Business Solutions Project Manager (fixed term contract)

About the role:

Emirates Skywards, the award-winning loyalty programme of Emirates and flydubai, has marked more than 20 years of excellence, innovation and unmatched rewards. Over the past 2 decades, the loyalty programme has exponentially grown its membership base by offering value and rich, personalised experiences to its members around the world. The programme has extensively invested to diversify its brand partnerships, and utilise innovative digital technology, so that it can offer its members across the globe with more ways to earn and enjoy rewards, conveniently and via new touchpoints.

To support its ambitious growth, we have embarked upon a journey to replace the in-house Loyalty platform to a new state- of- the -art vendor hosted platform. A time bound project that warrants an experienced team across various business roles in Skywards to partner with Internal IT, vendor and stakeholders to successfully launch this across an established, diverse and multi-faceted organization.

The Skywards Business Project Manager will play a pivotal role in orchestrating the successful transformation of skywards loyalty system. This individual will lead the development, management, and monitoring of a comprehensive business project delivery plan, meticulously accounting for all dependencies critical to the projects success. By providing strategic recommendations and swiftly addressing obstacles, the Project Manager will ensure adherence to project timelines and budgetary constraints.

Moreover, the Project Manager will serve as the primary liaison among diverse stakeholders, fostering effective engagement and facilitating transparent communication throughout the project lifecycle. By cultivating strong relationships and promoting collaboration, the Project Manager will uphold alignment with organizational objectives and drive the realization of the loyalty system transformation goals.

What you will do:

1. Program Planning:

• Develop, manage and monitor a detailed business project delivery plan highlighting all dependencies for the loyalty system transformation project. This entails outlining objectives, milestones, and key deliverables and dependencies. 

2. Stakeholder Engagement:

• Act as the primary liaison between the new loyalty project Skywards Business & IT teams, various stream business owners, internal stakeholders, and external vendors, ensuring clear communication and alignment of objectives. Manage the engagement throughout the project lifecycle, providing regular updates, addressing concerns, providing and soliciting feedback to ensure project success.

3. Project Execution and Delivery:

• Monitor multiple cross functional project progress, identify risks and issues, and implement mitigation strategies to ensure timely and successful delivery.


• Support the New loyalty Platform Programme Lead to ensure adherence to project scope, budget, and quality standards, while effectively managing changes and scope creep.


• Develop, manage, and monitor the business rollout strategy across the business.

4. Communication & Adoption:

• Establish and maintain effective communication channels with project stakeholders, providing regular updates on project status, costs, milestones, risks, and issues.


• Develop and implement communication strategies to facilitate the adoption of the new loyalty system for entire organization including end-users.

5. Quality Assurance and Governance:

• Establish and manage quality assurance processes and metrics to measure the effectiveness and performance of the loyalty system transformation project.


• Define, develop and manage governance structures and mechanisms to ensure compliance with project standards, policies, and regulatory requirements to support the new loyalty platform business team.

6. Risk Management:

• Identify potential risks, proactively monitor manage and dependencies associated with the loyalty system transformation project and develop mitigation plans to address them throughout the project lifecycle.

7. Continuous Improvement:

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of the loyalty system transformation project. Responsible to conduct post-implementation reviews and lessons learned sessions to capture insights and best practices for future deliverable within the project lifecycle.

Please note: This is 3 years fix term contract.

This job might be for you if you have:

• Degree or Honors and exposure to IT or Project Management preferred.


• 8 + years’ experience in project management and delivered a transformation project in a cross functional set up.

You’ll have an edge if you have:

• Travel industry frequent flyer or loyalty programme experience.


• Proven experience in program management, project management, or related roles, with a track record of successfully delivering complex initiatives on time and within budget.


• Solid understanding of project management methodologies, tools, and techniques, with experience in Agile and/or Waterfall methodologies preferred.


• Strong leadership and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively with stakeholders at all levels of the organization.


• Experience in managing dependencies and understanding how different components of a project interact with each other is important.


• Strategic thinker with a problem-solving mindset to anticipate and mitigate potential challenges or obstacles.


• Proficiency in project management software (e.g., Microsoft Project, Asana, Jira) and Microsoft Office suite.


• Excellent stakeholder and vendor management with great negotiation skills.


• Ability to develop business cases, and a good understanding of ROI and other key performance metrics.


• Excellent written and spoken English with the ability to convey technical information to non-technical audiences.


• Strong business analysis skills are essential for understanding business requirements, identifying opportunities for improvement, and translating business needs into technical solutions.