Project Management Operations Director

JLL•Atlanta, GA

2d•$158,500 - $217,000•Remote

About The Position

JLL is seeking an exceptional PMO Lead to serve as the strategic integrator and operational catalyst for a key PDS client account. This senior account-facing leader is responsible for the overall effectiveness of the PDS PMO, operating at two levels simultaneously: leading the bigger-picture agenda of playbook ownership, onboarding, training, governance, special initiatives, and client engagement, while staying close enough to understand team efficiencies, workload pinch points, and operational risk. The role sits above a tactical Operations Manager who manages Project Coordinators, requiring someone who can architect scalable PMO frameworks while maintaining the operational credibility to step in, solve problems, and drive execution when needed. The PMO Lead functions as the central connector across all account disciplines—bringing together finance, business intelligence, sourcing, human resources, risk management, communications, and facilities management into a cohesive delivery ecosystem. You'll be the person who sees problems before they become crises, assembles the right teams, drives solution development, and holds everyone accountable to execution. Success requires understanding not just what your team does, but how they work, where the friction points exist, and how to eliminate inefficiencies while building capability and maintaining the altitude to lead account-wide governance and continuous improvement.

Requirements

Proven track record leading project management offices, delivery operations, or program controls functions in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
Direct relevant experience in field of work, which may include management experience.
Typically requires university degree or relevant certification.
Experience managing through team structures and developing operational capabilities.
Natural ability to see how pieces fit together across disciplines, functions, and teams.
Comfortable operating at the intersection of technical delivery, finance, human resources, risk, and client relationship management.
Advanced knowledge of specific professional disciplines in addition to operational knowledge of related work groups.
Energized by creating structure from ambiguity, improving what exists, and getting hands-on when needed.
Not someone who just directs—someone who builds, tests, and refines alongside their team.
May spend a portion of time performing individual tasks related to the work group, but primarily delivers work through delegation and team coordination.
Deep expertise with TRIRIGA or comparable enterprise workplace management systems.
Ability to design complex workflows, optimize configurations, and serve as a trusted advisor to clients on system strategy.
Applies in-depth professional, technical, or industry knowledge to manage significantly complex tasks.
Subject matter expertise in project management fundamentals with proven ability to train trainers and build scalable capability across teams.
Possesses specific knowledge, skills, and abilities to fulfill tasks, duties, and responsibilities while developing others.
Strong grasp of day-to-day realities—understanding capacity constraints, workload dynamics, service level pressures, and how tactical decisions impact strategic outcomes.
Full knowledge of own area with ability to interpret and adjust policies and procedures as circumstances require.
Pattern recognition that spots problems early.
Ability to rapidly assess situations, engage the right stakeholders, facilitate collaborative solution development, and drive execution with accountability.
Works on issues where analysis of situations or data requires review of relevant factors, exercising judgment within defined procedures and policies.
Exceptional ability to synthesize complexity into clarity.
Skilled at adjusting communication style, depth, and format based on audience needs—whether presenting to executives, collaborating with peers, or guiding frontline teams.
Interaction normally requires the ability to gain cooperation of others and conduct presentations of technical information concerning specific projects, schedules, or operational matters between different parts of the business segment and work groups.
Comfortable working with budgets, forecasts, and financial planning processes.
Ability to translate operational performance into financial implications and support finance teams with accurate, timely inputs.
Has some responsibility for managing minimal financial or external risk that requires occasional interaction with senior management.
Demonstrated ability to hold teams accountable while building trust and psychological safety.
Comfortable having direct conversations when performance or behavior requires course correction.
Skilled at developing talent and creating pathways for growth.
Oversees teams by assigning tasks, maintaining schedules, and ensuring work meets productivity, service, and quality standards.
Executive presence and confidence in client governance settings.
Ability to build credibility through competence, transparency, and consistent delivery on commitments.
Frequently interacts with functional peer groups and client leadership on matters of operational and strategic importance.
Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

If this job description resonates with you, we encourage you to apply, even if you don’t meet all the requirements. We’re interested in getting to know you and what you bring to the table!

