Project Director – (Semiconductors)

I am recruiting for a Project Director, to join an established Semiconductor company – based in the Grenoble region.

The Project Director is a key member of the executive leadership team and reports directly to the CEO.

The Project Director leads the Project Management Office (PMO), a team of project managers, and is accountable for the successful execution of all customer and R&D projects.

As the company grows through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions, the Project Director plays a critical role in simplifying and harmonizing the IP development framework, while ensuring that customers receive a consistent, high-quality delivery experience across the entire IP portfolio.

As Project Director, your key challenges will be:

• Consistent best-in-class customer experience: as the IP portfolio and the number of concurrent projects grow, the Project Director must guarantee that Tier-1 customers receive a consistently high standard of execution and communication across all engagements
• Readiness for external growth: the company’s growth strategy includes acquisitions; the PMO must be ready to integrate new teams and harmonize ways of working while preserving delivery commitments
• Proactive risk management: while teams focus on execution, the PMO stays one step ahead—identifying emerging risks, challenging assumptions, and driving preventive actions to keep projects on track
• Scalable execution: the PMO must transform a high-potential delivery model into a scalable execution engine, driving customer satisfaction and supporting the company’s growth

Key responsibilities:

• Execution and Delivery: own on-time / on-cost / on-quality performance across all customer and R&D projects; rapidly stabilize ongoing projects through risk identification, resource gap analysis and recovery plans; enforce full separation between sales and delivery
• Process Unification: simplify the current IP development process and deploy one unified framework across all teams; align execution standards to enable higher project volume at Tier-1 quality; prepare the PMO to integrate teams joining through future acquisitions
• Resource and Capacity Planning: build and maintain a reliable, cross-site resource and capacity plan securing all delivery commitments
• Quality and Risk Management: identify and mitigate execution risks before they materialize
• Customer Satisfaction: establish customer satisfaction metrics and drive continuous improvement; guarantee consistent delivery experiences across the entire IP portfolio
• Leadership and Operating Cadence: build and coach a high-performing, collaborative team; share relevant KPIs and an execution dashboard with all involved stakeholders; act as a strong partner within the executive team, leading by example
• PMO Transformation: evolve the PMO from a coordination function into a project leadership function; deploy common tooling, dashboards and analytical, fact-based reporting to the executive team

Required Skills

• Circa 15+ years of experience in the semiconductor industry
• Proven track record leading multi-site, international PMO or program management organizations serving Tier-1 customers
• Hands-on experience in post-merger integrations and designing, streamlining, and implementing structured product development processes (e.g. Stage-Gate frameworks)
• Analytical, fact-based communication style, able to convey sensitive information objectively and constructively at executive and Board level
• Experience in an Executive Committee
• Strong leadership and strategic thinking skills; a team player who brings diversity of thought and is comfortable operating in an international, multi-site environment
• Fluent English required, French is a plus

Please contact Rob Hudson for more information.