Project Manager, Operations

Great Minds, a rapidly growing challenger brand in the PK-12 instructional materials space, seeks an experienced Project Manager with experience managing video production and digital content for PK-12 curricula.

COMPANY PROFILE

Great Minds, a mission driven Public Benefit Corporation, brings teachers and scholars together to craft exemplary instructional materials that inspire joy in teaching and learning. Our English curriculum, Wit & Wisdom®, Eureka Math™ and PhD Science™, all support teachers as they take students beyond rote learning to provide a deeper, more complete understanding of the humanities, mathematics, and the sciences. Founded in 2007, Great Minds now employs more than 1000 people.

For additional information please visit: www.greatminds.org

OUR MARKET POSITION

Great Minds’ Eureka Math is the most widely used curriculum in the history of American education. It enjoys an unrivaled 40+ net promoter score. Eureka and its sister products, Wit & Wisdom English and PhD Science, embrace much higher expectations for all students and all teachers. In a market dominated by scripted, procedural materials that drive expectations down, Great Minds produces curricula that celebrate knowledge, respect the craft of teaching, and acknowledge the true capabilities of students.

The Operations team at Great Minds (GM) is responsible for the all aspects of order fulfillment and national distribution of our products as well as the management of all products in need of production services in preparation for digital or print distribution. As an Operations project manager, you will be working with various internal and external stakeholders to manage all new and existing content across all three curricular teams that will support teachers and students learn from home or in the classroom. This large scale project involves the development and production of videos as well as print and digital content for Wit & Wisdom®, Eureka Math™ and PhD Science™.

With minimal supervision, the Project Manager works directly with GM Operations Managers and Operations Program Manager to plan, estimate, coordinate, and monitor all activities associated with assigned projects to ensure goals and objectives are accomplished on time, in scope, and within budgetary parameters. Specific tasks include the setup of and maintenance of project plans in Smartsheet and , development of detailed project scope documentation, negotiation of project timelines with requesting teams, coordination of resource allocation, leading weekly project meetings, producing weekly status reports and C-level presentations on project status and risks. This role will be focused on the day-to-day project management responsibilities for Great Minds’ new project to develop a distance learning offering. The key components for this project will be coordinating the development of the daily video lessons, streamlining the import of content into HTML, management of key vendors for Spanish voice over and page production of new content to support the digital offering.

Responsibilities

Working under the direction of the Senior Program Manager in Operations, the Project Manager’s responsibilities include:

1. Applying established procedures and basic project management methodologies as defined by PMI’s Project Management Body of Knowledge.
2. Working with Great Minds teams across the organization to document project specifications and develop detailed scope documentation for each project.
3. Coordinating within the Operations department to determine resources needed to accomplish project goals within negotiated project timeline.
4. Creating and maintaining detailed project plans in Smartsheet with dependencies.
5. Documenting project risk and ongoing coordination of efforts to mitigate risk throughout project duration.
6. Conducting ongoing project status meetings and acting as liaison between all project teams to creatively manage and negotiate schedule adjustments as needed to achieve project goals.
7. Managing project change requests (e.g., scope, timeline) including documentation of requirements changes and negotiation of revised timelines given resource availability.
8. Ensuring continuous communication around the project as required by the established communication plan.
9. Planning for and reporting project metrics to document and evaluate the success of assigned projects.
10. Conducting pre-project launch training as needed and post-project debrief meetings.
11. Ongoing project and workflow set up and maintenance in 10,000 ft. and Smartsheet.
12. Contributing to GM documentation and training related to project management.
13. Additional responsibilities as requested.

Qualifications

A successful Project Manager at Great Minds is:

• Highly results oriented and demonstrates personal accountability, urgency, and persistence in completing high-quality work products.
• Manage activities for multiple medium/large and/or complex projects simultaneously without missing critical deadlines.
• Anticipate project roadblocks and develop creative solutions both within and across projects to meet goals.
• Lead project teams to maintain and adhere to establish processes and procedures.
• Build cross-functional rapport while actively influencing Operations events and negotiating changes to achieve project goals.
• Incorporate latest project information, make quick decisions, and keep the appropriate management and project staff informed of rapidly occurring developments.
• Prioritize and complete multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment.
• Remain flexible during periods of rapid change.
• Maintain a positive, professional attitude under tight timelines and with multiple competing priorities.
• Communicate well and work collaboratively within a team and across teams.
• Demonstrate strong negotiation, conflict resolution, and persuasion skills.

Requirements

• A university degree with a concentration in education, business, information systems or related field.
• Experience with running projects with experience integrating systems (Salesforce integrations a plus)
• Experience as a project manager with project management tools (Smartsheet a plus)
• Experience running projects with data migrations/ conversions processes
• At least 10 years of lead project management experience, leading multiple, complex projects simultaneously.
• Strong technical understanding and experience with various SDLC methodologies (Agile & Waterfall).
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Strong analytic and interpersonal communication skills.
• Experience with Microsoft Office Suite, Smartsheet, or similar project management software, JIRA, Microsoft SharePoint/Sites or other similar distributed storage and collaboration systems, & 10,000 ft. or similar resource allocation/scheduling software.
• Specialized knowledge/experience with Salesforce, Intacct and SharePoint a plus.
• Experience in the K-12 Book publishing environment

Great Minds is an equal opportunity employer. We will extend equal opportunity to all individuals without regard to race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, disability, age, genetic information, or any other status protected under applicable federal, state, or local laws. Our policy reflects and affirms the organization’s commitment to the principles of fair employment and the elimination of all discriminatory practices.