AI Project Manager

At Sanoma Learning, we all share a deep-rooted passion for education and are committed to support teachers to help all students to reach their potential, so they can be at their best in class. We are proud of the impact we make together across Europe, local as well as international. As our teams and the scope of our impact grows, so do the opportunities for us to learn from each other – across country borders and areas of expertise. With over 3.000 colleagues, we work on seamlessly integrated print, digital and blended learning solutions to help teachers and schools develop the talents of every child. Our people are passionate and committed and always willing to go the extra mile for students, teachers, schools, our shareholders and each other.

We believe that Data and AI can uncover multiple opportunities for education, including both internal efficiencies and new product opportunities; currently AI is a priority theme for Sanoma Learning.

AI Project Manager

The AI Project Manager is part of the AI Enablement team – the small central team that makes AI work at Sanoma Learning possible: setting direction, building the foundations, and connecting the many parties involved. The team works as a flexible unit: members take ownership of the initiatives that matter most at a given moment, and capacity is redirected as priorities shift.

Within that team, this role carries a clear centre of gravity: it is the connection point between AI at Sanoma Learning and the outside world, and between the AI team and the functions that own communication and strategy. The role does not replace those functions. It makes sure they have the AI substance, the right experts and the right coordination to do their work well – and it turns what the AI teams do into something that colleagues, customers, partners and the wider education community can understand and engage with.

Reporting to the Senior Director, Head of Data and AI, the AI Project Manager works across operating companies and central functions – Communications, Strategy, M&A, Legal and the product and experimentation teams – and represents the AI agenda in those forums. This role also assumes matrix reporting into the Competence Lead of Project Management.

Key Responsibilities

AI communication – internal and external

Acting as the AI team’s counterpart to the Communications function: bringing the content, the context and the experts, and coordinating the AI side of delivery.

• Own the editorial cycle of the AI update newsletter – collect input from AI initiatives and opcos, shape the story, manage the calendar and the review loop with Communications.

• Run the AI webinar and event series – programme, speakers, preparation of presenters, logistics with the relevant functions, and follow-up.

• Curate and maintain the AI Hub – keep it current and usable, agree the content structure with contributing teams, and chase the contributions that make it worth visiting.

• Coordinate AI content for the external website and corporate channels – gather and quality-assure input from the AI teams, propose what should be told publicly, and work with Communications, who own publication.

• Sync a shared communication calendar for AI with communications – so that announcements, launches, webinars and external moments are sequenced rather than colliding.

Thought leadership and external presence

Working with the Strategy function, which owns Sanoma Learning’s thought leadership agenda, to ensure AI is represented with credible substance.

• Build and manage a pipeline of external speaking opportunities – identify the conferences and forums worth being at, manage submissions and deadlines, and match the right internal speaker to each.

• Prepare speakers and material – coordinate narrative, evidence and rehearsal so that colleagues representing Sanoma Learning externally are well equipped.

• Drive the production of white papers and publications on AI in education – coordinate authors, source the evidence from our own initiatives, and run the process to publication with Strategy and Communications.

• Manage relationships with research institutions and academic partners – keep the contacts warm, track joint work, and identify where research collaboration strengthens our position.

• Track the external conversation on AI in education – what peers, policymakers and researchers are saying – and feed that back into the AI agenda.

AI partnership and M&A funnel

Owning the front end of the AI partnership pipeline, feeding the teams that own the decisions and the transactions.

• Build and maintain the funnel of AI-related partnership and acquisition opportunities – sourcing, structured overview, status and next steps.

• Run first-pass screening of candidates – what they do, how it relates to our AI direction, what a fit would look like – and prepare the material that lets leadership decide what to pursue.

• Organise the AI-side assessment – pull in the technical, product, privacy and compliance expertise needed to evaluate an opportunity properly, and consolidate the view.

• Coordinate with Strategy and M&A, and with the business owners who would take on the partnership.

• Maintain the relationship layer with active AI partners and vendors – cadence, follow-up and internal visibility of what each partnership is delivering.

Leading AI initiatives and projects

As a member of a small, flexible team, taking direct ownership of initiatives where capacity and momentum are needed.

