Project Governance and Readiness Lead قائد حوكمة المشاريع

<p dir = "auto"><strong>ROLE PURPOSE :</strong></p>
<p dir = "auto">The Project Governance &amp; Readiness Lead is custodian of all project’s governance and processes throughout the project lifecycle. Responsible for developing project management system and ensuring the integrity, completeness, and compliance of MDO's Stage-Gate governance framework across all projects in the portfolio. The role owns stage-gate documentation, audit, and compliance processes end-to-end, manages OIA investment paper completeness checks, leads execution readiness assessments for the transition from Gate 3 to Gate 4, and owns the Post-Implementation Review (PIR) process and lessons-learned programme at project closure.</p>
<p dir = "auto">Working within the Director – Project Controls &amp; Readiness's function, the role acts as MDO's procedural gatekeeper for the investment decision process, combining independent gate governance with quantitative risk analysis and formal readiness management to protect capital investment decisions and ensure that projects only advance when they are genuinely ready to do so.</p>
<p dir = "auto"><strong>KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:</strong></p>
<p dir = "auto"><strong>Governance &amp; Framework Structuring </strong></p>
<p dir = "auto">• Establish and maintain the governance framework: processes, roles/RACI, decision criteria, Stage-Gate structures, and evidence requirements aligned with OIA and MDO expectations.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Ensure consistent use of governance requirements across projects and lifecycle phases, with transparency and traceability.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Act as custodian for all Project Controls &amp; Readiness (PCR) documents (manuals, procedures, standards, guidelines, templates), including updates, approvals, and communication.&nbsp;</p>
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<p dir = "auto"><strong>Assurance, Compliance Checks, and Portfolio Decision-Making</strong></p>
<p dir = "auto">• Strengthen decision quality through structured assurance reviews and readiness assessments ahead of ISGRC decisions.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Conduct periodic compliance checks / assurance audits of governance implementation across projects under development (pack quality, traceability, register discipline, reporting integrity).</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Provide portfolio governance insights to leadership to support prioritization and investment decisions: pipeline visibility, gate readiness, key exceptions, and recommendations.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Escalate non-compliances and aging actions with clear owners, due dates, and corrective actions.</p>
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<p dir = "auto"><strong>Stage-Gate Documentation, Audit &amp; Compliance</strong></p>
<p dir = "auto">• Own end-to-end stage-gate documentation, audit, and compliance processes across all MDO projects, ensuring consistent application of gate criteria, documentation standards, and approval protocols from Gate 0 through Gate 5.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Develop, maintain, and apply gate checklists, readiness criteria, and documentation templates for each stage-gate, ensuring all required deliverables are complete and compliant before any gate review is convened.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Coordinate and administer gate review meetings, ensuring all required gate deliverables are submitted on time, reviewed formally, and recorded in the gate decisions register.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Validate the completeness and quality of gate packages prepared by the Studies &amp; Delivery team prior to submission to the Director – Project Controls &amp; Readiness, CPTO, and Investment Committee.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Conduct periodic stage-gate compliance audits on all active projects, produce formal audit reports identifying governance gaps, and track the resolution of all audit findings to closure.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Maintain a gate decisions register tracking all gate approvals, conditions, deferrals, and follow-up actions across the portfolio.</p>
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<p dir = "auto"><strong>G3 to G4 Execution Readiness Assessment</strong></p>
<p dir = "auto">• Lead the formal execution readiness assessment process for all projects transitioning from Feasibility (Gate 3) to Execution (Gate 4), ensuring that all readiness criteria across technical, commercial, contractual, regulatory, and organisational dimensions are formally assessed and documented.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Develop and maintain execution readiness frameworks and assessment checklists covering engineering completion, procurement strategy, contractor mobilisation, permitting status, regulatory approvals, and operational integration readiness.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Coordinate readiness assessments with the Studies &amp; Delivery team, Director – Project Controls &amp; Readiness, and all relevant MDO functions, producing a consolidated readiness status report with clearly identified gaps and remediation plans.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Track and monitor the closure of all readiness gaps identified during assessment, escalating unresolved issues to the Director – Project Controls &amp; Readiness prior to gate submission.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Ensure that execution readiness findings are formally incorporated into the Gate 4 submission package and that no project advances to execution with unresolved material readiness gaps.</p>
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<p dir = "auto"><strong>Investment Paper Completeness Management</strong></p>
<p dir = "auto">• Manage the completeness check process for all investment papers and Project Investment Notes, ensuring that submissions comply with OIA's investment governance requirements before they are presented to the Investment Committee or Board.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Develop and maintain a structured completeness checklist for OIA investment papers, covering all required technical, financial, commercial, ESG, legal, and governance elements.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Coordinate cross-functional inputs to investment papers from Finance, Legal, ESG, Exploration, and Studies &amp; Delivery teams, tracking the status of all required contributions and escalating delays to the Director – Project Controls &amp; Readiness.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Support the Director – Project Controls &amp; Readiness and CPTO in the preparation of Board-level project submissions, ensuring all governance documentation is accurate, complete, and internally consistent.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Maintain a log of all investment submissions, Board decisions, and associated conditions or requirements.</p>
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<p dir = "auto"><strong>Post-Implementation Reviews &amp; Lessons Learned</strong></p>
