Cengage Work Program Management Lead

Lead For Cengage Work Program Management

We believe in the power and joy of learning. At Cengage Group, our employees have a direct impact in helping students around the world discover the power and joy of learning. We are bonded by our shared purpose driving innovation that helps millions of learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education. Our culture values inclusion, engagement, and discovery. Our business is driven by our strong culture, and we know that creating an inclusive workplace is absolutely essential to the success of our company and our learners, as well as our individual well-being. We recognize the value of diverse perspectives in everything we do, and strive to ensure employees of all levels and backgrounds feel empowered to voice their ideas and bring their authentic selves to work. We achieve these priorities through programs, benefits, and initiatives that are integrated into the fabric of how we work every day.

We are in search of a proficient and dedicated Program Manager to become part of our high-achieving team. This position offers great visibility and brings about various challenges and opportunities to achieve significant results through problem-solving, teamwork, and leadership. The Program Management Lead will collaborate with Product Management, User Experience Development, Content Creation, Go-to-Market, Sales, Customer Support, and Engineering to ensure alignment and successful achievement of program goals. This role is essential in guiding the product technology teams towards a Product Operating Model, encouraging a collaborative, empowered, and outcome-focused approach.

What You'll Do Here

Lead Program Initiatives : Work with leads to deliver projects through lifecycle phases. Align key deliverables for program success.

Foster Communication and Transparency : Foster communication and facilitate regular planning / status meetings within workstreams, updating C-level partners on program health and progress. Stay proactive in overseeing critical decisions, monitor their progress, and communicating updates to ensure transparency among all collaborators.

Address Obstacles : Identify and solve obstacles, trade-offs, and key path problems by managing risks, issues, and changes through tools like risk registers and PMO protocols.

Manage Budgets and Resources : Develop and lead all aspects of program budgets, ensuring costs stay within target across all workstreams. Optimize prioritization of resources, including vendor teams, to improve efficiency and delivery.

Ensure Customer Readiness : Ensure customer support expectations are set, training is planned, and validation activities (e.g., UX testing) are implemented effectively to drive a seamless customer experience.

Detail program health with actionable reporting on key achievements, metrics, risks, and insights for informed decision-making.

Assist in Planning : Aid in roadmap and initiative planning by aligning with product management objectives and maintaining program focus.

Drive Constant Advancement : Advocate for and drive constant advancements in processes, strategic alignment, and communication to facilitate successful implementation across all workstreams. Assist in transitioning to a Product Operating Model by integrating practices that empower product teams and nurture a focus on market outcomes.

Skills You'll Need For This Role

Experience : At least 5 years of experience in technology program management that demonstrate leadership across multiple business functions.

Cross-Functional Collaboration : Strong capacity to cooperate with teams in Product, Engineering, UX, Marketing, Content Development, Technology Operations, Sales, and Customer Support to achieve results and address difficulties.

Program Management Expertise : Demonstrable ability to lead complex programs with multiple breakthroughs, cross-functional dependencies, and varying priorities while keeping focus on program goals and outcomes.

Leadership and Influence : Outstanding communication skills and the ability to cultivate positive partnerships and sway collaborators at every level, from executives to team members.

Facilitation Skills : Skilled at facilitating productive meetings, leading decision-making discussions, and ensuring alignment across team members.

Financial and Resource Management : Proficient in handling program budgets, prioritizing resources, and supervising vendor teams, emphasizing cost control and streamlined delivery.

Risk and Change Management : Skilled at managing risks and organizational changes, with practical experience using tools such as risk registers and issue logs to track program advancement.

Problem-Solving : Exhibit proven organizational and critical-thinking abilities to excel in uncertain, dynamic, and innovative settings.

Technical Familiarity : Familiarity with software development practices (e.g., Agile / Scrum, Kanban, SAFe) and tools (e.g., Aha!, JIRA, Confluence, and SmartSheet).

Change Management : Experience in helping teams transition to new operational models, particularly from a project-based approach to a product-centric one.

Emotional Intelligence : Ability to read the room, recognize and manage through misalignment and complex situations.

Preferred Qualifications

PMP or a similar project / program management certification.

Demonstrated accomplishment in spearheading projects encompassing various business departments like Marketing, Technology, UX, and Customer Support.

Familiarity with the Product Operating Model.

Experience in the EdTech or education sector, especially within fast-growth businesses like Ed2Go, InfoSec, or Milady.

Cengage Group is committed to working with broad talent pools to attract and hire strong and most qualified individuals. Our job applicants are considered regardless of race, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, disability, age, veteran status, and any other classification protected by applicable federal, state, provincial or local laws. Cengage is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities including during our job application process. If you are an applicant with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in our job application process, please contact us at accommodations.ta@cengage.com or at +1 (617) 289-7917.

Cengage Group, a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. For more than 100 years, we have enabled the power and joy of learning with trusted, engaging content, and now, integrated digital platforms. We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through our scalable technology, including MindTap and Cengage Unlimited, we support all learners who seek to improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Compensation : At Cengage Group, we take great pride in our commitment to providing a comprehensive and rewarding Total Rewards package designed to support and empower our employees. The full base pay range has been provided for this position. Individual base pay will vary based on work schedule, qualifications, experience, internal equity, and geographic location. Sales roles often incorporate a significant incentive compensation program beyond this base pay range. In this position, you will be eligible to participate in the company's discretionary incentive bonus program. This position's bonus target amount, which is not guaranteed and is dependent on individual performance and overall company results among other factors, is provided below. 20% Annual : Individual Target $117,100.00 - $180,000.00 USD.

Warning : Be aware, there has been an increase of targeted recruitment scams perpetrated by bad actors falsely providing job offers on behalf Cengage Group to candidates as a means of obtaining personal information. Note that Cengage will always interview candidates via live in-person meetings, phone calls, and video calls before an offer would be extended. Also, be sure to check that communication is coming from an @cengage.com email address.