Professional Summary
Programme and portfolio leader operating at group-level PMO, with 14+ years delivering governance-led programmes and digital transformation across regulated, product-driven organisations, including InsurTech and enterprise platforms. Operates at group level within the FirstTech / IHC ecosystem, governing the portfolio of digital, technology and business initiatives on behalf of senior leadership and founders. Owns portfolio governance and prioritization, programme delivery across concurrent workstreams, cross-programme dependencies and RAID, and the executive dashboards and decision logs leaders need to steer with confidence. Brings scaled-agile cadence, including PI planning, to delivery; has launched new markets and products from scratch, led portfolios worth tens of millions, and modernized manual operations through enterprise platforms, including in regulated and government-facing environments.
Core Competencies
- Portfolio governance & prioritization
- PMO operating models
- Programme & multi-workstream delivery
- Scaled-agile delivery (SAFe)
- PI planning & train coordination
- Cross-programme dependency management
- RAID & change control
- Executive & founder-level reporting
- Portfolio dashboards & decision logs
- Digital transformation
- Enterprise platform delivery
- Stakeholder & vendor management
- Regulated & government-facing delivery
- Tooling: Jira, Power BI
Selected Achievements
- Governed group-level portfolio delivery, launching a new market and 5 products from scratch within an IHC-group InsurTech.
- Established delivery governance and reporting frameworks that cut go-to-market and change timelines by ~30%.
- Strengthened portfolio governance and leadership alignment, contributing to ~40% cost reduction and avoidance of critical delivery risks.
- Led 7+ large-scale, $30M+ programmes and coordinated $50M+ in technical initiatives across 6 business verticals.
- Drove 200% growth in an internal project & technology portfolio through disciplined delivery governance.
Professional Experience
Programme & Portfolio Manager, Group-Level PMO - Shory (FirstTech / IHC)
Aug 2024 - Present
Abu Dhabi, UAE
- Run group-level PMO: portfolio governance, prioritization and delivery across concurrent workstreams on behalf of founders and senior leadership.
- Own cross-programme dependency and RAID management, change control, and the executive/founder reporting cadence.
- Bring scaled-agile cadence, including PI planning, to delivery across the portfolio.
- Governed portfolio delivery that launched a new market and 5 products from scratch; cut go-to-market and change timelines by ~30%.
Project Manager, Aether
Mar 2021 - Jul 2024
Dubai, UAE
- Led 7+ large-scale ($30M+) AI-driven programmes from initiation through delivery.
- Coordinated $50M+ in technical initiatives across 6 business verticals.
- Drove 200% growth in an internal project & technology portfolio through disciplined delivery governance.
Projects & Tech Coordinator, AAAGENCY
Apr 2015 - Mar 2021
Dubai, UAE
- Directed 100+ projects and 10+ programmes for multinational clients including Meraas, CBRE and Informa.
- Delivered weekly C-suite reporting on portfolio status, risks and delivery.
Project Coordinator, Speed Groups
Sep 2013 - Mar 2015
Dubai, UAE
- Delivered 50+ web and mobile projects across multiple clients.
- Partnered with Ajman Government on paperless digitization initiatives.
- Drove ISO 9001 adoption across delivery processes.
Software Engineering & Team Lead roles
2011 - 2013
Pakistan
- Earlier engineering and team leadership roles that grounded a delivery career in hands-on technical execution.
Certifications
- Practical Application of Gen AI for Project Managers, PMI (2025)
- Scrum Fundamentals Certified (SFC), VMEdu
- Strategic Thinking, LinkedIn
- Google Analytics (Advanced), Google
- Project Management Professional (PMP), formal training completed
- Currently pursuing: SAFe Agilist (SA) / RTE
Education & Languages
- Master of Science (MS), Computer Software Engineering
SZABIST, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science & Technology · Dubai, UAE · 2018-2020
- Bachelor of Computer Science (BSCS)
Virtual University of Pakistan · 2010-2014
- Languages: English, Urdu, Punjabi
Keywords: Programme Manager / Program Manager, Portfolio Manager, PMO Manager, Head of PMO, Senior Project Manager, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), PI Planning, Release Train Engineer, Portfolio Governance, Jira, Power BI.