Portfolio PMO Manager

EUROGATE Group Automation (EGA) is driving the transformation of EUROGATE’s German terminals through an ambitious automation programme.

Our goal is simple: to make automation the engine of safety, reliability, and performance — turning technology and process excellence into measurable business results.

EGA brings together experts from engineering, operations, automation, and digital technologies to deliver complex automation projects that redefine how our terminals work. We are building a culture based on lean performance, continuous improvement, and practical learning — focused on progress, not control.

The Role

The Portfolio PMO Manager is the driving force behind portfolio performance at EUROGATE Group Automation (EGA).

You will turn data into decisions and governance into progress — influencing through insight to help project leaders remove barriers, improve flow, and deliver measurable results.

Reporting to the Group Head of Automation, you will lead a hybrid PMO model — centralised for governance and performance standards, connected through functional links to Project PMO Managers across all major automation projects.

Your leadership will bring structure, rhythm, and transparency to the portfolio, enabling fast, evidence-based decisions that focus on value, opportunity, and risk.

This is a performance and influence role , not a reporting function.

In practice, this means you will:

• Design and lead a hybrid PMO model — central for governance and performance standards, connected through functional links to Project PMOs for delivery alignment.
• Drive portfolio performance and control — ensuring schedule integrity, risk management, and reporting that leaders can trust.
• Partner with Controlling on investment tracking and benefits, while owning project controls and portfolio performance insight within the PMO.
• Run the portfolio rhythm — forward-looking reviews that use leading indicators, OKRs, and visual management to keep the organisation focused on results.
• Embed lean, evidence-based practices such as Hoshin Kanri (strategy deployment), Kaizen (continuous improvement), 5 Whys, and The 4 Disciplines of Execution.
• Capture lessons and drive improvement — ensuring each project strengthens the next through updated standards and smarter governance.
• Coach and influence Project Directors and PMOs to think systemically, act decisively, and lead with data.

Your mission : Turn governance into flow, insight into foresight, and projects into performance.

Hard Skills & Experience

• 10+ years in PMO, portfolio, or transformation delivery within large-scale transportation, automation, or infrastructure environments.
• Experience of managing a PMO of a large scale and complex capital project with a budget in excess of 50M Euros.
• Proven expertise in project controls — cost, schedule, risk, and progress management across very high value portfolios.
• Demonstrated success designing or leading a hybrid PMO (central governance with embedded delivery PMOs).
• Strong knowledge of governance, performance reporting, and portfolio risk management.
• Practical understanding of lean performance systems — leading indicators, OKRs, and visual dashboards.
• Skilled in continuous improvement and root-cause problem solving using methods such as Kaizen and the 5 Whys.
• Experienced in close partnership with Finance / Controlling for investment governance and value tracking.
• Confident facilitator and communicator in portfolio reviews and executive forums.
• Relevant certifications (e.g. PMI, APM, MSP, Lean Six Sigma) valued but not essential.

Soft Skills & Behaviours

• Analytical and pragmatic – turns insight into action, not endless discussion.
• Empowering and credible – makes governance feel like support, not supervision.
• Curious and improvement-focused – constantly looking for small changes that deliver big impact.
• Clear and open communicator – builds trust through transparency and visual clarity.
• Collaborative and culturally aware – adapts easily across sites, functions, and national contexts.
• Composed under pressure – stays steady and solution-oriented in complex situations.

Success Looks Like

• Project PMOs operate confidently under the hybrid system; governance runs smoothly and transparently.
• Portfolio reviews focus on leading indicators, improvement actions, and future value, not retrospective variance.
• Predictability of schedule, cost, and benefit realisation improves each quarter.
• Continuous improvement becomes part of EGA’s natural operating rhythm.
• The PMO is recognised as a performance accelerator, not an administrator.

Join EUROGATE’s Automation Journey

If you thrive on complexity, believe that governance should enable progress, and want to shape how automation is delivered at scale, EUROGATE Group Automation offers a rare opportunity to design and lead a PMO system that truly drives performance.

Location : Germany-based role, with regular presence across EUROGATE’s four locations – Bremen, Bremerhaven, Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven.

Language : English fluency required; German language proficiency strongly preferred.