<p dir = "auto">• Own the Post-Implementation Review (PIR) process for all projects reaching Gate 5, ensuring PIRs are completed within six months of project closure and that findings are formally documented, approved, and disseminated.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Facilitate cross-functional PIR workshops, ensuring that key lessons relating to study quality, cost and schedule performance, governance effectiveness, contractor performance, and readiness management are captured comprehensively.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Own and maintain MDO's lessons-learned database, ensuring that PIR findings and lessons from all project phases are systematically recorded, categorised, and made accessible to future project teams.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Ensure that lessons-learned findings are actively applied to MDO's Stage-Gate governance framework, gate checklists, readiness assessment criteria, and risk management methodology for future projects.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Report on lessons-learned integration to the Director – Project Controls &amp; Readiness on a periodic basis, demonstrating how previous findings have been embedded in current governance and controls processes.</p>
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<p dir = "auto"><strong>Digitalization of Governance Systems and Dashboards</strong></p>
<p dir = "auto">• Own governance KPI definitions and data governance rules (definitions, sources, refresh logic, validation).</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Develop and maintain a governance dashboard system (Stage Gate status, decision turnaround, action aging, compliance, readiness milestones).</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Develop early warning indicators and escalation protocols for deviations (gate slippage, action aging, baseline integrity risks, change aging, readiness blockers).</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Coordinate with outsourced Power BI developer/data modeler for build and automation; retain ownership of KPI definitions, validation rules, and final sign-off.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Embed the framework through pilot implementation, training, coaching, and feedback-driven refinement; ensure adoption is measured and sustained.</p>
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<p dir = "auto"><strong>Team Collaboration &amp; Capability Building</strong></p>
<p dir = "auto">• Work closely with the Project Control Manager and the cost and planning team to ensure risk and governance outputs are integrated into day-to-day project controls activities.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Provide guidance and training to project teams on MDO's Stage-Gate framework, gate documentation requirements, OIA investment paper standards, and risk management methodology.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Mentor Omani talent and contribute to national capacity-building objectives in line with MDO's Omanization commitments.</p>
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<p dir = "auto"><strong>ROLE ALIGNMENT WITH STAGE-GATE PROCESS</strong></p>
<p dir = "auto">Stage-Gate Role of Project Governance &amp; Readiness Lead</p>
<p dir = "auto">G0–1 (Concept/Scoping) Responsible – initiates Stage-Gate governance process, manages PIN completeness check, ensures gate documentation standards are established and applied from project inception.</p>
<p dir = "auto">G2 (Pre-Feasibility) Responsible – validates gate package completeness and OIA compliance, ensure risk capturing for Gate 2, certifies that readiness criteria are met before gate review is convened.</p>
<p dir = "auto">G3 (Feasibility/Investment Decision) Responsible – ensure quantitative risk analysis for FID, validates contingency levels, manages OIA investment paper completeness check, certifies Gate 3 documentation compliance before Board submission.</p>
<p dir = "auto">G4 (Execution/Construction) Responsible – leads G3 to G4 execution readiness assessment, confirms all readiness criteria are met across technical, commercial, contractual, and regulatory dimensions, supports Gate 4 governance approval.</p>
<p dir = "auto">G5 (Handover/Closure) Responsible – owns Post-Implementation Review process end-to-end, captures and disseminates lessons learned, closes all outstanding governance requirements and audit findings.</p>
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<p dir = "auto"><strong>MINIMUM QUALIFICATION &amp; EXPERIENCE: </strong></p>
<p dir = "auto">• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Project Management, or a related technical discipline; Master's degree or MBA preferred.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• PMP certification is mandatory. Additional qualifications in risk management (e.g., PMI-RMP, IRM) and/or PgMP, P3GP are highly desirable.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• 15+ years of experience in project controls and readiness management, project governance, or risk management roles within the mining, energy, or heavy industrial sectors.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Demonstrated expertise in owning and implementing Stage-Gate governance frameworks, including stage-gate documentation, audit, and compliance management.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Proven ability in designing and implementing project control frameworks across a multi-project portfolio.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Strong committee governance, facilitation, action management, assurance/compliance checks, and executive reporting</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Proficient in project definition, cost estimation (AACEI classifications), and resource levelling.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Experience owning Post-Implementation Reviews and managing lessons-learned databases across a project portfolio.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Strong understanding of project controls systems including cost, schedule, earned value, and change management.</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Experience interfacing with ERP and reporting tools (SAP, Oracle, Power BI).</p>
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<p dir = "auto"><strong>KEY COMPETENCIES</strong>:</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, Project, and Visio</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Data analysis and visualization (Power BI, Excel advanced functions)</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Process mapping and improvement methodologies</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Risk assessment and management frameworks</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Understanding of EPCM contract structures and project delivery models</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Strong analytical skills and disciplined attention to governance detail</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Evidence-based governance and high attention to traceability</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Investment documentation and Board-level governance reporting</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Structured problem-solving and disciplined follow-through</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Strong facilitation and constructive challenge</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Digital mindset (data validation, dashboard adoption, standardization)</p>
<p dir = "auto">• Stakeholder management across Projects, Finance, Operations, and external governance&nbsp;</p>
<p dir = "auto">• High integrity, procedural discipline, and commitment to capital governance</p>
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<p dir = "auto">This position requires a strong understanding of mining project governance, investment decision-making processes, capital risk management, OIA investment policy requirements, and the importance of execution readiness in protecting project outcomes.</p>