• Lead assigned AI initiatives and projects end to end – scope, plan, stakeholders, delivery and closure – across the full breadth of the AI agenda.

• Step into initiatives that need to move – taking over, unblocking or accelerating work as priorities shift, including topics outside the communication and partnership scope.

• Bring structure to ambiguous work – turn broad intentions into a plan with owners, milestones and a decision path.

• Prepare and facilitate the forums that move decisions forward – working sessions, steering updates and executive material.

• Represent the AI Enablement team in cross-functional programmes where AI is one of several contributing tracks.

How this role works with others

Communication and thought leadership are owned by dedicated functions at Sanoma Learning, and this role does not duplicate them. Its value lies in being the AI team’s connection into those functions: supplying substance and expertise, coordinating the AI-side contributors, keeping the AI agenda sequenced and visible, and making sure opportunities are not lost because no one on the AI side was joining the dots. The success measure is that Communications and Strategy are consistently well served by AI – not that AI does their work.

A successful candidate will have the following:

Education

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business Administration, Communications, Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, or a related field.

• Project management certifications (e.g., PMP, PRINCE2, Agile/Scrum) are a strong advantage.

• Additional coursework or certification in AI/ML, communications, or digital transformation is a plus.

Experience

• 4+ years of professional experience in project, programme or initiative management in a digital, technology or innovation context, with at least 2 years connected to AI, data or digital transformation topics.

• Demonstrated experience in corporate or B2B communication – for example newsletters, webinars, content platforms, website content or campaign coordination – working with or within a communications function.

• Experience preparing executive-level and external-facing material, and supporting senior colleagues in representing the organisation publicly.

• Exposure to partnership management, vendor evaluation, corporate development or M&A support activities.

• Experience working across multiple stakeholders and business units, preferably in multi-country or federated environments.

• Familiarity with AI concepts and the current AI landscape, sufficient to translate technical work into language a business or public audience understands.

• Hands-on experience with collaboration and project management tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence, SharePoint) and with content or intranet platforms.

• Experience in education, publishing or EdTech, or with research institutions, is a plus.

Skills

• Excellent written communication in English – able to turn technical and strategic material into clear, engaging content for different audiences.

• Strong stakeholder management, comfortable working as a connector between a specialist team and central functions without owning either side.

• Solid project management skills, able to run several parallel tracks with clarity on ownership, deadlines and status.

• Sound understanding of AI and data concepts, and the curiosity to keep that understanding current.

• Ability to structure ambiguous problems, facilitate alignment and drive decisions across teams.

• Strong sense for what is worth telling externally, and the judgement to know what is not.

• Comfortable with documentation, editorial process and governance that keep recurring communication running reliably.

• Collaborative and proactive mindset, with an ability to connect the dots across organisational silos.

Personal Attributes

• Proactive and positive “can-do” attitude, demonstrating initiative and resilience.

• Comfortable operating without formal authority, building influence through reliability and usefulness to others.

• Strong organisational skills, adept at managing multiple tasks simultaneously.

• Flexible and pragmatic – willing to pick up what the team needs at a given moment.

• Data-driven decision-making approach.

• Self-motivated, consistently seeking opportunities for improvement and innovation.

• Passionate about the opportunities in the Data and AI space, and about education.

About Sanoma Learning

How do you prepare students for the world, engage their curiosity and inspire them to grow? That is the main question of teachers all around the world. At Sanoma Learning, it has always been our mission to help to find and develop best-in-class answers to this question. If you join us, it means that you embark on an exciting journey to help shape the future of learning for primary, secondary and vocational education. We believe that your journey is our success as a company.

Sanoma Learning is a leading K12 European learning company, operating in 12 countries. Our learning products and services enable and support teachers and schools to develop the talents of every child to reach their potential. By offering printed and digital learning content, as well as digital learning and teaching platforms for primary, secondary and vocational education, we want to grow our positive impact on learning across Europe. With over 3000 employees, we help shape the future of education for 25+ million of students.

So, are you ready to start your journey to help shape the future of learning and help teachers to support all students to reach their potential?

Sanoma Learning is an equal opportunity employer; we are committed to inclusion and diversity, ensure equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or any other characteristics.