Project Manager / Implementation Manager

The Project Manager / Implementation Lead is responsible for the successful implementation, adoption and stabilization of technology solutions across our publishing companies.

Working at the intersection of business, technology and change, this role coordinates the delivery of solutions and ensures they are effectively embedded into day-to-day operations. The role translates agreed objectives and tech roadmaps into practical delivery plans, aligns cross-functional teams, manages dependencies and drives readiness, engagement and adoption.

This is a hands-on implementation and change leadership role. The successful candidate will guide teams through piloting, testing, training, communications, rollout and post-launch stabilization, while actively leading the change journey. They will work closely with business stakeholders, technical teams, vendors and change colleagues to ensure that new tools and ways of working are understood, embraced and effectively embedded in day-to-day operations.

Success is measured not simply by delivering against a plan, but by the quality of the implementation experience, the level of user adoption and the value realized by the business.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Drive implementation delivery across the Publishers

• Maintain a clear understanding of the business process, objectives, scope and intended outcomes for each implementation.

• Promote harmonized processes and supporting tools across publishers while accommodating justified local differences (80-20 principle).

• Own the end-to-end implementation of approved technology solutions, translating agreed objectives, scope and requirements into clear delivery plans.

• Break implementation activities into manageable increments, milestones and releases, enabling progress, feedback and early issue resolution.

• Coordinate business, technology, vendor and local publisher workstreams to maintain momentum and deliver coherent implementations.

• Adapt sequencing and implementation plans as priorities, risks and user feedback evolve.

Lead change management and user adoption

• Make change management and adoption an integral part of implementation planning from the outset.

• Develop and coordinate change and adoption plans covering stakeholder engagement, communications, training, readiness, rollout and reinforcement.

• Work closely with Business representatives in the publishing groups to ensure that impacted groups are informed, prepared and supported.

• Identify stakeholder concerns, sources of resistance and adoption barriers, and define targeted actions to address them.

• Involve users and subject-matter experts through implementation through workshops, demonstrations, pilots, testing and structured feedback loops.

• Ensure that training, guidance, support materials and new ways of working are practical, accessible and aligned with user needs.

• Support local publishers in adapting implementation activities to their specific context while maintaining alignment with agreed standards.

• Track adoption, usage, user sentiment and implementation feedback, ensuring insights are translated into concrete actions.

• Coordinate hypercare and post-launch support, ensuring issues are resolved quickly and lessons are incorporated into further improvements.

• Lead the transition from implementation to business-as-usual, with continuous improvement mechanisms.

Enable collaboration, transparency and continuous improvement

• Bring cross-functional teams together around shared implementation objectives, clear ownership and measurable outcomes.

• Establish lightweight delivery governance, including regular team check-ins, stakeholder updates, dependency management and decision-making forums.

• Communicate progress, risks, issues, adoption readiness and trade-offs clearly to project stakeholders and the Steering Committee.

• Identify resource constraints and delivery risks early, driving mitigation actions through to resolution.

• Capture lessons learned from pilots, releases and rollouts, and use them to improve solutions and implementation practices.

• Encourage a culture of feedback, accountability and continuous improvement across delivery teams and local publishers.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

• Successful implementation: approved solutions are delivered through well-coordinated releases, with clear ownership, controlled risks and effective transition into business-as-usual.

• Strong adoption and user experience: users are informed, prepared and supported, with a target of at least 80% active usage by day 60 and a measurable improvement in user NPS.

• Effective change management: communications, training, readiness and reinforcement activities are tailored to impacted groups and delivered at the right time.

• Measurable business impact: adoption, usage, efficiency gains and benefit realization are tracked, communicated and used to guide further improvements.

• Aligned, empowered teams: business, technology, vendors and local publishers collaborate effectively around shared goals, with clear ownership and timely decisions.

• Proactive risk and dependency management: blockers and adoption barriers are surfaced early, trade-offs are made transparently and mitigation actions are driven to resolution.

• Continuous learning and improvement: feedback from users and implementation teams informs subsequent releases, support activities and enhancements.

• A positive change experience: stakeholders and end users feel involved, informed and supported throughout the implementation journey.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE & SKILLS

• 7+ years of experience managing technology implementations, digital transformation initiatives or business change projects.

• Demonstrated experience leading implementation and adoption activities across business, technology and external vendor teams.

• Experience with Agile or hybrid delivery approaches, including incremental planning, release management, prioritization and continuous improvement.

• Change management experience, including stakeholder engagement, communications, training, readiness assessment, resistance management and post-launch reinforcement.

• Ability to translate agreed business objectives into actionable plans, priorities, test scenarios, acceptance criteria and measurable outcomes.

• Strong facilitation and communication skills, with the ability to bring diverse stakeholders together, navigate competing priorities and drive decisions.

• Excellent written communication skills, particularly in concise, outcome-oriented status reporting, risk communication and executive updates.

• Comfort operating in ambiguous and evolving implementation environments, balancing structure and accountability with flexibility and pragmatism.

• A value-driven mindset, with the ability to connect implementation and adoption activities to tangible business outcomes.

• A continuous improvement mindset, with a focus on feedback, learning, practical problem-solving and sustainable adoption.

RELEVANT DOMAIN EXPERIENCE

Hands-on experience in one or more of the following domains is strongly preferred:

• EdTech and learning platforms: implementing education technology or learning solutions, with an understanding of educators, learners and institutional customers.

• Publishing and content production: implementing or improving editorial workflows, production processes, content lifecycle management or content operations.

• Content management and structured content: implementing or migrating CMS platforms, digital asset management solutions or structured and component-based content models.

• AI-enabled business solutions: implementing AI tools or capabilities in live workflows, including user enablement, responsible adoption and change management.

• Transactional and order-to-cash processes: implementing solutions across order management, fulfillment and payment processing, with an understanding of end-to-end processes and cross-functional handoffs.

HOW WE WORK

We value people who combine implementation discipline with an agile mindset: those who can create enough structure to keep teams aligned while remaining flexible enough to respond to new information.

You are comfortable working from agreed priorities and requirements, making implementation progress visible, involving users early and helping teams focus on outcomes rather than activity. You bring energy and pragmatism to complex environments, actively remove blockers and help stakeholders navigate the practical impact of change.

You do not simply track delivery from the sidelines. You engage with the substance of the implementation, help teams make better decisions and take ownership of ensuring that technology investments become solutions people understand, adopt and use effectively.