Carnegie Learning is looking for a highly motivated and talented Program Manager with extensive experience in software application development organizations. Carnegie Learning is pushing the boundaries of educational content and software, with the goal of making education more effective for teachers and students through data-driven insights and improvements. In this position you will play a critical role in the development of new products, features, and enhancements in our award-winning software products, which help over 500,000 students across the country learn math, world languages, and English language arts. While the position is heavily oriented to Project Management, you will also be involved in refining Product Managers' user stories into developer-oriented software requirements.
The Program manager focuses on developing a program's objectives and strategy and assessing how it will impact their department, business, or organization. The program manager will oversee and track the projects and or scrum managed workstream initiatives defined within a portfolio of work.
As a member of the Carnegie Learning team, the Senior Program Manager reports to the Vice President of Delivery Management and works closely with the Product, Platform, Engineering, product marketing, finance, software engineers, cognitive scientists, quality assurance engineers, content specialists, customer support specialists, and Carnegie Learning field employees who provide professional development and sales and account management.
Successful candidates will have experience managing multiple highly complex projects across one of more product verticals within a program.
WHAT YOUR DAY WILL LOOK LIKE
- Strategize, implement, and maintain program initiatives that adhere to organizational objectives
- Develop program assessment protocols and tools for evaluation and improvement
- Maintain organizational standards of satisfaction, quality, and performance
- Oversee multiple project teams, ensuring program goals are reached
- Define and document cross vertical Roadmaps with executive leadership and product management to define/set goals of the business.
- Create and update executive level progress dashboards within Smartsheet that will include cross project, workstream and vertical dependencies and risks.
- Collaborating with Product Managers to define strategy, set/document scope, goals, and objectives that align to market expectations and needs.
- Manage a complex portfolio of work that can be managed via Waterfall and Agile delivery approaches by organizing and streamlining processes; holding teams accountable, risk mitigation and change control.
- Working with cross functional teams in establishing comprehensive product delivery plans, which includes business case development, project and product scope, integrated schedules with dependencies mapped, budget management, financial forecasting, and quality management plans.
- Proactive planning of high-impact risks, problem-solving when issues arise, conflict resolution, and implementing change management processes in collaboration with stakeholders.
- Creating work breakdown structures as needed, mapping dependencies, gathering time estimates, and estimating resources as needed to develop a realistic plan for successful project execution.
- Communicating at all levels of the organization with transparency, data, and facts. Responsible for reporting status on assigned projects, project financial reporting, and resource allocation reporting.
- Collaborating with key project stakeholders to build an effective, high-performing project team.
- Mentoring your peers and serving as a thought leader in the program/project management profession.
- Align with product management to support product development lifecycle from ideation through product launch; support cross-functional team engagement to meet program/project timeline, resources, and budget.
- Assist Procurement/Sourcing teams in identifying vendor partners for course development, production, digital content development, and other product development deliverables.
- Risk Mitigation: Identify risks within each project and work with Product/Platform/Engineering leadership teams to develop mitigation plans; manage escalation process to ensure program/project success.
- Create and update weekly and monthly project / program status reports
- Develop deep understanding of the business domain and products in your area(s) of responsibility
- Develop basic familiarity with the technology and architecture of the products in your area(s) of responsibility
- Perform other related duties and special projects as required
- Facilitate daily, weekly, monthly meetings with cross organizational team members and stakeholders
- Support the entire product lifecycle, from inception through delivery, and ongoing maintenance and enhancements
WHAT SHOULD BE IN YOUR BACKPACK
- At least (15) years' experience managing projects and programs through the entire product development lifecycle, from inception through deployment and maintenance
- Solid understanding of software development life cycle models as well as expert knowledge of both Agile and traditional project management principles and practices and the ability to blend them together in the right proportions to fit a project and product environment
- Highly effective interpersonal skills including mentoring, coaching, collaborating, and team building
- Strong analytical, planning, and organizational skills with an ability to manage competing demands
- Proven ability to lead software development projects and ensure objectives, goals, and commitments are met
- Solid understanding of and demonstrated experience in using SmartSheet, JIRA, Confluence,
- Excellent oral and written communications skills and experience interacting with both business and IT individuals at all levels including the executive level
- Creative approach to problem-solving with the ability to focus on details while maintaining the “big picture” view
- A proven track record of successfully implementing software projects using Agile / SCRUM methodologies including 8+ years of experience as a Program Manager managing large, complex projects in a high-tech development environment with multi-function teams.
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate with a team to clarify potentially ambiguous objectives and deliver results
- Problem solver, calm under pressure and able to help steer teams to tackle difficult challenges
- High commitment to quality
- Team-oriented and self-directed
- Active listening, expectation setting, and consensus building
- Collaboration with software developers to understand technical limitations and challenges, propose alternatives, and evaluate tradeoffs
- High-level management and leadership skills
- Risk management
- Written and verbal communication skills
- Cost control and budgeting skills
- Analytical and critical thinking applied to complex problems
- Multitasking across concurrent projects with varying schedules
- Must be authorized to work in the United States without visa sponsorship
- Expected Travel: 10%
- BA or BS or equivalent experience is required
- Project Management certification
WHAT GIVES US PURPOSE
Carnegie Learning is a leading provider of K-12 education technology, curriculum, and professional learning solutions. With the highest quality, research-based offerings for K-12 math, ELA, world languages, and more, Carnegie Learning is changing the way we think about learning and creating powerful results for teachers and students alike. At Carnegie Learning we strive to create an environment where people want to work - one where the larger team comes first, where trying new things (and sometimes failing) is encouraged, and where we pursue our mission relentlessly.
Carnegie Learning is a major disruptive force in the digital curriculum market by combining world-class research, differentiated technology, best in class content together with a world-class mission-oriented team. This is where you come in! Are you ready to do the best work of your career and shape the future of learning?
WHAT WE PROVIDE
- Named a Pittsburgh Top Workplace five years in a row
- Medical, dental, and vision benefits
- Virtual health services
- Basic life and disability insurance is offered at no cost
- HSA, FSA, DCSA, and Commuter saving accounts
- 401k with company match
- Employee assistance program
- Pet and Legal services insurance
- Generous paid time off and holidays
- Variable compensation opportunities
- Business casual work environment
- Mission-driven culture
- Flexible working hours, leveraging remote capabilities
WHAT WE BELIEVE
We respect and celebrate the unique attributes, characteristics, and perspectives that make each person who they are. We also believe that bringing diverse individuals together allows us to collectively and more effectively address the issues that face our business and industry. Carnegie Learning is an Equal Opportunity Employer.