Principal Program Manager

Principal Program Manager at Pearson

The Principal Program Manager in the Office of the CTO’s (OCTO’s) Program Office plays a central role in shaping and sustaining shared ways of working across multiple programs. This position is responsible for designing agentic-enabled processes that enable teams to operate with autonomy while remaining aligned to organizational priorities. The role emphasizes strong, transparent information flows across stakeholders and workstreams to support collaboration, shared understanding, and effective decision-making. Additionally, the Program Manager designs experiences and frameworks that reinforce best practices in software development, Agile ways of working, and project controls, supporting consistency, predictability, and continuous improvement across OCTO’s portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and evolve agentic-enabled processes that balance autonomy, accountability, and adaptability across programs.
• Establish and sustain clear, inclusive information flow frameworks that support timely, accurate, and actionable communication among stakeholders and delivery teams.
• Develop, implement, and continuously refine shared processes and frameworks for program delivery, integrating Agile principles and project control practices.
• Create and maintain transparent tracking and reporting approaches to support visibility into program progress, risks, dependencies, and outcomes.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to gather, analyze, and synthesize data-driven insights that inform decisions and support strategic alignment.
• Support operational effectiveness by identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, coherence, and learning across program execution.
• Ensure program office activities remain aligned with OCTO’s strategic priorities and broader organizational goals.
• Communicate program status, risks, insights, and recommendations in a clear, thoughtful, and accessible manner to senior leaders and stakeholders.
• Define, track, and share KPIs and OKRs for programs and teams, supporting measurable progress and shared accountability.

Desired Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in program management within technology-focused or transformation-oriented environments.
• Strong experience with process improvement, change enablement, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Ability to design and support agentic workflows, reporting and tracking systems, and data-informed practices.
• Solid understanding of Agile frameworks, the software development lifecycle, and project control approaches.
• Experience defining, managing, and aligning KPIs and OKRs to strategic priorities across teams.
• Strong communication, facilitation, and stakeholder engagement skills, with a collaborative leadership approach.

Impact

This role supports the establishment of shared practices, agentic ways of working, and transparency across OCTO’s programs. By strengthening information flows, embedding Agile and project control principles, and supporting the effective use of KPIs and OKRs, the Principal Program Manager helps enable informed decision-making, organizational learning, and resilience in a dynamic technology environment.

Key skills/competency

• Program Management
• Agile Methodologies
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Process Improvement
• Change Enablement
• Data Literacy
• Communication
• Collaborative Problem Solving
• Project Controls
• Strategic Alignment