Project Manager

LearningMate; Wes-Kaap; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 800,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the education sector seeks an experienced Project Manager to oversee product development projects. The role requires strong project management skills, excellent communication abilities, and proficiency in tools like Jira. Successful candidates will drive collaboration with internal teams and stakeholders, ensuring timely delivery and adherence to quality standards in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in project management or equivalent professional experience.
• Demonstrated knowledge in project management, operations, and systems thinking.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage multiple product development projects with diverse stakeholders.
• Develop project plans and manage timelines effectively.
• Conduct root-cause analysis to solve project-related issues.

Skills

Project Management

Problem Solving

Communication

Stakeholder Management

Analytical Skills

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Jira

ClickUp

Job description

• Title: Project Manager
• Reports to: Project Delivery Manager
• Location: South Africa

Job Summary

Project Managers on LearningMate’s Learning team are responsible for the planning and coordination of strategic and product development projects, as well as supporting operational

activities connected to their assignment in the broader organization.

This role is grounded in planning, communication, and problem solving. Project Managers are experts in Learning workflows, processes, and tools. They support the collection and utilization of data; and they ensure information critical to strategic planning has high fidelity and is easily accessible. Project Managers apply this expertise at both an individual course and system-wide level to cultivate an effective and efficient operational environment.

Meeting these responsibilities requires knowledge of both waterfall and agile project management practices; an understanding of LearningMate business operations; strong creative

problem solving and strategic systems thinking skills; comfort with project management tools such as Jira, ClickUp & Smartsheet; and the ability to collaborate effectively and drive results across diverse stakeholder groups.

The Project Manager works closely with their Project Delivery Manager and Director, as well as cross functional Learning teams to drive short, medium, and long-term product and strategic projects within the department in support of scalable growth over time. Project Managers work closely with both internal and external stakeholders, and must be skilled relationship managers able to support the needs of LearningMate and LearningMate’s clients and partners.

Key Roles and Responsibilities:

Project Management: 60%

Key Drivers: Project Delivery, Efficiency, Business Value

● Effectively manage multiple, concurrent product development projects involving diverse internal and external stakeholders.

● Adhere to established LearningMate Project Management principles, processes, and reporting requirements to minimize risk and ensure precise financial reporting.

● Provide ongoing management and maintenance of outcomes and timelines of project deliverables against SLAs and project launch dates.

● Conduct daily reviews of Project Management dashboard, addressing project health concerns to maintain 100% accuracy in project data.

● Develop realistic project plans with reliable estimates and provide accurate Project Status updates against milestones.

● Manage accurate Escalation Level and Escalation Type updates while actively working to resolve blockers.

● Deliver appropriately detailed weekly written updates that offer additional context on project root cause concerns.

● Estimate and manage precise Start and End dates that align with project milestones or phases at both the parent and child task levels.

● Scope and determine appropriate pathways for project development in partnership with external stakeholders, finalize plans based on scope, budget, and schedule.

● Manage client/partner expectations by establishing and enforcing milestones and deadlines for on-time, complete deliverables, regardless of timeline; provide effective

solutions in situations where competing priorities exist.

● Guide collaborators through review and sign-off on coursework, ensuring completeness and accuracy of the academic content of the student-facing product as directed by

partners.

● Conduct root-cause analyses through systems thinking methodologies that guide deep dives to discover fundamental causes of problems prior to considering potential solutions.

Relationship Management: 30%

Key Drivers: Team and Stakeholder Engagement, Change Management, Clear Communications

● Assist with Learning’s cross functional team alignment and practice clear communications that reduce silos within teams by flagging items that should be communicated more

broadly, taking change management best practices into account.

● Facilitate cross-functional meetings related to planning and project needs as appropriate.

● Act as an intermediary, or relationship connection point, between teams who share high dependencies to foster collaboration and communication and to improve processes for

efficiency gains.

● Cultivate relationships with internal stakeholders to understand current pain points.

