stakeholders, and relevant public sector entities across the UAE. Authority levels Approval authority for all client deliverables prior to submission or presentation. Budget approval authority within the parameters established for each engagement. Decision-making authority on day-to-day project operations, resource allocation, and team assignments