Strategic Projects Manager - People & Culture

About the role

Cognita is a global family of over 90 schools across 21 countries. Its People & Culture (P&C) function has a new vision and strategic plan, and as Strategic Projects Manager you will turn those priorities into projects that land on time and become part of everyday practice. You will own the P&C portfolio of strategic projects from scoping to handover, working with P&C Heads, Technology teams and stakeholders across the business. This is an individual contributor role with high visibility.

Key responsibilities

• Deliver strategic projects end to end, turning priorities into plans with scope, milestones, owners and success measures.
• Run project governance, including status reporting, risk and dependency tracking, prioritisation and escalation.
• Spot risks, interdependencies and resourcing constraints early and track outcomes after delivery.
• Shape the roadmap and people practices by partnering with P&C Heads and designing forward-looking people processes with internal and external stakeholders.
• Lead change management and communications to build awareness and adoption among managers, employees and P&C colleagues.
• Work with Technology teams on technology-enabled initiatives such as HR systems enhancements and digitisation of people processes.
• Manage external vendors, consultants and implementation partners, tracking deliverables, timelines and performance.

Required profile

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration or a related field.
• 7-10 years' progressive experience in project or programme management, HR transformation or HR business partnering, ideally in a large, multi-country organisation.
• Proven record of delivering multiple strategic initiatives on agreed timelines, ideally in a People & Culture or HR context.
• Experience partnering with senior leaders and heads of function, and working with Technology teams on initiatives such as HRIS implementations.
• Experience managing external vendors and consultants.

Required skills

• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Confident communicator with strong change management skills.
• Ability to analyse and present project and people insights at all levels.
• Desirable: professional project management certification (e.g. PMP, PRINCE2, Agile) and/or HR certification (e.g. CIPD, SHRM-CP/SCP).
• Desirable: experience in a global or regional role, leading change management for people initiatives, exposure to the education or services sector, and working knowledge of HR systems and digital HR tools.

The role is based in Dubai, with some flexibility across time zones. All new staff are subject to detailed pre-employment clearance, including identity checks, criminal background checks, qualification and employment checks and reference checks.