Responsibilities

Drive PMO strategy and operating model evolution for the account, ensuring delivery practices scale with client needs and organizational growth.
Serve as the integrator who connects disparate account functions into unified delivery—breaking down silos, facilitating cross-functional collaboration, and ensuring teams understand how their work connects to broader account objectives.
Lead client-facing governance discussions with executive presence, translating complex operational realities into clear, actionable insights that drive decision-making and build client confidence.
Recommend and collaborate with senior management to resolve strategic issues that affect delivery performance and client satisfaction.
Administer business unit policies that directly affect employees and recommend policy changes for the work group or wider team, exercising judgment and discretion on issues of importance to account success.
Identify operational challenges before they escalate, rapidly assemble the right stakeholders, facilitate ideation sessions, and drive development of concrete action plans.
Hold teams accountable to execution without micromanaging—knowing when to step back and when to step in.
Build a culture where problems surface early and teams respond with urgency and ownership.
Frequently work on issues where analysis of situations or data requires review of relevant factors across multiple work groups.
Identify issues, gather facts, and resolve operational problems by exercising judgment within defined procedures and policies to determine appropriate action.
When critical situations demand it, roll up your sleeves and get directly involved in execution, demonstrating that leadership means doing what's needed to ensure success.
Serve as the subject matter expert for TRIRIGA, partnering with the client to develop and execute complex workflows that improve operational efficiency and service delivery.
Understand the system architecture deeply enough to identify opportunities for optimization, guide configuration decisions, and troubleshoot sophisticated challenges.
Support the client in maximizing platform value through strategic workflow design that aligns technology capability with business process requirements.
Apply advanced knowledge of specific professional disciplines to manage significantly complex technical tasks and system integrations.
Own development, management, and reinforcement of account playbooks as the authoritative source of truth for how work gets done.
Ensure documentation reflects current reality, captures lessons learned, and provides clear guidance for consistent execution.
Design and lead comprehensive onboarding programs that accelerate new team member productivity and cultural integration.
Serve as an E1 subject matter expert with the ability to train trainers and build capability across the broader team, creating multiplier effects that strengthen overall account performance.
Establish goals and priorities that impact the direction for new or revised services, programs, processes, standards, and operational plans across the account.
Provide leadership, mentorship, and professional development support to the Operations Manager and project coordination function.
Oversee a midsized team and may become actively involved, as required, to meet schedules and resolve problems.
Create an environment where team members understand the culture of opportunity within JLL and see clear pathways for growth.
Monitor team fulfillment, workload balance, and performance dynamics.
Estimate staffing needs and schedules, assign project work, and remain ultimately responsible for team success.
When needed, support the Operations Manager in holding the team accountable and, if necessary, guide performance management processes with fairness and clarity.
Build a high-performing team that takes pride in operational excellence and client service.
Receive guidance for complex problem-solving situations while exercising increasing independence in day-to-day operational decisions.
Maintain watchful oversight of how teams operate across the account, quickly identifying when groups drift into silos or individuals operate outside their areas of responsibility.
Address these situations directly but constructively—calling out inefficiencies while engaging the appropriate teams to course-correct.
Ensure clear role definition and accountability without creating bureaucratic barriers.
Balance empowerment with governance, giving teams autonomy while maintaining standards that protect delivery quality and client experience.
Monitor daily operations and ensure work is performed as prescribed by policies and procedures to achieve productivity, service, and quality standards within the parameters of the operating plan and budget.
Partner closely with the account finance team to support monthly forecasting and financial reporting that integrates seamlessly with capital planning processes.
Provide operational insights that inform financial projections, helping finance understand delivery velocity, resource utilization, and portfolio health.
Translate project-level financial data into portfolio-level trends that enable better planning and decision-making.
Bridge the gap between project execution realities and financial planning requirements.
Have responsibility for maintaining and monitoring budget, working within moderate financial parameters that may require occasional interaction with senior management on financial matters.
Deliver efficient, effective communication that cuts through complexity and drives action.
Take intricate operational challenges, technical workflows, or multi-faceted account dynamics and distill them into digestible, actionable information for both internal teams and client stakeholders.
Know your audience—adjusting depth, framing, and format based on who needs what information to make decisions or take action.
Build trust through transparency, clarity, and consistent follow-through on commitments.
Frequently interact with functional peer managers and conduct presentations of technical information concerning specific projects, schedules, or operational matters between different parts of the business segment and work groups.
Establish and maintain governance frameworks that provide real-time visibility into project health, delivery trends, resource constraints, and operational performance across the portfolio.
Develop reporting mechanisms that give leadership and clients the information they need without overwhelming them with data.
Identify leading indicators of risk or opportunity, enabling proactive intervention rather than reactive firefighting.
Drive consistency in how projects are initiated, executed, monitored, and closed across the account.
Apply established processes and operational policies in selecting methods and techniques for obtaining solutions while making recommendations to senior management regarding strategic policies when needed.
Lead special initiatives that strengthen PMO capability, enhance delivery quality, and elevate client experience.
Identify process inefficiencies, workflow bottlenecks, or capability gaps and develop targeted improvement plans.
Champion innovation in how the PMO operates, testing new approaches and scaling what works.
Create feedback loops that capture lessons learned and translate them into actionable improvements that prevent recurring issues.
Lead definition and direction for new or revised services, programs, processes, standards, and operational plans based upon business sub-segment strategies while receiving assignments in the form of objectives and determining how to use resources to meet schedules and goals.