Senior Manager - Strategy and Business Planning

The Senior Manager – Strategy & Business Planning will play a critical role in driving portfolio governance, strategic planning, and business performance management across Qiddiya' Marketing. The role is responsible for overseeing the marketing portfolio, ensuring alignment between strategic priorities, project execution, budget management, and organizational objectives.

Working closely with Marketing leadership, Finance, PMO, and business stakeholders, the role will provide structure, governance, reporting, and strategic insights to support decision-making and ensure the successful delivery of key marketing initiatives and transformation programs.

Strategic Planning & Business Performance

• Support the development and execution of annual and long-term strategic plans for Corporate Marketing and Destination Marketing.
• Translate strategic priorities into actionable initiatives, roadmaps, and measurable performance indicators.
• Monitor strategic objectives and track progress against approved business plans.
• Provide executive-level analysis, recommendations, and insights to support informed decision-making.
• Conduct business performance reviews and identify opportunities to improve effectiveness, efficiency, and value delivery.

Portfolio Management & PMO Governance

• Lead portfolio management activities across Corporate Marketing and Destination Marketing initiatives.
• Establish and maintain portfolio governance frameworks, methodologies, standards, and reporting mechanisms.
• Monitor project performance, milestones, deliverables, dependencies, and risks across the portfolio.
• Ensure alignment of project priorities with strategic objectives and approved budgets.
• Manage portfolio demand, prioritization processes, and resource allocation recommendations.
• Facilitate governance forums, steering committees, and executive review meetings.

Project Controls & Delivery Oversight

• Implement best-practice PMO disciplines across the marketing portfolio.
• Track project schedules, budgets, risks, issues, and benefits realization.
• Ensure timely escalation and resolution of project delivery challenges.
• Support project managers and business owners in implementing effective project governance and reporting practices.
• Drive consistency in project management standards and delivery approaches.

Reporting & Executive Insights

• Develop executive dashboards and portfolio performance reports.
• Monitor KPIs related to project delivery, portfolio performance, resource utilization, budget adherence, and strategic objectives.
• Prepare management reports, board materials, and executive presentations.
• Provide data-driven insights to support portfolio optimization and strategic decision-making.

Stakeholder Management

• Partner closely with Marketing leadership, Finance, Procurement, PMO, HR, and other corporate functions.
• Build strong relationships across business units to ensure alignment on priorities and delivery expectations.
• Support change management efforts associated with strategic initiatives, transformation programs, and operating model enhancements.

Continuous Improvement

• Drive continuous enhancement of PMO capabilities, governance processes, and portfolio management practices.
• Benchmark industry best practices and implement improvements to strengthen planning, execution, and reporting capabilities.
• Promote a culture of accountability, transparency, and performance excellence across the portfolio.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Management, Finance, Engineering, Project Management, or a related field. Master's degree (MBA or equivalent) is preferred.
• PMP (Project Management Professional) certification is mandatory.
• Additional certifications such as PgMP, PfMP, PMI-PBA, PRINCE2, Agile, or PMO certifications are preferred.

Experience

• Minimum 8-10 years of professional experience in PMO, strategy, business planning, portfolio management, project controls, or related disciplines.
• Experience working within large, complex organizations managing enterprise-wide or large-scale portfolios.
• Proven experience establishing and operating PMO or portfolio governance functions.
• Experience supporting executive leadership with strategic planning, business performance reporting, and portfolio management.
• Demonstrated experience managing multiple cross-functional projects and strategic initiatives simultaneously.
• Experience within large transformation programs, giga-projects, government entities, PIF portfolio companies, or multinational organizations is highly desirable.