Advanced Specialist, Project Management

Summary

The Advanced Specialist, Project Management drives the planning, execution, and delivery of strategic initiatives across multiple squads. They act as the operational bridge between Product Management, Business Analysis, Architecture, Engineering, Quality Engineering, Operations, and executive stakeholders, ensuring squads stay aligned to business priorities, contractual obligations, and platform investments.

This role is accountable for delivery planning, dependency management, risk mitigation, stakeholder communication, release coordination, and execution transparency across a globally distributed onshore and offshore workforce. It leads through program-management expertise, technical fluency, and influence without formal authority.

Key responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end delivery for a medium-to-large program or multiple squads.
• Own cross-squad dependency management, critical-path management, and risk mitigation.
• Coordinate release planning and execution across squads and platforms.
• Provide executive-ready delivery transparency — status, risks, and decisions needed — as a single reliable view of what is in flight and at risk.
• Align squads to business priorities, contractual obligations, and platform investments.
• Facilitate program ceremonies, planning, and cross-team alignment.
• Drive delivery process improvements and predictability across squads.
• Use AI and PM tooling for planning, reporting, and risk intelligence.

People influence (no formal people management)

Carries meaningful people-influence responsibilities without direct reports: mentors and coaches project managers, leads cross-team without formal authority, participates actively in interviewing and hiring, and contributes input to performance and development conversations for people they coordinate. These behavioral markers are real and expected at this level even though the role has no people-management authority.

Required skills and competencies

• Advanced program / delivery management: planning, dependency and risk management, release coordination, and executive reporting.
• Technical fluency (e.g., cloud, microservices, APIs, CI/CD) sufficient to facilitate decisions — not a hands-on developer.
• Strong executive communication, stakeholder management, facilitation, negotiation, and conflict resolution.
• Ability to drive delivery across globally distributed onshore and offshore teams.
• Leadership and influence without formal authority; mentoring and coaching capability.
• Ability to resolve ambiguity and balance competing priorities and constraints.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Information Systems, Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of project, program, or delivery management experience.
• Experience leading enterprise software delivery and scaled / Agile delivery environments.
• Demonstrated success managing complex, cross-functional programs and globally distributed teams.
• PMP, PgMP, SAFe, or equivalent certification strongly preferred but not required.

Success measures

• Multiple squads / a medium-to-large program deliver predictably against plan.
• Cross-squad dependencies and critical-path risks are managed proactively, not reactively.
• Leadership has a single, reliable, executive-ready view of what is in flight and at risk.
• Releases across squads are coordinated with minimal disruption and clear readiness.
• Raises delivery-management practice across the team through mentoring, interviewing, and standards.

Leadership behaviors

• Customer Centricity: Keeps delivery aligned to business priorities, contractual obligations, and candidate / client value across squads.
• Raise the Performance Bar: Sets high standards for delivery predictability and transparency; continuously improves how squads execute.
• Exceptional Collaboration for Value: Builds alignment across Product, Engineering, Architecture, QE, and Operations, and influences without authority.
• Our Leaders Inspire: Leads through expertise and judgment, mentors project managers, participates in hiring, and models delivery excellence.

Location & Working Pattern

United States. Remote within the United States. Any state restrictions or travel expectations will be shared during the recruitment process.

Compensation

Compensation at Pearson is influenced by factors including skill set, experience, and location. The full-time salary range for this role is $125,000-$135,000. The position is eligible to participate in Pearson's sales incentive plan. Information on benefits can be found here. Applications will be accepted through November 9, 2026. This window may be extended depending on business needs.

Why Join Pearson?

This is an opportunity to influence the technical direction of a high-impact assessment platform used for secure remote testing. You will work across teams, help modernize a complex technology estate, and establish architecture that improves scalability, resilience and delivery quality.