Program/ Project Manager

We are seeking a highly organized and execution-focused AEO Program/Project Manager to own the operating rhythm, coordination infrastructure, and project status communications for a fast-moving Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) program. This is not a strategy role; it is the backbone of how AEO work gets planned, tracked, and delivered.

In this role, you will design and maintain the systems, cadences, and governance structures that keep cross-functional workstreams aligned and moving. You will be the single source of truth for program and project status, the connective tissue across teams and agency partners, and the person who ensures leadership always has clear visibility into progress against project goals. If you thrive on bringing order to complexity, running tight execution systems, and keeping multiple workstreams on track simultaneously, this role is built for you.

Responsibilities

Program Orchestration & Operating Model

Design, manage, and continuously improve the Agile/Scrum operating model for the AEO program, including 2-week sprint cadences, sprint planning, and burndown tracking

Define sprint outputs and expectations, and hold workstream owners accountable to delivery commitments

Build and maintain the program charter, roadmap, and sprint plans; adapt as priorities evolve

Manage and expand the central workstream structure across all AEO pillars, ensuring coverage, clarity, and ownership at every level

Centralized Work Tracking & Tooling

Own and maintain the Monday.com workspace, including sprint tracking boards, cross-workstream dashboards, and institution-level views

Serve as the system administrator for all AEO project tooling-ensuring boards are current, accurate, and useful to all contributors

Drive adoption of centralized execution systems across the team; migrate work away from ad hoc tracking into a single source of truth

Maintain status dashboards for both core team and executive (SteerCo) audiences

Meeting Cadence & Governance

Schedule and facilitate the full operating rhythm: daily standups, weekly core working sessions, and biweekly SteerCo meetings

Create and distribute agendas, pre-reads, and rolling meeting notes for all recurring sessions

Drive follow-up and accountability after every meeting-tracking open actions to closure

Identify and escalate blockers, risks, and dependencies before they become problems

Executive Reporting & SteerCo Communications

Produce sprint reports including status summaries, burndown data, and workstream outputs

Build and distribute SteerCo updates and email communications on a biweekly cadence

Maintain institution-level status trackers and consolidate completed, in-progress, and at-risk work into clear reporting

Translate day-to-day execution activity into leadership-ready visibility-ensuring executives always have an accurate picture of program health

Cross-Workstream Coordination

Act as the connective tissue across all AEO workstreams-aligning workstream owners, tracking dependencies, and ensuring outputs are delivered on schedule

Coordinate across digital presence pillars (e.g., review platforms, social/community channels, content, and site) to keep work integrated and on track

Facilitate alignment on shared priorities such as topic strategies, review campaigns, and faculty/ambassador activation programs

Manage agency and vendor coordination: scheduling kickoffs, aligning timelines and attendees, and tracking execution readiness

Documentation & Knowledge Management

Build and maintain centralized documentation repositories organized by workstream, ensuring materials are current, accessible, and version-controlled

Own the AEO SharePoint environment as the program's central knowledge hub

Enforce documentation standards across the team: upload compliance, naming conventions, and visibility across functions

Intake & Backlog Management

Consolidate incoming ideas, requests, and priorities from stakeholders into a structured backlog

Translate intake into actionable Monday.com tasks and sprint backlog items; ensure nothing gets lost or deprioritized without visibility

Partner with leadership to support prioritization decisions based on program goals and capacity

Workstream Execution Support

Provide hands-on project management support for individual workstreams as needed, including reviews and reputation operations, agency onboarding and coordination, social ambassador and faculty programs, and platform operations (e.g., profile claiming, ticket submission, IT coordination)

Submit and track operational tickets (e.g., ServiceNow) and drive cross-functional resolution of blockers

Qualifications

Below are the minimum requirements of the education, experience, knowledge, and skills required to competently perform in this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education & Experience

Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, or related field preferred

3-5 years of experience in program or project management, preferably in a digital marketing, agency, or cross-functional enterprise environment

Hands-on experience with Agile/Scrum methodologies, including sprint planning, backlog management, and burndown reporting

Demonstrated experience with Monday.com or a comparable project management platform (Asana, Jira, Azure DevOps, Workfront, etc.)

Experience managing executive-level reporting and preparing stakeholder communications or status updates

Technical Skills

Proficiency in Microsoft 365 tools: Teams, SharePoint, Outlook, and PowerPoint

Ability to build and maintain project dashboards, trackers, and status reports

Comfort with ticketing and operational systems (e.g., ServiceNow or similar)

Familiarity with digital marketing concepts-particularly SEO, AEO, or content operations-is a plus, but not required

Ability to quickly learn and become the administrator of new tools and platforms

Soft Skills & Cultural Fit

Exceptionally organized with a strong bias toward systems, structure, and documentation-you create order in complex environments

Strong project manager: you own timelines, track every open action, and close the loop without being asked

Proactive communicator who keeps stakeholders informed, surfaces issues early, and drives accountability without being heavy-handed

Highly collaborative with a team-first mindset-comfortable working across functions and seniority levels

Strong sense of urgency and ownership; you treat the program's success as your own responsibility

Detail-oriented and reliable-teams and leaders trust that what you produce is accurate and complete

Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment where priorities shift and speed matters

Willing to go above and beyond, and to roll up your sleeves for hands-on execution when the work calls for it

What Success Looks Like

First 30-60 Days

Take full ownership of the existing program infrastructure: sprint cadence, Monday.com boards, meeting rhythm, and project status cadence. Build trust with workstream owners and leadership by delivering accurate, on-time reporting and maintaining a clear, up-to-date picture of program health. Begin identifying gaps and proposing improvements to the operating model.

Ongoing KPIs

Sprint delivery rate: percentage of committed sprint items completed on time

Reporting timeliness: SteerCo updates and sprint summaries delivered on schedule

Backlog health: intake items triaged and on the board within agreed SLA

Cross-workstream alignment: dependencies tracked and risks escalated before they impact delivery

Dashboard accuracy: Monday.com boards and status trackers reflect real-time program state