PMO Manager

Location: Cape Town

Working Practices: Hybrid | Mondays and Thursday in office and remaining days remote

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Hours: 10H00 - 18H30 SAST

Reports to: Head of Project Management Office (PMO)

Position Summary

The PMO Manager oversees a portfolio of Project Managers, ensuring projects are delivered on time, on budget, and to the highest standard. This is a leadership role within the PMO function, responsible for governance, strategic alignment, and portfolio oversight.

The role requires someone with deep delivery expertise who can balance operational rigour with client-centric outcomes. The PMO Manager drives consistency, fosters collaboration across teams, and ensures that delivery excellence scales with the business. They also provide coaching and guidance to Project Managers, empowering them to grow while maintaining accountability for portfolio-level outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

Portfolio & Delivery Oversight

• Oversee a portfolio of Project Managers, providing leadership, guidance, and oversight across multiple concurrent projects

• Govern and drive portfolio-level delivery outcomes, ensuring consistency in standards and processes

• Act as escalation point for complex client or project challenges, supporting Project Managers in resolution
• Lead portfolio-level reporting on delivery health, risk, and outcomes for senior leadership

Strategic & Financial Management

• Drive strategic alignment between delivery, client expectations, and business objectives

• Monitor and manage utilisation trends, resource forecasting, and financial performance across the delivery portfolio

• Ensure portfolio delivery supports broader organisational strategy and growth objectives

Team Leadership & Development

• Provide coaching and mentorship to Project Managers, building their capability and leadership presence

• Support Project Managers in professional growth, performance development, and delivery excellence

• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement

• Cultivate a positive and collaborative team community culture that promotes retention, alignment with company values, and active engagement.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with cross-functional leaders (e.g., Sales, Learning, Production, etc.,) to ensure seamless delivery handovers and client satisfaction

• Act as a trusted partner in client engagements, supporting relationship-building and expectation management

• Champion continuous improvement in delivery practices, tools, and systems

Innovation & Continuous Improvement

• Advocate for innovation in delivery models, processes, and methodologies

• Lead initiatives that enhance efficiency, scalability, and quality of delivery outcomes

• Identify and mitigate systemic delivery risks while implementing best practices across teams

What does success look like?

• Within 3 months: Establishes strong working relationships with Project Managers and implements clear reporting cadence on delivery health

• Within 6 months: Portfolio-level delivery outcomes consistently meet agreed client and business standards (scope, time, budget, quality)

• Within 9 months: Measurable improvements in client satisfaction and cross-functional alignment are evident

• Within 12 months: 80%+ of direct reports meet or exceed their individual delivery performance objectives

• Beyond 12 months: Recognised as a trusted delivery leader who enables scale, improves client relationships, and strengthens delivery culture across the organisation

Requirements

Experience

• 7-10 years’ experience in project or programme management, including 3+ years in a leadership role

• Proven track record of leading teams of Project Managers and delivering complex, multi-workstream projects

• Strong portfolio management and governance experience, with a focus on risk management and resource optimisation

• Experience in client-facing consultancy, communication, and executive stakeholder management

• Financial management capability, including forecasting, utilisation monitoring, and budget oversight

• Proficiency with delivery/project management tools (e.g., Kantata, Jira, Monday.com, Asana)

• Experience in digital, media, or creative delivery environments (preferred)

Skills & Competencies

• Delivery governance and portfolio oversight

• Financial and resource management with strategic forecasting ability

• Executive-level communication and client engagement skills

• Strong cross-functional collaboration and influence

• Coaching, mentoring, and leadership presence to grow Project Managers

• Problem-solving and risk mitigation in complex delivery contexts

• Systems thinking and change advocacy, driving continuous improvement

• Growth mindset and innovation in delivery practices

Benefits

Company Information

OES is a vibrant and values-led organisation, and we are passionate about enhancing lives through education. We work with university partners, training institutes, and professional bodies worldwide, to develop and enable immersive and engaging learning experiences. We empower our teams to be student-focused, innovative, and embrace change with a growth mindset to ensure we achieve our vision of being the world’s most impactful enabler of education. We encourage our people to grow and develop through teamwork and a diverse range of projects, programs and challenging work. We trust our people to deliver, so when you work with OES, you will join a team who are empowered to impact every day.

Company Culture & Values

We are a people-focused organisation with a culture built around collaboration, connection, and working together toward one common goal. Our vibrant, values-led culture is grounded in four core principles that guide everything we do:

Passion and Perseverance: We love what we do (even though it’s not always easy) and take pride in creating transformative learning experiences. We bring a ‘can-do’ attitude to our work, tackling challenges and inspiring others.

Teamwork: We operate as cross-functional teams globally with trust and respect, celebrating success. We have fun while we work and enjoy collaborating with each other and OES partners.

Agility and Innovation: We are innovative, lateral thinkers who use our skills to do things better for our students. We thrive in ambiguity, embrace change and challenge conventional thinking.

Integrity: We do what’s right, and what we say we will do, every time. We value a culture of respectful feedback and believe that respect trumps harmony.

These are some of the benefits you can expect when you join the team:

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Medical allowance
• Commute allowance
• Flexible work for genuine career-life fit
• A healthy and supportive company culture
• Generous annual leave
• Paid maternity and paternity benefits
• Study leave
• Professional development and mentoring
• Culture Club events
• Company funded lunch and drinks every 8 weeks

*Policy T&Cs apply for certain benefits

OES is committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. In line with our Employment Equity objectives, preference may be given to suitably qualified candidates from designated groups. All appointments will be made based on merit, skills, experience, and business needs.