Academy - Project Management Lead

Cognite operates at the forefront of industrial digitalization, building AI, and data solutions that solve the world’s hardest, highest-impact problems. With unmatched industrial heritage and a comprehensive suite of AI capabilities, including low-code AI agents, Cognite accelerates the digital transformation to drive operational improvements.

We thrive in challenges. We challenge assumptions. We execute with speed and ownership. If you view obstacles as signals to step forward - not backwards - you’ll feel right at home here. 

Our Moonshot is bold: Unlock $100B in customer value by 2035, and redefine how global industry works. Join us in this venture where AI and data meet ingenuity, and together, we will forge the path to a smarter, more connected industrial future.

Cognite Academy is looking for a highly organized and execution-focused Senior Project Lead – Academy Content & Operations to drive the day-to-day execution of our training content development initiatives.

This role will be responsible for ensuring that content development projects move from planning to completion on time, with clear ownership, strong cross-functional coordination, and minimal execution friction.

You will work closely with instructional designers, technical content developers, trainers, product experts, and subject matter experts (SMEs) across Cognite. You will establish project plans, maintain execution cadence, track deliverables and dependencies, proactively identify risks, and follow up with stakeholders to keep projects moving.

This is an individual contributor role with significant responsibility for driving accountability and execution across the Academy team.

Project Planning & Execution

• Own the end-to-end project management of Academy content development initiatives.
• Translate content development priorities into clear project plans, milestones, and deliverables.
• Establish and maintain daily, weekly, and monthly execution rhythms across active projects.
• Ensure every project has clearly defined tasks, owners, deadlines, dependencies, and status.
• Track project progress against agreed timelines and proactively address schedule risks.
• Maintain a consolidated view of all active content development projects and their health.
• Drive projects through to completion rather than simply tracking and reporting progress.

Team Coordination & Accountability

• Coordinate closely with Academy team members to ensure weekly commitments and project tasks are clearly defined and updated.
• Follow up proactively on overdue or at-risk deliverables and help remove obstacles affecting execution.
• Facilitate regular project check-ins, stand-ups, and status reviews as required.
• Ensure project management systems remain accurate and reflect the latest status, ownership, deadlines, and dependencies.
• Create visibility into upcoming milestones, workload, risks, and potential bottlenecks.

Cross-Functional & SME Coordination

• Coordinate with Product, Professional Services, Engineering, Customer Success, and other teams to secure SME participation required for Academy projects.
• Schedule and manage SME engagements, reviews, technical validation sessions, and content approvals.
• Follow up with cross-functional stakeholders to ensure dependencies are completed on time.
• Identify cross-functional blockers early and proactively work with stakeholders to resolve them.
• Escalate unresolved risks and dependencies with clear context, impact, and recommended actions.

Project Governance & Reporting

• Establish consistent project management practices across Academy content development.
• Maintain project dashboards, trackers, risk logs, action registers, and project documentation.
• Provide concise weekly status reporting covering progress, upcoming milestones, risks, dependencies, and decisions required.
• Identify recurring execution bottlenecks and recommend process improvements.
• Help improve the predictability and scalability of Academy's content development operations.

• Academy content projects have clear plans, owners, milestones, and deadlines.
• Weekly commitments are visible and consistently followed through.
• Project risks and delays are identified before they become critical.
• SMEs and cross-functional dependencies are engaged early enough to avoid project delays.
• Team members spend less time chasing dependencies and coordinating logistics.
• Leadership has clear visibility into project health, risks, capacity, and delivery timelines.
• Content development projects are completed predictably and on time.

• 5+ years of experience in project management, program coordination, program operations, or a similar execution-focused role.
• Demonstrated experience managing multiple projects and workstreams simultaneously.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate confidently with both team members and senior stakeholders.
• Strong ability to drive follow-through and accountability across teams without having direct reporting authority.
• Advanced knowledge of modern project management tools such as Asana, Jira, Monday.com, Smartsheet, or similar platforms.
• Strong understanding of project management practices including milestone planning, dependency management, risk management, capacity planning, status reporting, and escalation.
• Excellent organizational skills and exceptional attention to detail.
• Ability to identify blockers, facilitate decisions, and proactively move projects forward.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-moving environment with multiple stakeholders and changing priorities.

• Experience managing training, learning content, technical documentation, product education, or content development projects.
• Experience working with Product, Engineering, Professional Services, or other technical teams.
• Familiarity with instructional design or technical training development processes.
• Experience building dashboards and reporting mechanisms for portfolio/project visibility.
• PMP, PRINCE2, Agile, Scrum, or similar project management certification is beneficial but not required.

• Execution Discipline – Creates structure, maintains momentum, and drives projects through completion.
• Communication – Communicates clearly, concisely, and confidently across functions and levels.
• Ownership – Takes responsibility for outcomes rather than simply documenting project status.
• Influence Without Authority – Builds relationships and drives accountability across stakeholders without relying on reporting structures.
• Proactive Problem Solving – Identifies risks and blockers early and works actively to resolve them.
• Organization & Attention to Detail – Maintains accurate project plans and ensures commitments do not fall through the cracks.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration – Builds productive relationships with SMEs and stakeholders across the organization.

This is an individual contributor role and does not have direct people-management responsibility. The role owns the execution and coordination of Academy projects, while functional leaders and content owners remain accountable for their respective subject-matter and content decisions.