Project Director

KEO is a creative enterprise, where innovation is a way of life. We are uniquely resourced with end-to-end services to take clients from inspiration – through conceptualization – to realization of planning, design or project delivery in the built and natural environments. For over 60 years we’ve led with vision, contributing to many of the world’s most ambitious projects, iconic places, remarkable experiences and prosperous communities.

As a highly integrated and agile AEP/PMCM firm, KEO is recognized by ENR as one of the Top 225 International Design Firms and one of the Top 20 International PM/CM Firms. We are also ranked by World Architecture as the 51st largest global architecture firm and the #1 Firm in the Middle East Region in their 2024 WA100 Survey.

We invite you to join us. Why?

When you join KEO, you’ll discover more than just a job – you’ll find a supportive environment that fosters your professional development through internal global mobility and career development and does so within a culture that supports company-wide health and well-being through on-demand counselling services and regular workplace clinics. You will be invited to celebrate community events such as sports days, fun-runs, in-house sports teams and beach clean ups. In addition to your competitive package and benefits you will have access to a suite of policies that include hybrid working arrangements, individual athletic sponsorship, study assistance sponsorship, employee referral rewards.

Our newest opportunity is for a talented Project Director – PMO, to join our award-winning team in Riyadh. The Project Director - PMO is a senior Head Office role that will directly support the Executive Director in managing the operational, administrative, reporting and business development functions of the KSA PMCM/CS division. The role will lead the Head Office PMO team, comprising a PMO Assistant, Senior Planning Engineer, Quantity Surveyor (Commercial) and Operations Controls Director, and will act as Head of the PMO team in the Executive Director's absence. The Project Director (PMO) will serve as a trusted operational deputy to the Executive Director, enabling the Executive Director to focus on strategic leadership and high-level stakeholder engagement by assuming responsibility for portfolio-wide resource management, reporting compliance, payment collection, enterprise process oversight, and business development with Arabic-speaking clients.

We envisage success in this role to include;

• Act as Head of the Head Office PMO team and represent the ED in all internal leadership matters during absences.
• Provide day-to-day operational support to the ED, acting as a buffer between the ED and routine portfolio management demands.
• Coordinate with the Operations Controls Director to translate the ED's strategic direction into monthly and quarterly operating plans.
• Ensure the ED receives concise, exception-based reporting — escalate only matters that genuinely require ED-level intervention.
• Attend leadership forums, internal governance meetings and client engagements as the ED's representative when required.
• Lead and manage the Head Office PMO team: PMO Assistant, Senior Planning Engineer, Quantity Surveyor (Commercial) and Operations Controls Director.
• Establish clear roles, accountabilities and KPIs within the PMO team; conduct regular performance reviews.
• Serve as the lead for portfolio-wide resource planning and allocation, working closely with all Delivery Project Directors; centralize this function on behalf of the ED and ensure resources are distributed efficiently across the portfolio.
• Maintain the all-project leave and availability tracker; proactively identify and address resourcing gaps.
• Together with the Operations Controls Director, ensure all enterprise processes and procedures are tracked and reported to the ED at a minimum of once per month.
• Lead client engagement, relationship-building and business development with Arabic-speaking clients and government/sovereign entities in KSA and the wider GCC.
• Actively support the ED in identifying and pursuing new business opportunities with Arabic-speaking clients, attending client meetings and negotiations in Arabic.
• Contribute to strategic bid preparation for Arabic-speaking client pursuits; support proposal development, presentations and positioning.
• Share Arabic-market intelligence with the ED and senior leadership to inform strategic targeting and positioning.
• Act as a senior liaison between the Head Office PMO team, Delivery Project Directors, Finance, HR and the Executive Director.
• Represent the ED at client-facing meetings, authority engagements and industry forums as required.
• Proactively address client concerns and internal stakeholder conflicts; escalate unresolved matters to the ED with recommended actions.
• Work with the Senior Planning Engineer to maintain an overview of portfolio program health; flag schedule risks and resource conflicts to the ED.
• Work with the QS to monitor fee forecasts, invoicing schedules and cost-to-complete positions; ensure commercial risks are identified and escalated early.
• Ensure all PMO-related administrative and reporting functions are delivered in accordance with KEO standards and the applicable Conditions of Contract on each project.

To be successful in this dynamic opportunity, we envision that your career journey to date will include a minimum of 15-20 of relevant professional experience in PMCM, Project Management or related consulting environments partnered with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering, Architecture, Construction Management, or related field. Master's degree or MBA preferred.

Professional Registration PMP, PMI-PgMP, Chartered Engineer (CEng), or equivalent recognized professional qualification.

• Minimum 6 years in a senior project leadership, PMO management, or portfolio oversight role.
• Significant KSA and GCC experience required; strong familiarity with Saudi government and sovereign clients essential.
• Native or professional-level Arabic required. Strong written and spoken English essential.
• Proficiency in Deltek Vantagepoint, Aconex, SharePoint, and MS Project or Primavera P6.
• Sector experience in Large-scale infrastructure, mixed-use, hospitality, government or urban development projects in KSA/GCC.

KEO’s performance is founded upon integrity, results, innovation, safety and our people. We embrace diversity and recognise its’ contribution to client success wherever we work.

We are excited to hear how you can partner with our award-winning team and treat all expressions of interest confidentially.