Project Manager, AP Elections

Associated Press•Washington, DC

13d•$110,000 - $139,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Associated Press seeks a technical project manager to help drive the delivery of the technology, products and operational systems that power AP Elections. Reporting to the Director of Elections Product and Engineering, you will coordinate and help manage complex software engineering initiatives across the AP Elections team in its Elections Technology, Operations, Analytics and News groups. It will be your mission to ensure we have built the tools and prepared them to allow AP to carry out its unique role in collecting election results, declaring winners and delivering trusted election data and journalism to customers around the world. We’re looking for a collaborative and highly organized project manager who can translate strategic objectives into executable plans, align stakeholders around shared goals and help teams deliver high-quality outcomes under immovable deadlines. In this role, you will work closely with software engineers, product leaders, data scientists and analysts, and political journalists to manage tools and products that support one of AP’s most visible services. Success in this role requires strong communication skills, technical fluency, sound judgment and a passion for delivering reliable products and services that customers depend on during high-stakes election events. This is an administrative role and is based in Washington, D.C., with onsite presence required at least three days per week.

Requirements

At least five years of project or program management experience supporting software development and technology delivery, including experience leading complex cross-functional initiatives involving engineering, product and business stakeholders.
Familiarity with APIs, data-driven products, cloud-based applications and modern software development practices.
Strong understanding of the software development lifecycle.
Proven ability to drive outcomes across multiple teams without direct management authority.
Ability to thrive in deadline-driven environments.
Ability to confidently manage competing priorities.
Proactive, solutions-oriented mindset.
Exceptional communication skills to build trust across teams, facilitate productive discussions and maintain alignment among stakeholders with varying priorities and technical backgrounds.
Quickly develop a deep understanding of AP Elections’ products, workflows, systems and customers.
Naturally curious, highly organized and committed to delivering outcomes.

Nice To Haves

Experience managing projects with fixed deadlines, operational dependencies and high reliability requirements.
Advanced proficiency with Jira, Jira Product Discovery and Confluence for roadmap planning, idea management, prioritization, stakeholder alignment and product planning.
Experience supporting real-time data products, election systems, news technology platforms, financial data systems, sports data products or other mission-critical information services operating under strict deadlines and service-level expectations.
PMP, CSM or comparable project management certification.
Experience working with distributed teams and external vendors.
A bachelor’s degree in computer science, business, project management or a related field (or equivalent experience).
Experience with elections, political data, journalism, publishing or media technology.
Belief that data is journalism and eagerness to join a team that will carry AP’s rich history of excellence in elections reporting into the future.

Responsibilities

Partner with the Director of Elections Product and Engineering to execute product roadmaps, delivery plans and strategic initiatives across AP Elections.
Lead cross-functional planning efforts for major and minor initiatives, developing and maintaining project plans, schedules, milestones, release timelines and dependency tracking, to ensure each of the groups that make up AP Elections is ready when polls close.
Drive portfolio-level visibility across multiple projects and workstreams, proactively identifying dependencies, risks and conflicts before they impact delivery.
Facilitate planning, requirements gathering, prioritization and delivery processes, ensuring projects are executed efficiently and transparently.
Coordinate software development activities through the full lifecycle, including planning, implementation, testing, deployment and post-launch evaluation.
Identify, assess and mitigate project risks, escalating issues when necessary and driving resolution across teams.
Support and strengthen agile delivery practices, sprint planning, backlog management, release coordination and continuous improvement efforts.
Maintain visibility into project health through clear reporting, documentation, metrics and stakeholder communications.
Help establish and improve program management standards, workflows and operating procedures across the AP Elections business unit.
Facilitate incident response coordination, operational readiness reviews and election-event preparedness activities.
Champion the effective use of project management and product planning tools, including Jira, Jira Product Discovery and Confluence.