Project Manager, Newsela
Business Operations
$73-82k
+ Equity
Online platform for education content
Be an early applicant
Online platform for education content
201-500 employees
Be an early applicant
$73-82k
+ Equity
201-500 employees
Company mission
To provide meaningful classroom learning for every student.
Role
Who you are
- 5+ years of experience in project management, ideally within an Agile/Scrum environment
- Highly organized, detail-oriented problem solver with a passion for improving processes through structured project management
- Proven track record of successfully leading cross-functional initiatives, collaborating across teams to drive impactful outcomes
- Strong verbal and written communication skills enable you to create clear requirements documentation, process flows, and project plans that drive alignment and execution
- Thrive in fast-paced, dynamic environments, demonstrating professionalism and adaptability when faced with ambiguity or high-profile challenges
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and projects simultaneously, while maintaining a keen focus on delivering value, will make you a critical asset to the team
- Strong planning, organization, and communication skills
- Ability to learn quickly and work in a fast-paced environment
- Experience in Education/EdTech preferred, but not required
- Experience with Jira is preferred, but not required
- Experience with Gsuite and Google Sheets is preferred, but not required
What the job involves
- We are looking for a Project Manager to join our Business Operations team
- Reporting to the Manager of Business Operations, you will be responsible for driving structured project execution across teams by creating and maintaining key project documentation, including project charters, scope definitions, timelines, and resource plans
- You will collaborate closely with business partners to define, document, and optimize business solutions
- Your work will include developing process models and business requirements, ensuring clarity and alignment across stakeholders
- You will also proactively assess risks, track milestones, and establish contingency plans for high-risk deliverables
- You will communicate priorities, risks, issues, and schedules to leadership while developing presentation materials to facilitate decision-making
- Your ability to anticipate challenges, drive alignment, and adjust project timelines as needed will be critical to ensuring the successful and timely delivery of key initiatives
- You will have the opportunity to work across multiple functions within Newsela, managing high-impact projects that improve operations and enhance the solutions we provide to our customers
- You will work closely with stakeholders from Sales, Customer Success, Product, and Engineering, helping to optimize the systems and processes that drive business efficiency
- Your contributions will play a key role in expanding and improving how Newsela’s products are adopted in K-12 classrooms nationwide
- By implementing structured project management best practices, you’ll help ensure that engaging, culturally responsive learning content reaches more students and teachers
- Ensure timely delivery of project deliverables by managing dependencies, resolving escalations, and taking corrective actions as needed
- Define project scope, objectives, and deliverables in collaboration with stakeholders
- Set and track project milestones; proactively manage unforeseen delays, adjusting schedules and expectations as necessary
- Assess risks, manage issues, track key milestones, and create contingency plans for high-risk deliverables
- Provide clear, concise project status reports to relevant stakeholders
- Maintain project documentation in JIRA and Confluence, ensuring transparency and traceability
- Develop and maintain project timelines for all assigned projects
- Deliver weekly project status reports to stakeholders
- Successfully manage multiple projects simultaneously, maintaining high execution quality
- Focus is on team collaboration - this isn’t a management role, but a leadership role. Working with and supporting the team to achieve project objectives, effectively communicate, and coordinate are primary goals
- This person will be working as part of the Business Operations team and closely with teams across the Organization (Sales, Customer Success, Product, and Engineering) and extensively with external vendors and contractors
Our take
While textbooks have been standard issue in classrooms for centuries, digital instructional materials are now more prevalent. Newsela offers a learning platform that curates and rewrites news articles, historical speeches, and scientific papers to help accelerate learning.
The platform is available in both English and Spanish and includes quizzes, exercises, and writing prompts to help engage students at any level. Millions of teachers and K-12 students use the platform, which has proved extremely popular so far.
In 2021, the company reached unicorn status. Since then, research has shown that Newsela is 70% more effective at promoting reading skills compared to an average summer reading program. This demonstrates the value it brings to the space, and places it well for continued expansion and innovation.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
16% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 5 rounds)
Feb 2021
$100m
SERIES D
Mar 2019
$50m
SERIES C
Total funding: $172.2m
Company benefits
- Healthcare (pets included)
- Continue your learning - on us!
- Discounts and resources to stay healthy
- Commuter savings (trains/bikes)
- Generous time off for your most important job — maternity, paternity, and adoption
- Unlimited time Off
Company HQ
Theater District, New York, NY
Leadership
Dan Cogan-Drew
(Co-Founder & Chief Academic Officer)A qualified teacher with extensive and varied experience. Recent roles include Director of Programs at EDUCATION CONNECTION and Director of Digital Learning at Achievement First Public Charter Schools.
Matthew Gross
(Co-Founder & Director)Former CEO of the company. Co-founded and was CEO at Grouper Education. Was also a Board Member at New Classrooms, Executive Director at Regents Research Fund and VP at PENCIL.
Pep Carrera
(CEO)Board Member at Follett Higher Education. Was CEO at Nearpod, President at ProQuest, and President and COO at VitalSource Technologies.
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