Pearson

Advanced Specialist, Project Manager

Pearson$120K — $135K *
US-Anywhere
+ 2 other locationsRemote
Education, Government & Non-Profit
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years of experience in project management, preferably in education or assessment environments.
  • Proven track record managing public-sector contracts and statewide assessment programmes.
  • Strong understanding of project governance, risk, and issue management.
  • Experience working in cross-functional, matrix organizations with both technical teams and stakeholders.
  • Familiarity with both traditional and Agile delivery methodologies, supported by a relevant project management qualification (e.g. PMP/PMI, PRINCE2).
  • Highly skilled in contractual delivery management and reporting obligations.

Responsibilities

  • Lead and manage delivery across statewide assessment programmes for TELPAS and MOWR, ensuring compliance with contractual requirements.
  • Maintain a consistent delivery schedule across multiple assessment cycles and training phases for AI scoring.
  • Oversee project governance and control, using KPIs and dashboards to manage risks and issues effectively.
  • Facilitate collaboration among diverse teams including Test Development, Scoring Operations, and external partners throughout project execution.
  • Manage the transition from the AZELLA contract while ensuring current programmes continue to progress smoothly.
  • Select and adapt appropriate project delivery methodologies, supporting quality initiatives and retrospectives.
  • Coach team members on best practices in project management tools and methodologies.

Benefits

  • Flexible remote work schedule allowing for global collaboration.
  • Participation in an annual incentive program.
  • Opportunities for continuous learning and professional development in project management.
  • Access to a supportive, collaborative work environment across functions and geographies.
Full Job Description
The role

This project manager role underpins Pearson's US State Programs work within the ELL portfolio - specifically, the TELPAS and MOWR statewide English language assessments in Texas and Arizona, both underpinned by Versant automated spoken-scoring services. You'll drive delivery, governance and contractual control across these high-stakes programmes, working with experts in test development, automated scoring, psychometrics and technical development. You'll also coordinate the managed exit from the AZELLA contract, and - as that work winds down - grow into the wider PTE portfolio and other government recognition initiatives. In summary, it's a delivery-led role, US-focussed, but within a global, matrixed environment, turning complex technical and scoring workflows into clear, manageable, deliverable plans.

What you'll do
  • Lead delivery, governance and operational control across the TELPAS and MOWR statewide assessment programmes - managing contractual milestones, SOW deliverables, scoring-service dependencies, risk, budget and reporting obligations.
  • Maintain delivery cadence across recurring annual cycles, live administrations, Versant AI engine-training windows and validation reporting.
  • Own programme and project control: governance, RAID logs, dashboards and KPIs, with clear escalation of risks and issues.
  • Coordinate across Versant AI Scoring Services, R&D, Test Development, Psychometrics, Engineering, Scoring Operations and Finance, plus external delivery partners.
  • Coordinate the managed exit from the AZELLA contract - document archiving, lessons-learned and controlled data-deletion - while keeping ongoing programmes on track.
  • Choose and adapt the right delivery approach (waterfall, Agile or hybrid), run retrospectives and lessons-learned, and support quality initiatives including ISO 9001 and ISO 27001.
  • Coach colleagues in effective project management tools, disciplines and ways of working.
  • As the role expands, support delivery across the wider PTE portfolio and contribute to government recognition and bidding activity.

What you'll bring
  • Proven experience delivering complex projects or programmes, ideally in education, assessment or regulated environments.
  • Comfort managing contractual delivery - SOW milestones, deliverables and reporting obligations - ideally in public-sector or statewide assessment contexts.
  • A strong grasp of project governance, risk and issue management, and dependency planning.
  • Confidence operating in global, cross-functional, matrixed teams, working alongside technical and psychometric colleagues.
  • Fluency across both traditional and Agile / hybrid delivery approaches.
  • A project management qualification (e.g. PMP/PMI, PRINCE2, M_o_R, Agile, equivalent) is required and we're also looking for good experience running complex, cross-functional initiatives.

Competencies
  • Project management leadership - owning and delivering complex projects end to end.
  • Stakeholder management & communication - aligning and influencing senior, technical and external stakeholders with clear, structured messaging.
  • Analytical thinking & problem-solving - making sense of complex delivery, contractual, psychometric and operational scenarios.
  • Governance & delivery control - scope, risk and dependency management with an audit-aware mindset.
  • Adaptability & continuous learning - thriving amid ambiguity, change and transition.
  • Data & AI awareness - using dashboards, data visualisation and AI-scoring insight to sharpen reporting and delivery.

How you'll work

Structured, proactive and delivery-focused, comfortable holding control and predictability through ambiguity and transition, and collaborative across functions and geographies.

Location & working pattern

US - Remote working 40 hours per week, with flexibility to support global (including UK) collaboration.

Compensation at Pearson is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and specific location. As required by the California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York State, New York City, Vermont, Washington State, and Washington DC laws, the pay range for this position is as follows:

The minimum full-time salary range is between $120,000 to $135,000.

This position is eligible to participate in an annual incentive program, and information on benefits offered is here.

Applications will be accepted through July 29, 2026 . This window may be extended depending on business needs.

Job: Program Management

Job Family: ENTERPRISE

Organization: English Language Learning

Schedule: FULL_TIME

Workplace Type: Remote

Req ID: 24910

#LI-REMOTE

About Pearson

Pearson is a publishing and education company that provides educational materials, learning technologies, and assessments to schools, universities, and professional organizations. The company's products and services include textbooks, online learning platforms, and certification exams. Pearson's customers include the University of Phoenix, the British Council, and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
Learn more about Pearson
Size
20,744 employees
Market Cap
$8.1 billion
Industry
Net Income
$265 million
Founded
1997
5 Year Trend
-5.5%
Revenue
$3.5 billion
NASDAQ

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