Advanced Specialist, Project Management

Pearson; Olympia (WA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Pearson in the United States seeks a Senior Project Manager/Program Manager to lead cross-functional business transformation initiatives within the Project Management Office. You will translate complex needs into actionable plans, drive modernization, and empower teams with governance, reporting, and AI-enabled workflows.

The role balances program delivery with transformation enablement, partnering across Finance, data, and technology to realize measurable business value.

Qualifications

• Leadership of complex programs with scope, schedule, budget, risk, and outcomes.
• Experience in business analysis, process improvement, or transformation.
• Practical use of AI, automation, analytics to improve business work.
• Strong financial and data literacy with clear analyses and implications.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and Excel; familiarity with PM tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional product development and business transformation initiatives from discovery through delivery.
• Build integrated plans across waterfall, Agile, and hybrid delivery environments.
• Provide concise, evidence-based reporting for sponsors, governance, Finance, and senior leaders.
• Develop tools and dashboards to ensure information is accessible and actionable.
• Partner with Finance for day-to-day financial reporting, capacity reporting, and visibility.

Skills

Project management

Business analysis

Process improvement

Financial literacy

AI enablement

Stakeholder management

Change management

Executive communication

Tools

Power BI

Power Automate

Copilot

Visio

SharePoint

PjM software

Azure DevOps

LLMs

Prototyping tools

Job description

Join Our Team as a Senior Project Manager/Program Manager, Business Transformation & AI Enablement

THE OPPORTUNITY

This is a high-impact role for a candidate can lead complex programs, translate business needs into practical solutions, and modernize how work gets done. The successful candidate will combine disciplined project/program management, business analysis, process improvement, financial and operational insight, and applied AI fluency to help Clinical Assessments deliver work with greater clarity, speed, quality, and scalability.

Position Summary

The Senior Program Manager, Business Transformation & AI Enablement role sits within the Project Management Office and supports business leaders and stakeholders with increased visibility and modernization of financial and business operations work as well as leading product-development and internal business initiatives from concept and business case through implementation, commercialization, and benefits realization. There will be less focus on traditional product-development, but this role may be called upon to supplement the traditional project management team.

This role also strengthens the operating infrastructure of the Project Management Office that supports portfolio planning, financial stewardship, capacity visibility, project governance, reporting, knowledge management, and continuous improvement. The individual will work across project teams, business leaders, Finance, technology partners, and global stakeholders to turn ambiguous needs and fragmented data into aligned plans, informed decisions, and sustainable ways of working.

The balance between program delivery and transformation enablement will flex with business priorities. The role is intentionally broad: it requires someone who is equally comfortable leading a cross-functional program, analyzing financial and operational data, redesigning a process, facilitating a decision, and piloting a responsible AI-enabled solution.

What Success Looks Like

• Projects and initiatives have clear outcomes, governance, integrated plans, decision pathways, risks, dependencies, and accountable owners as well as planned predicted and met timelines.
• Leaders and teams have trusted, decision-ready information about scope, schedule, budget, capacity, performance, and trade-offs.
• Repetitive or fragmented work is simplified, standardized, automated, or augmented through thoughtful process and technology improvements.
• AI and automation opportunities move from idea to responsible experimentation, measurable business value, scalable adoption, and durable operating practices quickly and efficiently.
• Stakeholders understand not only what is changing, but why it matters, how success will be measured, and what is expected of them.

Key Responsibilities

Program and Project Leadership

• 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.

Business, Financial, and Portfolio Infrastructure

• 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.

Process Excellence and Operating Model Improvement and Modernization

• 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.

AI Enablement and Intelligent Automation

• 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.

Influence, Change, and Capability Building

• 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.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• 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.

Preferred Qualifications

• 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.

The Candidate We Hope to Attract

A pragmatic innovator and dependable finisher who can spot an opportunity to modernize, automate, streamline complex processes. This person is energized by meaningful, complex work and is willing to move between strategic thinking and hands-on execution. The successful candidate asks sharp questions, uses evidence rather than assumptions, spots opportunities others miss, and can simplify without oversimplifying. The role suits someone who is collaborative and low ego, yet confident enough to challenge constructively, make recommendations, and lead through uncertainty. Above all, the candidate should care about creating better outcomes for customers, teams, and the business, not simply deploying a new tool or completing a project plan.

Compensation at Pearson is influenced by factors including skill set, experience, and location.

The full-time salary range for this role is $110,000 - $130,000.

Applications will be accepted through 10/10/26. This window may be extended depending on business needs.

Pearson is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a member of E-Verify. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit and business need. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status or any other group protected by law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act.

If you are an individual with a disability and are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our career site as a result of your disability, you may request reasonable accommodations by emailing [e-mail].

Who we are:

At Pearson, our purpose is simple: to help people realize the life they imagine through learning. We believe that every learning opportunity is a chance for a personal breakthrough. We are the world's lifelong learning company. For us, learning isn't just what we do. It's who we are. To learn more: We are Pearson.

Pearson is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a member of E-Verify. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit and business need. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status or any other group protected by law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act.

If you are an individual with a disability and are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our career site as a result of your disability, you may request reasonable accommodations by emailing [e-mail].

Job: Program Management

Job Family: ENTERPRISE

Organization: Assessment & Qualifications