Résumé & Professional Profile

Ömür Benek
Management & Strategy

Dr. · PMP® · PMI Turkey 2021 Chapter President

With a career spanning from electrical-electronics engineering to management and strategy, he works as an executive, trainer, and consultant in corporate project governance, leadership, and digital transformation.

Project Governance Corporate Strategy Leadership Digital Transformation Organizational Culture

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Dr. Ömür Benek

Integration PMO Director, Innova Bilişim

Ph.D.Management & Strategy — Istanbul University
CertificationPMP®
AssociationPMI Turkey President (2021)
LocationIstanbul, Türkiye

Years of Experience

Organizations

PMP®

Certification

Consulting Sectors

Association Memberships

Profile

About

Beginning his life story in İzmir, Ömür Benek shaped his career through a technically grounded educational path: he completed his bachelor's degree in Electrical-Electronics Engineering at Erciyes University and his master's degree in the same field at Istanbul University. He pursued a master's in International Business at Marmara University, earned a MicroMasters credential at Istanbul University, and completed a leadership program at Boğaziçi University.

He crowned this multi-layered academic foundation with a Ph.D. in Management and Strategy from the Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Political Science, Istanbul University. Since 2007, he has held executive, managerial, and director-level roles at Türk Telekom, Intertech, Turkish Airlines, Türkiye Sigorta, HalkÖde, and Innova Bilişim, gaining project and program governance experience across the telecommunications, banking technology, aviation, insurance, and fintech sectors. He currently serves as Integration PMO Director at Innova Bilişim.

Dr. Benek, who served as PMI Turkey's 2021 Chapter President and has been a Board Member of BiTekDer (Information Technologies Association) since 2021, has spent many years working as an executive, trainer, and consultant across different sectors. Since 2022 he has been a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review Türkiye on strategy, leadership, and project culture, with more than 20 published articles.

Project management is not a control mechanism — it is a discipline that aligns organizational culture with the right strategy.

— Dr. Ömür Benek, PMI Turkey 2021 Chapter President

Sector Experience

Sector Strategy & Management Consulting

Alongside his executive roles, he has also carried out strategy and management consulting work across a range of sectors:

Automotive

Provided strategic consulting support for production process digitalization, supply chain governance, and operational excellence projects.

Defense

Advised on project governance, program discipline, and multi-stakeholder process management for defense-industry projects.

Energy

Led strategy consulting in the energy sector across digital transformation, process improvement, and corporate project governance.

Software

Provided consulting to software development organizations on agile transformation, PMO setup, and project portfolio governance.

Worked in the IT sector on corporate strategy alignment, IT governance, and establishing governance frameworks for technology projects.

Banking

Advised on program governance, digital banking transformation, and corporate project portfolio management for banking technology projects.

Aviation

Worked in the aviation sector on corporate project portfolio management, operational process improvement, and strategic program governance.

Telecommunications

Gained consulting experience in the telecommunications sector on infrastructure projects, product development processes, and corporate project governance.

Insurance

Gained executive and consulting experience in the insurance sector on company-formation programs, IT strategy, and process governance.

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Strateji Doktoru ↗

stratejidoktoru.com

His personal platform sharing academic research, applied examples, and consulting content on strategy, strategic management, and project management.

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Knowispo AI ↗

knowispo.com

The platform he founded in 2023 for his work and ventures in the field of artificial intelligence.

Work Experience

Professional Career

From systems engineering to PMO leadership: since 2007, executive, managerial, and director-level responsibility across six organizations in telecommunications, banking technology, aviation, insurance, and fintech.

2007 — 2010

Türk Telekom A.Ş.

Systems Engineer & R&D Specialist

Began his career with technical engineering and research & development responsibilities.

2010 — 2013

Türk Telekom A.Ş.

CEO Projects Manager

Managed strategic projects reporting directly to senior executive leadership.

2013 — 2014

Türk Telekom A.Ş.

Data Quality Lead

Led the team responsible for company-wide data quality processes.

2014 — 2017

Intertech

Program Manager

Managed banking technology programs for Ziraat Katılım and Bank Audi clients.

2017 — 2020

Turkish Airlines

Senior Portfolio Manager

Led the senior management of the corporate project portfolio in the aviation sector.

2020 — 2023

Türkiye Sigorta

6-Company Setup Program Lead & IT Strategy and Process Manager

Led the program for the establishment of six companies and directed the IT strategy and process management function.

2024 — 2025

HalkÖde

PMO Director

Led the organization's project management office.

2025 — Present

Innova Bilişim

Integration PMO Director

Continues to serve as Director of the Integration Projects Management Office.

Academic Career

Education & Research

An educational path spanning from engineering to management science, bridging practice with academic research.

Bachelor's

Electrical-Electronics Engineering

Erciyes University

Master's

Electrical-Electronics Engineering (MSc.)

Istanbul University

Master's

International Business (M.A.)

Marmara University

MicroMasters

International Entrepreneurship Ecosystem and Innovation Strategies

Istanbul University

Certificate

Leadership Training Program

Boğaziçi University

Ph.D.

Management and Strategy (Ph.D.)

Istanbul University, Faculty of Political Science — Dept. of Business Administration

Measuring Culture in Projects: Scale Development and Validation in a Sample of Turkish Professionals

European Project Management Journal

2024

A Research on Project Management Culture, Relationships and Practices Between Governance and Project Governance

Book / book chapter

Dec. 2023

The Effect of Covid-19 Risk Perception on Turnover Intention: A Study in the IT Sector

Gaziosmanpaşa University Journal of Social Sciences Research

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Analysis of Communication Protocols Used in VANET Systems

Early-career engineering study

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Consulting & Training

Areas of Practice

Bringing project governance expertise into the field through corporate consulting, training, and publishing activities.

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Corporate Project Governance

Provides consulting support to organizations across different sectors on project governance, strategy alignment, and corporate portfolio management.

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PMI-TR × ITU CEC Webinar Series

Delivered training on "Project Scope and Stakeholder Management" as part of a webinar series organized in collaboration between Istanbul Technical University's Center of Excellence in Education and PMI Turkey.

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Harvard Business Review Türkiye

A regular contributor to HBR Türkiye since 2022 on leadership, strategy, project culture, and organizational culture; more than 20 articles published.

Selected Articles from HBR Türkiye (from more than 20 articles since 2022)

Note: the articles below were originally published in Turkish.

Communication

Effective Communication Starts with Good Analysis

June 2026

Organizational Culture

Agreeing to Disagree Is Possible

February 2026

Decision-Making

A Manager's Toughest Test: Making the Right Call

December 2025

Project Management

Managing Transformation Projects in Uncertain Environments

July 2025

Leadership

The Secrets of Managing Your Manager

May 2025

Strategy

We've Planned Our Strategies — What's Next?

February 2025

Association Activities

Professional Association Network

A wide-ranging record of association involvement across the project management and IT ecosystem, including PMI Turkey's 2021 chapter presidency and BiTekDer board membership.

PMI Turkey Chapter2021 Chapter President — the national association bringing together project management professionals.

BiTekDer — Information Technologies AssociationBoard Member since 2021.

Turkish Informatics Association (TBD)Member of the Istanbul Branch.

Istanbul Project Management Association (İPYD)Knowledge-sharing and membership activities within the project management community.

TETED Üsküdar BranchEducation volunteering and branch membership.

Ömür BenekManagement & Strategy

About

Sector Strategy & Management Consulting

Professional Career

Education & Research

Areas of Practice

Corporate Project Governance

PMI-TR × ITU CEC Webinar Series

Harvard Business Review Türkiye

Professional Association Network

Get in Touch

Ömür Benek
Management & Strategy