An opportunity has arisen to join Pearson Qualifications (PQ), comprising Pearson School Qualifications (PSQ) and Vocational Qualifications (VQ). We provide trusted, high-quality qualifications, teaching and learning solutions, and assessment services to schools, colleges and governments globally. This role sits within our centralised Programme Management Office (PMO), the engine room that enables the secure, reliable delivery of qualifications, drives transformation initiatives, with Technology Delivery embedded across the PMO. You will be joining a collaborative, supportive culture that values quality, transparency and managed calm under pressure.
Role Purpose
As a Project Manager in the Operational Delivery function within the Pearson Qualifications (PQ) PMO, you will manage projects that span process, technology, and people—introducing new products, systems or services and improving existing ones. Working in a matrix environment with senior leaders, frontline managers, and cross-functional teams across operations, assessment, product, technology, customer services, and suppliers, you will keep projects moving in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
Key Responsibilities
The Advanced Specialist, Project Manager is responsible for the end-to-end project management for high-profile and complex operational projects, meeting PMO standards and requirements for project management and control. You will typically lead and manage the delivery of several concurrent projects across different parts of the Pearson Qualifications business, ensuring objectives are met, benefits are realised, operational readiness is achieved, risks are controlled, and changes are embedded into BAU sustainably.
Advanced Specialist Project Managers are expected to work with autonomy, set their own priorities and adapt plans independently. They are expected to take an active and leading role in evolving and maturing the PMO as a practice, setting standards, leading change and will support in mentoring and coaching team members.
Planning, Design, and Control
- Mobilise projects effectively, ensuring clear project scope, outputs, outcomes and benefits; manage baseline and change control throughout the project duration.
- Understand and maintain documentation of responsibilities and accountabilities in the RACI.
- Develop and maintain integrated plans and schedules (project plans, critical path, dependencies) aligned to peak operational calendars and blackout periods.
- Define and agree governance and reporting structures, with terms of reference for each governance element.
- Understand, create and document the risk management approach and maintain adherence to the defined approach.
- Define the OKRs and tracking process within the benefits realisation plan to assess project value post-delivery.
Governance, Reporting, and Compliance
- Establish governance routines (stand-ups, planning cadences, steering committees) and uphold PMO standards and stage gates.
- Maintain accurate documentation appropriate to the project type (plans, RAID logs, decisions, action registers); provide clear data-led reporting including RAG status and narrative reporting.
- Ensure decisions are captured clearly, use escalation paths and decision-frameworks to drive faster decision-making.
- Provide ongoing visibility to internal senior stakeholders and functional teams, and external stakeholders where required —on project status, risks and benefits.
- Represent Pearson Qualifications on project management and change control for ISO accreditation as needed; ensure compliance, audit-readiness, and quality controls are embedded.
- Ensure operational project delivery adheres to regulatory requirements and provide assurance evidence as required. Embed a beyond compliance culture within the project team.
Delivery and Risk Management
- Drive day-to-day execution, remove blockers, and maintain momentum toward agreed timelines, budget, and quality standards
- Coordinate resources across matrix teams; secure commitments, balance workloads, and adjust plans based on capacity and constraints.
- Plan contingencies and fallback arrangements to protect critical operational milestones and maintain business continuity.
- Apply Lean and continuous improvement methods (process mapping, value stream analysis, root cause analysis) to remove waste and reduce cost.
- Ensure all risks are accurately captured in the RAID log and proactively management with effective mitigations planned and delivered on against agreed timelines, with the risk logs kept up to date throughout.
- Prioritise and escalate risks up the governance structure for leadership steer, communicating via standardised project reporting.
Operational Readiness, Transition to BAU and Project Closure
- Orchestrate operational readiness including change management, training, knowledge transfer, careful transition, and hypercare support.
- Collaborate and coordinate with internal teams and suppliers to ensure smooth transition to BAU delivery with clear handover plan, support models, SLAs, and escalation paths.
- Conduct post-implementation reviews and lessons learned, communicate lessons learned to stakeholders to assess the need for continuous improvement projects.
- Follow project closure procedures effectively once transition activities complete.
Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration
- Collaborate with business owners, subject matter experts (SMEs) to manage stakeholder expectations across the change and innovation lifecycle.
- Coordinate project teams comprising business owners, workstream leads, business analysts, and SMEs.
- Build strong relationships across operations, assessment, product, technology, customer services, and suppliers.
- Empower colleagues within the division and across Pearson to achieve success and adopt change effectively.
Financials and Vendor Management
- Support budget planning and tracking; monitor forecasts, spend, and purchase orders where applicable.
- Coordinate with suppliers and delivery partners to ensure contractual deliverables, SLAs, and quality standards are met.
Tools, Data, and Automation
- Use project and collaboration tools (e.g., MS Project/Smartsheet, SharePoint, Teams) to manage plans and artefacts.
- Build and maintain dashboards and reports (e.g., Excel, Smartsheet, Power BI) to drive transparency and data-backed decisions.
- Leverage automation and AI where appropriate to streamline reporting, reconcile data, and detect patterns that improve operational performance.
Required Skills and Competencies
- Stakeholder management and communication: confident engaging senior leaders and frontline staff; strong presentation skills; clear written and verbal communication.
- Analytical and problem solving interpret qualitative and quantitative data and turn insight into action.
- Project management disciplines: planning, scheduling, scope and change control, risk/issue/dependency management, benefits tracking.
- Operational delivery and service readiness: experienced in cutover, handover, and hypercare to ensure stable BAU.
- Continuous improvement: apply Lean methodologies to remove cost and create efficiencies.
- Data literacy, visualisation and reporting: present operational metrics and project status in accessible formats and support informed data-led decision making.
- Business acumen: understand operational drivers, SLAs, regulatory requirements, and customer impacts to prioritise effectively.
- AI and automation: familiarity with using automation and AI-enabled tools to streamline routine work and support decision-making.
- Change leadership and management: effectively lead people through change from impact assessment and stakeholder engagement to clear communications, training, adoption, and reinforcement.
- Adaptability and resilience, able to work in dynamic, fast-paced settings.
- Commitment to Pearson’s Essential Behaviours: Customer Centricity, Exceptional Collaboration for Value, Raising the Performance Bar, and Our Leaders Inspire.
Qualifications & Education
- Typically requires 2+ years of project management experience, preferably in operational delivery, service readiness, or continuous improvement within complex, matrixed environments; experience managing multiple projects concurrently.
- Relevant certifications preferred (e.g., PRINCE2 Foundation/Practitioner, Agile); Lean Six Sigma (Yellow/Green Belt).
- Degree or equivalent experience; willing to undertake further professional qualification in Project Management.
- Experience across regulated or quality-critical operations and continuous improvement projects familiarity with ISO-related change control preferred.
- Proficiency with project and reporting tools (e.g., MS Project/Smartsheet, Excel, Power BI).
