Specialist, Product Program Management

Pearson; Atlanta (GA); Remote; USD 85,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Pearson is seeking a Curriculum Product Program Manager to lead end-to-end curriculum and content-development initiatives. You will coordinate across Product, Curriculum, Content, Operations, Technology, QA, and external partners to translate goals into executable plans and ensure high-quality delivery.

The role involves planning, risk management, and stakeholder alignment in a distributed environment, with responsibilities from initiation through launch and closeout.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent plus relevant experience.
• 3+ years of project/program management in business settings.
• Experience leading cross-functional, multi-stakeholder projects.
• Strong planning, risk/change management, facilitation, and communication.

Responsibilities

• Lead curriculum/content projects from initiation to closeout.
• Define scope, outcomes, milestones, and success metrics with stakeholders.
• Create and maintain integrated project plans for content and QA.
• Drive delivery to committed dates; adjust priorities as needed.
• Identify/manage risks, issues, dependencies, and scope changes.
• Provide clear context, options, and recommended paths for decisions.
• Maintain decision/change records; communicate downstream effects.
• Establish governance and meeting rhythms for the program.
• Provide concise status reports on progress, risks, and decisions.
• Build trusted cross-team relationships and accountability.
• Keep documentation current and a single source of truth.
• Coordinate deliverables and dependencies with internal and external partners.
• Manage partner performance and drive recovery plans when needed.
• Ensure adherence to content, accessibility, and QA processes.
• Drive QA remediation through closure and verify delivery.
• Lead retrospectives and implement lessons learned.
• Identify recurring issues and propose scalable improvements.
• Utilize PM practices, dashboards, automation, and AI tools.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder communication

Risk management

Cross-functional collaboration

Agile / hybrid delivery

Facilitation

Problem-solving

Distributed teams

Dashboard reporting

PM tooling proficiency

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Project management tools

Workflow automation

AI-enabled tools

Job description

Position Summary

The Curriculum Product Program Manager leads end-to-end delivery of complex curriculum and content-development initiatives. Working across Product, Curriculum, Content, Operations, Technology, Quality Assurance, and external partners, the PM translates goals into executable plans and drives high-quality delivery aligned with business, learner, and customer needs.

The PM owns project planning and execution from initiation through launch and closeout, including scope, milestones, dependencies, risks, changes, stakeholder accountability, and project-health visibility. Success requires strong judgment, communication, relationship management, and problem-solving in a dynamic, distributed environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead multiple curriculum and content-development projects from initiation through launch and closeout.

• Define scope, outcomes, deliverables, milestones, schedules, dependencies, roles, and measures of success with stakeholders.

• Build and maintain integrated project plans across content creation, reviews, approvals, QA, remediation, and release readiness.

• Drive work toward committed dates, negotiating realistic priorities and timelines as conditions change.

• Proactively identify and manage risks, issues, assumptions, dependencies, scope, and change impacts.

• Lead mitigation and problem-solving; accelerate with clear context, impact, options, and a recommended path forward.

• Maintain decision and change records and ensure stakeholders understand approved changes and downstream effects.

• Establish effective governance, communication, and meeting rhythms for the project and audience.

• Provide concise status reporting on progress, milestones, risks, dependencies, decisions, and leadership needs.

• Create clear accountability for decisions and actions while building trusted relationships across teams and partners.

• Maintain accessible, current documentation and a consistent source of truth.

• Coordinate curriculum deliverables, reviews, feedback, approvals, and dependencies across internal teams and external partners.

• Manage partner performance against scope, schedule, quality expectations, and delivery projections; drive recovery plans when needed.

• Ensure work follows applicable content, accessibility, academic integrity, review, and quality-assurance processes.

• Drive QA findings and remediation through closure and verify delivery completeness and readiness.

• Lead retrospectives and convert lessons learned into practical improvements.

• Identify recurring delivery or process issues and recommend scalable solutions.

• Use effective PM practices, dashboards, workflow automation, collaboration tools, and responsible AI to improve visibility and efficiency.

Core Competencies

Competency

What It Looks Like

Product Planning

Understands product priorities and roadmaps and translates them into actionable project plans, timelines, and dependencies.

Stakeholder Engagement

Builds alignment and shared understanding across internal teams and partners.

Data Analysis

Uses delivery data and stakeholder feedback to flag risks and inform decisions.

Adaptability

Adjusts priorities and approaches as scope, timelines, and conditions change.

Learning to Learn

Seeks out new knowledge and applies lessons learned to improve delivery.

Artificial Intelligence

Uses AI tools to streamline planning, reporting, and documentation.

Organizational Skills

Manages multiple deliverables, timelines, and documentation at once.

Program Process Monitoring

Assesses program processes and recommends practical improvements.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.

3+ years of project or program management experience in a business environment; experience in curriculum, education technology, digital products, publishing, or a related field is preferred.

Experience leading complex, cross-functional projects with multiple stakeholders and dependencies.

Strong planning, risk and change management, facilitation, communication, and problem-solving skills.

Ability to manage competing priorities, establish accountability, and drive teams toward committed milestones.

Experience working with distributed teams and modern project-management and collaboration tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with curriculum, educational content, digital learning products, or comparable content-development programs.

• Experience managing external partners, vendors, or distributed production teams.

• Knowledge of curriculum-development lifecycles, QA, accessibility, academic standards, state approvals, or digital publishing workflows.

• Experience with Agile, hybrid, or iterative delivery and with dashboards, workflow automation, or AI-enabled tools.

• PMP, CAPM, Scrum, Agile, or comparable project/program management certification.

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

The full-time salary range for this role is $85,000 – $95,000.

This position is eligible for Pearson’s annual incentive program.

Information on benefits can be found here.

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:

Job Family: PRODUCT

Organization: Virtual Learning

Schedule: FULL_TIME

Workplace Type: Remote

Req ID: 26548

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