Program Management Officer

Summary

• Location: Brussels
• On-site presence: Minimum 2 days per week on-site
• Contract type: Freelance consultancy – full-time
• Compensation: Competitive
• Start: 5/10/2026
• End : 31/12/2027
• Languages: Dutch and/or French: fluent (mandatory) | English: excellent spoken and written (mandatory)
• Education: Master's degree in engineering or economics

Context

The client is the Belgian transmission system operator (TSO), responsible for the high-voltage grid and a central actor in the Belgian and European energy transition. The organisation manages a large and growing portfolio of infrastructure investment programmes ranging from offshore grid connections and cross-border interconnections to onshore grid reinforcements each structured as a programme of interdependent projects and initiatives with multiple internal and external stakeholders.

The Program Management Officer (PMO) embedded in the Integrated Portfolio Anticipation team provides the programme management infrastructure that senior programme and stream leaders rely on to track progress, manage risks, and report upwards. The role is not an administrative function it is an active coordination and governance role requiring intellectual engagement with programme content, proactive stakeholder management, and the ability to translate complex multi-stream project data into clear, decision-ready reporting for senior management.

Responsibilities

Programme monitoring and status reporting

• Design and implement a structured system for monitoring the status of individual projects and initiatives within assigned programmes covering planning, progress, budget, and resource dimensions and maintain this system continuously throughout the programme lifecycle
• Acquire sufficient contextual knowledge of each programme to translate individual project statuses into a consolidated, meaningful programme-level view
• Translate project-level data and reports into overall programme status monitoring and reporting produce clear, consistent status overviews for Programme Managers and senior management
• Prepare recurring reports for Programme Manager(s): synthesise information across streams, highlight critical path items, deviations from plan, and forward-looking risks

Risk and interface management

• Set up and maintain a programme-level risk management system: identify, document, monitor, and report risks across the programme and its individual streams
• Ensure alignment between programme streams towards shared goals and in line with overall planning proactively identify interface dependencies between streams and coordinate their resolution before they become blockers
• Coordinate interface management across streams: flag conflicts, misalignments, or missing handshakes between workstreams and facilitate resolution with the relevant stream leaders

Task and document management

• Set up and manage a system for task tracking and follow-up of sub-tasks across the programme ensure nothing falls through the cracks
• Set up and manage the programme's collaborative work and document management environment: SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and associated tools structure, naming conventions, version control, and access management
• Quality control and stream leader support: verify the quality of deliverables, ensure proper validation, communication, and archiving of programme documentation

Meetings and stakeholder engagement

• Plan, prepare, and consolidate Steering Committee meetings: agenda, pre-reads, meeting logistics, minutes, and action tracking
• Plan and facilitate stream-specific meetings and ad-hoc working sessions as required
• Follow up on stakeholder management and internal communication: ensure the right people receive the right information at the right time proactively manage communication gaps

Requirements

Education

• Master's degree in engineering or economics or equivalent demonstrated experience in a programme management or project coordination function in a complex organisational context

Experience

• Minimum 2 years of experience in project or programme support in a PMO, project coordination, or programme governance function. Direct prior experience in a TSO or the energy sector is a strong plus.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent