Advanced Specialist, Project Management

Pearson is a lifelong learning company focused on helping people realize their potential through learning. The Senior Program Manager will lead cross-functional business transformation and product-development initiatives while strengthening project management office infrastructure, financial and portfolio operations, and process improvement. The role will also identify and implement responsible AI and automation solutions, support organizational change, and build sustainable operating practices.

Responsibilities:

• Lead cross-functional product-development and business-transformation initiatives from discovery through delivery and transition to operations
• Build integrated plans across waterfall, Agile, and hybrid delivery environments; adapt the approach to the work rather than applying methodology mechanically
• Provide concise, evidence-based reporting for project teams, sponsors, governance forums, Finance, and senior leaders
• Support business leaders with annual and long-range strategic planning, budget development, forecasting, actuals tracking, project coding, capacity planning, and portfolio reviews
• Develop/improve the tools, reports, dashboards to ensure information is accessible and actionable
• Partner with Finance to provide business stakeholders with day to day support re: financial reporting, project and capacity reporting, project coding, visibility and troubleshooting
• Identify business process pain points, bottlenecks, and other opportunities to improve cycle time, quality, cost, scalability, and user experience through automation, AI and modernization efforts
• Lead discovery, current-state assessment, root-cause analysis, future-state design, piloting, implementation, measurement, and continuous refinements
• Standardize and manage and modernize our process library across the development workflows
• Identify and prioritize responsible AI and automation opportunities tied to clear business problems and measurable outcomes
• Partner with subject-matter experts, data and technology teams, security, privacy, legal, and other governance partners to design safe and fit-for-purpose solutions
• Rapidly prototype and evaluate and implement AI-enabled workflows, agents, copilots, or automation using defined quality criteria, human oversight, testing, and evidence-based go, pivot, or stop decisions
• Lead change with clear stakeholder analysis, communications, involvement, training, adoption measures, and reinforcement
• Create environments in which teams can move quickly, make work visible, learn through disciplined experimentation, and ask for help early
• Share practices, coach colleagues, and contribute to stronger project, program, business-analysis, process-improvement, and AI-enabled delivery capabilities

Requirements:

• Demonstrated success leading complex projects or programs with accountability for scope, schedule, budget, quality, risk, dependencies, stakeholder alignment, and measurable outcomes
• Experience in business analysis, process improvement, operational transformation, or comparable discipline
• Practical experience using AI, automation, analytics, or digital tools to improve business work. Candidates should be able to describe what they built or implemented, how they evaluated it, and what business outcome it supported
• Strong financial and data literacy, with the ability to reconcile information, identify patterns or anomalies, build clear analyses, and communicate implications
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft 365. Strong Excel skills are required; experience with tools such as Power BI, Power Automate, Copilot, Visio, SharePoint, PjM software, Azure DevOps, as well as LLMs, prototyping tools, etc. or comparable platforms is needed
• Excellent written, verbal, facilitation, and executive-communication skills, including the ability to make complex work understandable and actionable
• Ability to manage competing priorities, operate independently, exercise sound judgment, and bring structure to ambiguity
• Experience in assessment, publishing, product development, research operations, or another complex knowledge-work environment
• Experience working across global teams
• Working knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, design thinking, process engineering, change management, data visualization, or benefits realization
• PMP, PgMP, Agile, product, data or AI-related credential, or willingness to pursue relevant development
• Experience supporting responsible AI practices, including privacy, security, intellectual property, human review, quality evaluation, and risk management