Rebecca Dobson
Portrait photo of Rebecca Dobson

Portfolio Management Office (PMO) Director

Rebecca Dobson

Enterprise Portfolio Governance · Delivery Assurance · Value Realisation

Dubai, United Arab Emirates British English (Native) 16+ years
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Key Skills & Expertise

Pragmatic, audit-ready governance that balances delivery pace with financial discipline and measurable value.

Portfolio & Governance

  • Enterprise PMO & governance frameworks (design, rollout, assurance)
  • Strategic portfolio oversight: prioritisation, sequencing, dependencies
  • Stage-gates and decision forums aligned to Delegation of Authority (DoA)
  • Audit-ready artefacts, evidence trails, and compliance alignment

Risk, Quality & Controls

  • RAID frameworks, escalation pathways, and governance review boards
  • Delivery assurance: milestones, scope, controls, and recovery planning
  • Internal audit closure support and traceability in regulated environments
  • Cybersecurity and regulatory readiness across complex programmes

Financials, Value & Reporting

  • CapEx / OpEx governance, forecasting, and variance control
  • Benefits / value-realisation frameworks and KPI scorecards
  • Executive dashboards (Power BI, Smartsheet) for health & exposure
  • Data-driven decisioning with clear narrative and accountability

Professional Experience

Selected highlights and scope of responsibility.

Oct 2025 – Present
Dubai, UAE

PMO Director

Dubai Holding Group Services

  • Established and lead the Enterprise PMO & Governance function, defining standards, governance forums, reporting cadence, and assurance mechanisms.
  • Designed and embedded an enterprise-wide governance framework including stage-gates, RAID management, escalation pathways, and executive reporting aligned to DoA requirements.
  • Provide portfolio oversight across strategic CapEx and OpEx initiatives, strengthening financial discipline, forecasting accuracy, and value-realisation tracking.
  • Partner with Finance, Internal Audit, Risk, Procurement, Technology, and Facilities to ensure programmes meet audit and compliance standards.
May 2024 – Sep 2025
Dubai, UAE

Head of PMO — Digital & Technology Portfolio & Governance

Agthia Group PJSC

  • Established and operationalised a five-stage gated governance framework across 100+ initiatives to enhance decision-making and investment control.
  • Chaired the Gate Investment Committee, overseeing approvals, financial governance, and risk escalation aligned with DoA thresholds.
  • Embedded risk and quality assurance frameworks integrating RAID tracking in Jira for audit traceability and escalation workflows.
  • Partnered with Finance and Audit to embed financial discipline across a 30M AED CapEx + OpEx portfolio, improving forecast accuracy and variance control.
  • Delivered executive dashboards in Power BI and Smartsheet for portfolio health, risk exposure, and value-realisation insights.
Jan 2023 – Feb 2024
Dubai

Senior PMO Consultant — Infrastructure & Cloud Portfolio

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG)

  • Designed and implemented governance frameworks for infrastructure and cloud programmes, ensuring consistent documentation control and audit readiness.
  • Managed a £10M CapEx and OpEx portfolio with accurate forecasting, tracking, and executive reporting.
  • Introduced a benefits realisation framework to enable transparent ROI tracking and measurable value delivery.
  • Chaired risk and governance review boards to drive RAID discipline, milestone adherence, and regulatory compliance.
Apr 2018 – Mar 2022
London

Principal PMO Lead — Global Group Tax

Anglo American plc (FTSE 100)

  • Established and led the Global Group Tax PMO, delivering governance, financial control, and portfolio transparency across global programmes.
  • Built the PMO team and capability (including two EY resources), embedding consistent operations across regions.
  • Launched an intranet hub and automated intake portal for prioritisation and stage-gate tracking.
  • Developed scorecards and dashboards to support data-driven investment decisions and executive visibility.
Mar 2017 – Apr 2018
London

ITSM Portfolio PMO Manager

QBE Insurance

  • Established portfolio governance standards for ITSM initiatives.
  • Owned risk/issue registers and improved escalation and mitigation discipline.
  • Standardised reporting templates and dashboards for senior visibility.
  • Represented the portfolio in executive assurance reviews, presenting delivery health and risk trends.
Oct 2016 – Mar 2017
London

Portfolio PMO Manager — Immigration Transformation

HM Home Office

  • Directed PMO operations across multiple workstreams, strengthening governance, reporting, and delivery control.
  • Implemented structured reporting and RAID tracking frameworks for senior leadership transparency.
  • Aligned policy, technology, and operations stakeholders to support delivery and audit readiness.
Jun 2014 – Sep 2016
London

Regulatory PMO Lead

M&G Investments

  • Established regulatory PMO frameworks aligned with FCA and EU directives.
  • Coordinated Risk, Compliance, Legal, and Technology deliverables across complex multi-jurisdiction programmes (e.g., MiFID II, Solvency II).
  • Produced executive dashboards covering portfolio status, budget performance, and risk exposure.
Sep 2008 – Apr 2014
UK & Australia

PMO & Portfolio Leadership Roles

Various Employers

PMO leadership positions across IT governance, portfolio management, and regulatory oversight.

Education & Certifications

Education

  • BA (Hons) Politics & International Relations — University of Westminster (2003–2007)

Certifications

  • PMP® Certified — Project Management Institute (2025)
  • Agile Leadership — LinkedIn Learning (2025)
  • MoP® Practitioner — The Knowledge Academy (2015)
  • PRINCE2 Practitioner — APMG International (2011)

Contact

Fastest response via LinkedIn message.

Let’s connect

If you’d like to discuss enterprise PMO setup, portfolio governance maturity, delivery assurance, or value-realisation frameworks, I’m happy to chat.

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Location
Dubai, United Arab Emirates