Sr. Project Manager, Innovation

Position Summary

ISTE is seeking an experienced Sr. Project Manager to lead delivery of high-priority, cross-functional strategic initiatives from planning through execution. Reporting to the Managing Director, Industry Strategy and Revenue, this role will drive accountability, manage risks and dependencies, and provide leadership with clear visibility into project progress and results. 

The Sr. Project Manager will partner with senior leaders and cross-functional teams to advance Innovation initiatives, strengthen project management practices, and ensure projects are delivered on time, within scope and budget, and aligned with organizational priorities.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

Strategic Project & Portfolio Management

• Own end-to-end project planning, scheduling, milestone tracking, and delivery for strategic, cross-company initiatives, ensuring projects meet agreed-upon timelines, deliverables, and client satisfaction goals.
• Partner with senior leadership on portfolio-level prioritization and sequencing of Innovation initiatives, including trade-off analysis when priorities compete.
• Coordinate resources and manage dependencies across functional teams.
• Serve as an escalation point for cross-project conflicts, resolving scheduling and resource contention between concurrent initiatives.

Stakeholder & Executive Communication

• Identify and map stakeholders across the organization and develop tailored communication plans to support successful execution.
• Develop and manage a consistent status reporting cadence, including executive dashboards that provide leadership with visibility into project progress, risks, and results.
• Communicate project status, risks, issues, and recommendations to senior leadership.

Risk, Change & Project Governance

• Establish and maintain project risk registers; proactively identify, assess, track, and mitigate risks.
• Lead change management efforts for new initiatives and process rollouts, ensuring stakeholder adoption and sustained use.
• Own and continuously improve the Innovation team’s project management methodology, templates, and tools to promote consistent practices across concurrent initiatives.

Innovation & Strategic Initiatives

• Partner with the Chief Innovation Officer on the Stretch AI product offering, including tracking deliverables and developing a project roadmap for additional implementation.
• Lead execution of the Solutions Summit, coordinating with W/A and internal teams on speakers, communications, attendee experience, and performance metrics, including achievement of financial targets.

Vendor, Budget & Sales Operations

• Lead vendor and contractor coordination for outsourced project work, including scoping support, deliverable tracking, and performance oversight.
• Track project budgets against allocations, including ongoing staff cost monitoring.
• Support contract management and billing for the Innovation sales team and coordinate with the team on sales deliverables and roadmaps.

Additional Responsibilities

• Take on additional duties based on bandwidth and organizational priorities.

Salary: $90,000-$95,000

PRIORITY WILL BE PROVIDED TO CANDIDATES LIVING IN THE DC METRO AREA (MD, DC, or Northern VA); you will be REQUIRED to come into the Arlington, VA office one day per week.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of project management methodologies, practices, tools, and standards.
• Knowledge of project planning, scheduling, milestone tracking, risk management, and resource coordination.
• Knowledge of project governance practices, including project charters, RACI matrices, communication plans, and risk registers.
• Knowledge of budget and staff cost tracking against project allocations.
• Knowledge of vendor and contractor management, including scope, deliverables, and performance tracking.
• Knowledge of change management principles and practices.
• PMP certification is preferred, but not required.

• 5+ years of project management experience, including leading cross-functional, multi-stakeholder initiatives at the senior or lead level.
• Experience building or maturing project management practices, tools, templates, or standards across a team or organization.
• Experience managing external vendors or contractors, including scope, deliverables, and performance.
• Experience developing and managing project charters, RACI matrices, communication plans, and risk registers.
• Experience developing status reports and dashboards and presenting project updates to senior leadership.
• Experience tracking project budgets and staff costs against project allocations.
• Experience working independently in a matrixed organization without direct authority over project contributors.
• Experience in nonprofit, education, or EdTech environments preferred.

• Strong project planning, organization, and prioritization skills.
• Strong executive communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives, priorities, and dependencies.
• Ability to identify, assess, track, and mitigate project risks.
• Ability to coordinate resources and resolve scheduling and resource conflicts.
• Ability to influence and drive accountability across teams without direct authority.
• Ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders at all levels.
• Ability to operate independently and exercise sound judgment in a matrixed environment.
• Ability to analyze project information and provide clear, data-backed recommendations to leadership.

Work Environment

• Normal demands associated with a deadline-driven office environment.
• The noise level is generally quiet to moderate.
• Daily contact with external customers, vendors, colleagues, associates, supervisors, and staff at all levels of the organization.

Physical Demands

• Ability to remain at a desk for extended periods of time.
• Ability to communicate and exchange information with others.
• Ability to move about to coordinate work in areas of varying heights.
• Ability to perceive and inspect records in a document management system.
• Ability to operate general office equipment.
• Ability to travel to off-site meetings.
• Ability to lift, carry, move, or position objects weighing up to 10 pounds.