Lead, Product Programme Management
This role aligns to industry-level titles such as Head of Programme Management, Director of Product Programme Management, Portfolio Delivery Lead, or Programme Management Office Lead.
Your Opportunity
Pearson’s English Language Learning business helps learners around the world build the language skills they need to progress in education, work, and life. The Lead, Product Programme Management is accountable for how Pearson's English Language Learning (ELL) business plans, sequences, and executes its most important cross-team programmes. The role gives leadership a single, credible view of what is being built, when it will land, what is at risk, and what needs a decision.
As Lead, Product Programme Management, you will play a central role in how ELL plans, sequences, and executes its priority programmes. You will give leadership a single, trusted view of what is being built, when it will land, what is at risk, and where decisions are needed.
Today, programme managers sit close to delivery within individual product and content teams, close to their work but disconnected from each other. This role brings them together into one team, and becomes the connective tissue between the Product and Content Leadership Teams so that priorities are aligned, dependencies are visible, and delivery is predictable.
You will sit within the ELL Product organisation, report to the Product Officer, ELL, and be a member of both the Product Leadership Team and the Content Leadership Team. You will partner closely with colleagues across Product, Content, Technology, Sales, Marketing, and Finance to give each function visibility of progress, surface and mitigate risks early, and drive execution on shared commitments.
You will lead a global team of approximately 12–15 colleagues, including both employees and contingent workers, covering cross-portfolio programme delivery, content delivery planning, portfolio governance and reporting, and dependency, risk, and change management across Product and Content.
Key Responsibilities
- Create and maintain a clear view of the ELL portfolio, enabling leadership to make informed prioritisation and investment decisions.
- Lead the delivery of high-impact, cross-functional programmes, proactively managing risks, dependencies, scope, timelines, and budgets.
- Align Product and Content priorities, facilitating effective planning, sequencing, and decision-making across teams.
- Partner with Technology, Sales, Marketing, Finance, and other stakeholders to ensure successful execution of shared commitments.
- Establish and continuously improve programme management practices, governance, reporting, and operating standards across ELL.
- Build, lead, and develop a high-performing global programme management team, fostering collaboration, consistency, and continuous improvement.
- Drive a culture of accountability, transparency, and customer-focused delivery that supports measurable business and learner outcomes.
Expected Results
- Leadership has a single, trusted view of portfolio status and can make faster, better-informed prioritisation decisions.
- The largest cross-team programmes ship on time, on scope, and on budget, with risks surfaced early.
- Dependencies across Product, Content, and the wider Pearson functions are managed proactively, not at the point of impact.
- Programme management operates as one team with a shared playbook.
- Engagement, capability, and retention across the team are strong, with a clear bench.
Required Skills & Experience
- Significant experience in programme management, product programme management, portfolio delivery, or a related discipline.
- Experience leading complex, multi-team or portfolio-level delivery in a global or matrixed organisation.
- A strong track record of delivering large cross-functional programmes, including managing timelines, scope, budget, risks, dependencies, and trade-offs.
- Experience building, improving, or scaling a programme management function, including tools, governance, reporting, operating cadence, or delivery standards.
- Proven track record of running large, cross-functional programmes in a global, matrixed organisation and landing them on time and on budget.
- Experience building or maturing a programme management function, including tooling, cadence, and governance.
- Comfortable operating at leadership team level, translating between executive priorities and delivery reality without losing either.
- Familiarity with EdTech, enterprise SaaS, or digital content businesses strongly preferred.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
- A master’s degree, MBA, or formal programme management certification such as MSP, PgMP, SAFe, or equivalent would be beneficial, but is not required.
- Fluency in English is required for this global role.
Location & Work Set Up
This is a full-time, hybrid role based in Poland, with regular collaboration from Warsaw or Poznan office.
Your Rewards & Benefits
We know you’ll do great work, so we give a lot back with some of the best benefits in the business. We know one size doesn’t fit all, so our workplace programs meet the different needs of our diverse teams, and their families, too.
Please see our attractive Poland benefits here: https://pearsonbenefitsglobal.com/poland/