General Manager, Project Management Office | Australia
Reporting to: Executive General Manager,
Location: Broadbeach
Team scope: Enterprise PMO leadership across project, program and portfolio delivery
Safety sensitive: No
Type: Full-time, permanent
ABOUT dnata
dnata, part of the Emirates Group, is a global leader in air and travel services, delivering ground handling, cargo, catering & retail, and travel services across an extensive international network. In 2024–25, dnata generated approximately AUD 8.1 billion in revenue globally.
In Australia and Singapore, dnata Catering & Retail supports more than 40 airline customers across 11 airports and employs over 4,500 people, making it one of the region’s leading aviation services businesses.
dnata CATERING AND RETAIL
At dnata catering & retail, the ability to deliver and add diligence and precision to projects is becoming increasingly critical to the business. With major kitchen and property projects underway, further infrastructure investment in the pipeline, significant IT and ERP activity in motion and a broad range of operational initiatives competing for attention, the need for stronger project governance, prioritisation and delivery discipline has never been clearer.
We are seeking an experienced and commercially pragmatic General Manager, PMO to establish and lead a fit-for-purpose Project Management Office across the business. This is a rare opportunity to build a PMO from the ground up, create the right governance and delivery frameworks, and bring structure, visibility and accountability to a complex portfolio of strategic and operational work.
THE OPPORTUNITY
This is a newly created leadership role with a genuine mandate to build capability, improve execution and bring much-needed structure to how projects are delivered across the organisation. Today, too much project responsibility sits with business leaders already managing demanding day jobs. Governance is inconsistent, prioritisation is not where it needs to be, and accountability across delivery can be unclear. The CEO sees this as a major gap — and a key opportunity.
As GM PMO, you will build the PMO from the ground up and lead the organisation’s project, program and portfolio delivery capability. You will establish fit-for-purpose methodologies, reporting rhythms, governance forums and tools that give the business confidence in delivery performance, while also helping leadership make better decisions around prioritisation, sequencing, resource planning and delivery risk.
This role is designed to sit above day-to-day project delivery rather than acting as a hands-on project manager for every initiative. It is about creating the operating model, oversight and discipline that allows major projects across property, IT and operations to run more effectively — while also helping shape what the future PMO capability should look like over time.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
PMO Leadership & Governance
- Build and lead the PMO capability from the ground up, establishing the right structure, cadence, governance and delivery standards for the organisation.
- Implement and continuously improve fit-for-purpose project, program and portfolio management methodologies, tools and frameworks.
- Introduce stronger governance, structure and accountability across major business initiatives.
- Ensure delivery disciplines are applied consistently and proportionately, based on the scale, complexity and risk of initiatives.
- Operate effective portfolio governance forums to support prioritisation, sequencing, dependency management and executive oversight.
- Provide oversight and assurance across the full portfolio of strategic, operational and transformation initiatives.
- Monitor and report on delivery performance, including scope, schedule, cost, risk, dependencies and overall delivery confidence.
- Support better prioritisation and resource planning across competing projects and programs.
- Establish and embed benefits realisation frameworks that help define, track and report expected outcomes.
- Partner with business leaders to ensure benefits are measurable, owned and monitored through delivery and post-implementation.
- Provide executive-quality reporting and insights that support strong decision-making without adding unnecessary bureaucracy.
- Build strong relationships across operational, corporate and technology teams to support delivery and issue resolution.
- Support a shift in how the business thinks about delivery, governance and accountability.
- Help shape the future PMO operating model, including potential project management and change capability requirements over time.
- Lead and develop the PMO capability as it evolves, creating an environment of trust, accountability and delivery excellence.
- Coach, mentor and support team members while lifting organisational delivery maturity more broadly.
- Role model dnata’s leadership expectations and values.
- Foster a culture of collaboration, transparency, continuous improvement and disciplined execution.
Essential
- Proven senior leadership experience leading a PMO or enterprise delivery function within a complex organisation.
- Demonstrated success managing multi-stream project and program portfolios across strategic, operational and transformation initiatives.
- Strong understanding of project, program and portfolio management methodologies, governance and assurance practices.
- Experience building or maturing PMO capability, including governance, tools, reporting and delivery frameworks.
- Strong commercial and financial acumen, with the ability to balance investment, risk and delivery outcomes.
- Experience influencing senior stakeholders, driving accountability and lifting organisational delivery maturity.
- The resilience and credibility to operate effectively in an environment where this role will introduce greater structure and challenge existing ways of working.
- Tertiary qualifications in project management, business or a related discipline.
- Professional certifications such as MSP, PgMP, PMP, PRINCE2, SAFe or similar.
- Experience in multi-site, operationally complex environments such as aviation, manufacturing, logistics, infrastructure or broader corporate settings with strong PMO maturity.
As part of the Emirates Group, dnata operates at a scale and complexity few organisations can match. This is a business with significant projects in flight, meaningful investment underway and a clear need for stronger enterprise delivery capability.
- A newly created role with the opportunity to build a PMO from the ground up.
- Direct impact on how strategic, operational and transformation initiatives are prioritised and delivered.
- A broad portfolio spanning property, infrastructure, IT, ERP and operational projects.
- The chance to introduce genuine governance, discipline and accountability into a business that recognises the need for change.
- A role with visibility, influence and the opportunity to shape the future delivery model of the organisation.
- A culture grounded in performance, accountability and continuous improvement.
dnata is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
