IT Project Manager, Africa

IT Project Manager, Africa

GardaWorld Security Africa is undertaking a portfolio of strategic, high-impact technology initiatives across the Africa region. The IT Project Manager, Africa is accountable for the successful end-to-end delivery of assigned Business Technology programmes and projects, from initiation and planning through execution, change adoption, operational handover and benefits realisation.

This is a senior, hands-on project management role for an exceptional Project Manager who combines rigorous project management discipline with a strong bias for delivery. The successful candidate will bring deep expertise in project planning, governance, risk, financial control, stakeholder management and delivery methodology, while taking personal ownership for driving outcomes and getting complex initiatives delivered.

The role requires a Project Manager who creates structure from ambiguity, establishes clear accountability, drives decisions and dependencies to closure, removes blockers and maintains momentum across business, technology and vendor teams. They must be equally effective in detailed project control and executive-level communication, and comfortable operating from frontline users and technical teams through to Country Management and C-suite stakeholders.

A critical success factor is strong organisational change management capability. The Project Manager must ensure that impacted stakeholders are engaged, prepared and supported through change, and that solutions are not only implemented but adopted, embedded into operations and delivering the intended business outcomes.

Success is measured by controlled, predictable delivery and realised outcomes: projects delivered to agreed scope, schedule, budget and quality; risks actively managed; stakeholders aligned; change successfully adopted; and expected business benefits achieved.

Key Responsibilities

• Key duties will be as follows.

• Project Leadership & End-to-End Delivery

• Take full accountability for assigned projects from initiation through planning, execution, implementation, transition and formal closure.

• Establish clear project scope, objectives, deliverables, success criteria, governance and accountabilities.

• Develop and maintain robust integrated project plans, work breakdown structures, milestone schedules, resource plans and critical-path dependencies.

• Drive delivery actively and maintain momentum across business, IT, vendors and implementation partners.

• Convert commitments into clear actions, owners and deadlines, and relentlessly follow through to completion.

• Identify and remove blockers early; where escalation is required, present the impact, options and a recommended course of action.

• Ensure projects are delivered to agreed scope, schedule, budget, quality and business outcomes.

• Lead project closure, operational handover, lessons learned and post-implementation reviews.

• Project Governance & Control

• Apply strong project management discipline appropriate to the scale, complexity and risk of each initiative.

• Establish and manage project governance structures, stage gates, baselines, controls and approval processes.

• Maintain accurate RAID, dependency, decision, action and change-control logs with clear ownership and due dates.

• Manage project constraints across scope, time, cost, quality, resources, risk and dependencies.

• Ensure project documentation and controls remain current, meaningful and decision-oriented throughout delivery.

• Chair project governance forums and ensure decisions and actions are documented and driven to closure.

• Maintain a clear audit trail of key approvals, decisions, changes and project commitments.

• Stakeholder Leadership & Communication

• Serve as the primary project lead and point of accountability across business stakeholders, IT teams, vendors and implementation partners.

• Build trusted relationships and operate credibly at all levels, from frontline users and technical specialists to Country Management, Senior Leadership and C-suite executives.

• Develop and execute stakeholder engagement and communication plans for each initiative.

• Provide concise, transparent and decision-oriented reporting on progress, milestones, financials, risks, issues, dependencies and required interventions.

• Prepare and deliver steering committee packs, executive briefings and decision papers.

• Facilitate project meetings, steering committees, issue-resolution sessions and executive reviews with clear agendas, decisions, actions, owners and deadlines.

• Manage stakeholder expectations proactively and address misalignment before it impacts delivery.

• Organisational Change Management & Adoption

• Lead or coordinate the organisational change management activities required for successful project adoption.

• Assess stakeholder impact, readiness, resistance and adoption risks throughout the project lifecycle.

• Develop and execute practical change, communication, training and adoption plans aligned to project milestones.

• Engage leaders, managers and end users early to build understanding, ownership and readiness for change.

• Ensure business readiness, training, communications, procedures, support arrangements and transition activities are completed before go-live.

• Monitor adoption following implementation and drive corrective action where expected behaviours or outcomes are not being achieved.

• Ensure project success is measured by sustainable adoption and realised business outcomes, not technical go-live alone.

• Risk, Issue, Dependency & Change Management

• Proactively identify, assess, prioritise and manage project risks, issues, assumptions and dependencies.

• Develop practical mitigation and recovery plans and ensure accountable owners deliver agreed actions.

• Escalate material risks and issues early, with clear impact assessment, options and recommendations.

• Lead formal project change control, assessing proposed changes against scope, schedule, budget, resources, quality and risk before approval.

• Protect approved project baselines while ensuring legitimate business changes are evaluated and incorporated in a controlled manner.

• Develop recovery plans for projects or workstreams that move off track and drive execution back to agreed tolerances.

• Financial, Resource & Vendor Management

• Own project budget management including forecasting, commitments, actuals, accruals and variance reporting.

• Plan and coordinate internal resources, contractors, vendors and implementation partners across project workstreams.

• Identify capacity constraints early and secure or escalate resource requirements before they impact delivery.

• Manage vendor performance and hold third parties accountable for contracted milestones, deliverables, quality and service commitments.

• Coordinate procurement and contracting activities with the relevant functions and incorporate commercial lead times and dependencies into project plans.

• Challenge cost, scope and delivery assumptions where necessary to protect project outcomes.

• Quality, Testing & Go-Live Readiness

• Define project quality requirements, acceptance criteria, stage gates and go-live readiness requirements.

• Coordinate testing and UAT planning, ensuring defects, outcomes, approvals and outstanding risks are appropriately managed.

• Lead formal go-live readiness reviews covering technology, business readiness, support, training, communications, data, security and operational dependencies.

• Ensure no project transitions into production without appropriate acceptance, ownership, support arrangements and contingency planning.

• Coordinate hypercare and transition activities following implementation and ensure outstanding issues are driven to closure.

• Portfolio Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain accurate portfolio-level visibility for the IT Director across project health, milestones, financials, risks, dependencies, resources and decisions.

• Support project prioritisation, sequencing, estimation, dependency mapping and resource forecasting across the Africa technology portfolio.

• Contribute to the continuous improvement of project management standards, governance, templates an