Project Director

Location: Japan

The Role

This role provides end-to-end leadership for major manufacturing capital investments, acting as the single-point owner for project delivery from early definition through commissioning readiness. The mandate is to ensure capital projects deliver strategic value, financial discipline, and operational readiness, while meeting the highest standards of safety, quality, and execution excellence.

The role requires strong delivery authority, structured governance, and the ability to lead complex, cross-functional teams in high-pressure environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Own full lifecycle delivery of large, complex capital projects, including greenfield builds and major site expansions
• Translate business requirements into a clearly defined technical scope, delivery roadmap, milestones, and governance structure
• Establish and maintain disciplined project execution routines covering cost, schedule, risk, and change control
• Drive adherence to approved baselines and manage deviations through formal escalation and decision-making processes

• Lead multi-functional project teams across Engineering, Operations, Finance, Quality, Supply Chain, HR, and external partners
• Facilitate effective decision-making through structured project reviews and steering forums
• Act as the primary interface with senior stakeholders, ensuring alignment, transparency, and confidence in delivery

• Manage EPCs, OEMs, contractors, and consultants through clear performance expectations and accountability
• Ensure suppliers deliver to agreed scope, schedule, budget, and safety requirements

• Act as the central integrator between business, technical, and operational stakeholders
• Ensure clear communication, alignment, and accountability across all parties
• Partner closely with site leadership to ensure readiness for commissioning and handover

• Ensure safety-by-design principles are embedded throughout project execution
• Drive readiness for commissioning and transition to operations, working closely with operational leaders

Qualifications and Experience

• 15+ years in capital program governance, portfolio PMO, engineering PMO, or large-scale investment governance.
• Exposure to major capital portfolios in FMCG, life sciences, chemicals, or similar asset-intensive industries.
• Strong command of capex governance, project controls, risk management, and portfolio visibility.
• Proven ability to operate at senior leadership level with confidence, structure, and influence.
• Strong digital literacy (dashboards, PPM tools, data storytelling, Power BI/Tableau).
• Predictable, on-time, on-budget delivery of capital projects
• Strong stakeholder confidence and governance discipline
• Smooth transition from project execution to operational start-up