Program/Project Manager

Position Overview:

Our client is seeking an experienced Senior Project/Program Manager to join their team in Dubai. The ideal candidate will have a strong technical background across key security domains including PAM, SIEM, Vulnerability Management, and Incident Response. This role requires strong leadership ability and the capacity to manage teams and run complex projects.

The Senior Program / Project Manager is responsible for leading complex security-focused initiatives end-to-end, aligning technical security domains with business objectives, managing stakeholders and risk, and ensuring successful delivery within telecom or IT security environments.

Key Responsibilities & Role:

1. Program & Project Governance:

• Define program/project scope, objectives, deliverables, and success criteria in alignment with business and security strategy.
• Establish and maintain governance frameworks, project plans, roadmaps, and reporting structures.
• Ensure compliance with organizational, regulatory, and security standards (e.g., telecom regulations, security policies).

2. End-to-End Delivery Management:

• Lead and manage complex, multi-stream security programs covering PAM, SIEM, Vulnerability Management, and Incident Response.
• Oversee project execution from initiation through closure, ensuring on-time, on-budget, and high-quality delivery.
• Coordinate dependencies across multiple teams, vendors, and technologies.

3. Technical Oversight & Security Domain Alignment:

• Act as a bridge between technical teams and business stakeholders, translating security requirements into actionable plans.
• Ensure technical solutions align with security architecture, risk posture, and operational needs.
• Support design reviews, implementation milestones, and validation of security controls and tools.

4. Stakeholder & Executive Management:

• Manage relationships with senior leadership, security leadership (CISO, SOC leads), IT, telecom operations, and external vendors.
• Provide clear, concise status updates, risk reports, and executive-level dashboards.
• Facilitate decision-making by presenting options, trade-offs, and impact assessments.

5. Risk, Issue & Dependency Management:

• Identify, assess, and mitigate program and project risks, with a strong focus on security, operational, and regulatory risks.
• Proactively manage issues, escalations, and inter-project dependencies.
• Ensure business continuity considerations and incident response readiness are embedded into delivery plans.

6. Resource, Budget & Vendor Management:

• Plan and manage project resources, including internal teams, contractors, and security vendors.
• Own or contribute to budget planning, cost tracking, forecasting, and financial reporting.
• Manage vendor performance, contracts, SLAs, and deliverables, particularly for security platforms and managed services.

7. Change Management & Adoption:

• Drive organizational change related to new security technologies, processes, and controls.
• Ensure operational readiness, documentation, training, and handover to run teams (SOC, IT Ops, Telecom Ops).
• Support user adoption and minimize operational disruption in high-availability environments.

8. Leadership & Team Enablement:

• Provide strong leadership to cross-functional, multicultural, and geographically distributed teams.
• Foster collaboration between security, IT, telecom engineering, and operations teams.
• Mentor team members and promote best practices in project and program management.

9. Continuous Improvement & Strategic Contribution:

• Identify opportunities to optimize security processes, tooling, and delivery methodologies.
• Contribute to long-term security and technology roadmaps.
• Apply lessons learned to improve future program execution and resilience.

Qualifications & Skills:

• Strong technical background across key security domains including PAM, SIEM, Vulnerability Management, and Incident Response.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong leadership, adaptability, and the ability to drive complex projects to successful completion.
• Proven Experience in the Telecom or IT Security environments/industries is highly desirable.