Advanced Specialist, Project Management

Pearson • United States,

4h • $110,000 - $130,000

About The Position

This is a high-impact role for a candidate who 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. 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.

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.

Nice To Haves

• 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.

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.

Benefits

• 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 [email protected]

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed