Head of PMO / Chief of Projects (m/f/d)

• *Responsibilities**
• *1. Project Delivery Leadership & Organizational Ownership**
• Lead and develop the EMEA Project Delivery organization across customer projects, NPI, and cross-BU solution programs
• Define and implement the organizational setup, governance model, and PM career path, including near-/offshore delivery capacity
• Build a balanced delivery organization combining hardware project management, software/solution delivery, and NPI program management
• Ensure scalability, agility, and clear accountability across all delivery units and sites
• *2. End-to-End Engineering Delivery**
• Own end-to-end delivery from project definition through development, industrialization, mass production ramp, and customer handover
• Act as the single point of accountability for on-time, on-quality, on-cost execution of customer projects and NPIs
• Drive execution discipline, cost control, and scalable delivery models across multi-site and multi-BU programs
• Establish a common project lifecycle, stage-gate framework, and PMO standards applied consistently across electricity, gas, thermal, software, and analytics
• Ensure robust project planning, risk management, change control, and claim management on all major programs
• Chair stage-gate reviews and enforce go/no-go decisions against scope, schedule, cost, quality, and business case
• *3. Cross-BU Solution Delivery (HW + SW + Analytics)**
• Lead delivery of integrated solutions combining residential and industrial meters, head-end software, and analytics offerings
• Break down BU silos and orchestrate cross-BU program teams around customer outcomes, not product lines
• Establish shared solution architectures and reusable delivery playbooks across product families
• Ensure consistent solution scoping, pricing input, and delivery commitments across the portfolio
• *4. NPI & Industrialization**
• Collaborate with Operations on NPI program management from early involvement design, to design freeze through pilot, ramp, and stable serial production
• Ensure early and structured involvement of NPI, Procurement, Manufacturing, and Quality in R&D projects
• Drive design-for-manufacturing, design-for-cost, and design-for-serviceability discipline into every new program
• Manage ramp readiness: supply readiness, test coverage, production line qualification, and yield curves
• *5. Cross-functional Collaboration**
• Act as the delivery counterpart to Product Management (portfolio & roadmap) and R&D (technology execution)
• Partner with Sales and Customer Projects to translate customer commitments into feasible, margin-protected delivery plans
• Provide delivery input into bids, contract negotiation, and commercial terms (milestones, LDs, acceptance criteria)
• Collaborate with Procurement and SCM to secure supply, lead times, and cost targets for project ramp
• Collaborate with Quality to embed quality gates and field-performance feedback into delivery governance
• Align with Finance on project controlling, revenue recognition, milestone billing, and cash collection
• *6. Financial & Resource Management**
• Own the project delivery cost base and the aggregated margin performance of the project portfolio
• Drive project margin protection: budget adherence, contingency management, scope and change control
• Optimize allocation of PM and delivery resources across customer projects and NPI programs
• Drive build vs. buy vs. outsource decisions for delivery capacity, balancing control, cost, and flexibility
• Support business cases and mid-term planning with realistic delivery assumptions and risk-adjusted estimates
• *7. Transformation & Change Leadership**
• Lead transformation initiatives to increase delivery productivity, reduce time-to-market, and improve predictability
• Standardize and digitalize PMO tooling (planning, reporting, risk, resource management)
• Build a high-performance, accountable, and customer-centric delivery culture
• Drive upskilling and certification of the PM community across hardware, software, and solution delivery
• *8. Governance, Risk & Compliance**
• Ensure project delivery complies with contractual, regulatory, cybersecurity, and quality requirements
• Establish transparent portfolio reporting to the CEO and executive team, including early warning on at-risk programs
• Own risk register for the delivery portfolio and drive systematic mitigation
• *Your Profile**
• *Professional Experience**
• Minimum 15+ years of experience in project, program, and delivery leadership, including senior roles (VP/SVP level) in an international, matrix organization
• Proven track record leading large-scale, cross-functional delivery organizations spanning hardware, software, and integrated solutions
• Significant experience in customer project delivery in a B2B environment (preferably utilities, energy, industrial technology, or telecom infrastructure)
• Strong NPI and industrialization background: bringing new hardware and software products from development into serial production and customer rollout
• Demonstrated success in owning end-to-end delivery from project definition to mass production and customer acceptance
• Experience running structured stage-gate and PMO frameworks at scale, with measurable improvements in OTD, margin, and predictability
• Solid commercial acumen: contract, bid, and claim management; project P&L ownership; milestone billing and working capital control
• Experience in driving organizational transformation and productivity improvements (cost, efficiency, time-to-market)
• Experience in global/multi-site setups, including near-/offshore delivery structures
• Exposure to carve-out, integration, or major transformation programs (strong plus)
• *Intercultural Experience**
• Proven leadership experience in international and cross-cultural environments, managing teams across multiple geographies
• Strong experience in navigating matrix organizations and global governance structures
• High level of cultural awareness, adaptability, and communication effectiveness at executive and customer level
• Fluency in German and English is a prerequisite
• *Personal attributes**
• University degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field
• Advanced degree (MBA or equivalent) is a plus; recognized PM certifications (PMP, IPMA, PgMP, SAFe) are a plus
• Strong technical understanding across hardware, embedded systems, software, and cloud/analytics solutions — able to challenge and steer technical trade-offs
• Deep mastery of project and program management methods, stage-gate governance, and modern delivery models (Agile at scale, hybrid HW/SW delivery)
• Proven ability to drive execution at scale in multi-site, distributed delivery organizations, including vendor and outsourcing management
• Data-driven delivery mindset: use of KPIs, portfolio dashboards, and analytics to improve OTD, quality, and productivity
• Strong business and P&L awareness, with ability to protect and expand project margin under commercial pressure
• Ability to connect customer commitments, technical execution, and financial outcomes
• Strong ROI orientation: able to challenge scope, prioritize based on value, and terminate programs that no longer meet hurdle rates
• Strong decision-making capability under ambiguity, especially in evolving organizational and carve-out setups
• Excellent stakeholder management skills across CEO / board level, customers, suppliers, and internal functions
• High degree of resilience and change leadership capability in transformation environments
• Ability to attract, develop, and retain top program and delivery talent

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Source: Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis), table; dl-de/by-2-0; StarIn's calculation