● Leverage insights to prepare a needs analysis for project scoping.

● Champion a “growth mindset” and “agent of change” culture throughout all teams to drive an interconnected ecosystem of collaboration, accountability, and joint ownership of

business outcomes.

● Proactively assess when a course deliverable may be at risk and effectively strategize and implement an action plan without diminishing partner/client buy-in. Clearly communicate

the approach with faculty and stakeholders, informing management of the steps taken, escalating further when necessary.

● Lead teams and individuals by providing feedback, positive reinforcement.

Business Operations: 10%

Key Drivers: Revenue Reporting, Operational Scalability, Data and Tool/Systems Management, Strategic Planning, Operational Execution

● Ensure data accuracy in project reporting connected to revenue projections and billing.

● Assist with the planning, management, and/or execution of key operational tasks and projects.

● Support the achievement of Learning’s strategic goals and KPIs by identifying and mitigating risk in the workflow; utilizing data for system/process improvement; and by

supporting internal cross functional stakeholders in their functional strategic planning and project prioritization.

● Support reporting and data management efforts that drive operational visibility and understanding across the Global Learning Team.

● Assist with the development of frameworks and tools that support effective process creation, management, and adherence in accordance with operational best practices.

● Create and maintain internal documentation on our workflow, project management best practices, and relevant business processes.

● Assist with change management practices & training, by ensuring that processes are formally communicated and understood by stakeholders.

Education and Experience:

● Years experience: 5+ years of professional project management or transferable professional experience, i.e. formal understanding of Project Management conventions and techniques, including managing to a detailed schedule or backlog of work, and/or experience in operations management and process improvement

● Specific Qualifications:

○ Bachelor’s degree

○ Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of the following skill sets: time, operations, and project management (within a creative environment is a plus)

○ Extensive experience working in project management tools like Jira, Asana, or ClickUp

○ Experienced relationship manager comfortable working with clients and holding stakeholders to deadlines while maintaining positive collaborative relationships

○ Demonstrable understanding of systems thinking methodologies

○ Strong written and verbal communication skills, practiced in relaying clear and concise messaging regardless of medium

○ High proficiency with Google Workspace

● Additional required or highly-desired skills:

○ Agile and/or waterfall project management certifications are an asset, but not required

○ Experience leading highly effective meetings, as well as knowing when a meeting isn’t required to achieve desired outcomes

○ Data analysis

○ Ability to quickly adopt, and adapt to, new technology, tools, and processes—and to then employ working knowledge to ensure both you and others are effectively

implementing the new tool or activity

○ Demonstrated success leading complex efforts and/or multiple projects simultaneously

○ Creative problem-solving and decision making abilities

○ Comfort in a fast-paced environment of change

○ A commitment to continuous improvement in process

○ Exhibiting what Agilists refer to as a Servant Leader mindset

○ Ability to negotiate and influence others to drive projects to successful outcomes

○ Solid interpersonal skills that foster positive relationships and instill trust

○ Self-starter with the ability to work both independently with little direction and as an integral part of a team

○ Quick learner with strong analytical and problem solving skills

○ Extremely good written & verbal communication and presentation skills

○ Ability to work under pressure and within tight deadlines

○ Disciplined, accountable, organized, attention to the right detail

Working Conditions

● LearningMate is a fast-paced, high-pressured environment and you will be expected to keep up with minimal support.

● You are expected to be proactive, flexible and self-direct.

● Teamwork is critical to achieving success in this role.

● You will need to establish strong relationships with leaders across the team and within your own division.

● As an enabling function, you will need to continually balance the need to offer support to functional production leaders against the need to challenge their decision making and act

as an operational counterpoint to their functional and strategic visions.

Physical Requirements

● Global team consisting of individuals that reside within South Africa, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

● Ability to manage a calendar taking various time zones into account.

● Understanding of various cultural aspects related to the leadership of a Global team.

People Management Responsibilities

● Individual Contributor

● Junior Project Managers (as the team grows & scales)