Senior Strategic Project Manager

About the role

Coursera is seeking a Senior Strategic Project Manager to lead cross-functional initiatives that drive the company's strategic priorities forward. This role sits at the intersection of business strategy and execution, ensuring that key programs are delivered on time and aligned with organizational goals. The manager will coordinate with stakeholders across multiple departments to define project scope, manage timelines, and remove obstacles that could delay critical deliverables. This position plays a central part in translating Coursera's broader vision into actionable plans that teams can execute with clarity and accountability. The Senior Strategic Project Manager will work closely with leadership to identify opportunities for operational improvement and ensure that strategic initiatives are resourced appropriately. Success in this role requires a blend of analytical thinking, strong communication, and the ability to manage competing priorities in a dynamic environment.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Lead the planning and execution of strategic projects across the organization from initiation through closure.
• Coordinate with senior leadership to define project objectives, scope, and measurable success criteria for each initiative.
• Develop detailed project plans that outline milestones, dependencies, resource requirements, and critical path activities clearly.
• Monitor project progress on a regular basis and report status updates to executive stakeholders with transparency.
• Identify potential risks early and develop proactive mitigation strategies to keep projects on track and within budget.
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration between engineering, product, marketing, and business teams to ensure alignment on project goals.
• Manage scope changes carefully and communicate their impact on timelines and resources to all relevant parties promptly.
• Drive alignment between high-level strategic priorities and the day-to-day work delivered by project teams across the company.
• Establish reusable frameworks, templates, and best practices that standardize project management approaches across different departments at Coursera.
• Champion continuous improvement by evaluating project outcomes, gathering stakeholder feedback, and refining processes to increase efficiency over time.
• Support the prioritization of competing initiatives based on business impact, strategic value, and available organizational resources and capacity.
• Ensure that all project documentation, plans, and reports are maintained accurately and are accessible to relevant stakeholders at all times.
• Partner with finance and operations teams to track project budgets, forecast costs, and flag variances that require attention.
• Act as a central point of contact for project-related questions, escalations, and coordination efforts among various internal teams.

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects in a corporate or technology environment with measurable outcomes.
• Strong understanding of project management methodologies, frameworks, and industry best practices applied in real-world settings.
• Ability to communicate effectively with both technical teams and non-technical business audiences across all organizational levels.
• Proven track record of delivering projects on time, within scope, and to the expected quality standards consistently.
• Experience working in a fast-paced, rapidly changing organizational setting where priorities may shift frequently and unexpectedly.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience in a related field such as business administration, management, or operations.
• Solid analytical skills with the ability to interpret data, identify trends, and make informed, evidence-based decisions.
• Comfort with ambiguity and the capacity to adapt priorities quickly as business conditions and requirements evolve.
• Familiarity with financial planning and budget oversight for projects of moderate to large scale and complexity.
• Demonstrated leadership skills in guiding cross-functional teams toward shared objectives without relying on direct authority or hierarchy.

Nice to have

• Familiarity with online education platforms or edtech industry dynamics and trends in the learning space.
• Experience managing projects that involve technology product launches or platform rollouts to a large user base.
• Knowledge of agile or iterative project management frameworks and their practical application in a corporate setting.
• Previous exposure to working in a global, distributed team environment across multiple time zones and regions.
• Understanding of higher education or learning technology ecosystems and the stakeholders that operate within them.

Skills & tools

• Proficiency with project management software such as Jira, Asana, or Monday.com for tracking work and deadlines.
• Experience with data visualization and reporting dashboards to communicate project status and key metrics to stakeholders.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for documenting plans, writing status reports, and presenting findings clearly.
• Familiarity with financial modeling or budget management techniques for project planning, forecasting, and cost tracking purposes.
• Ability to use spreadsheet tools like Excel or Google Sheets for tracking timelines, dependencies, and resource allocation.
• Understanding of workflow automation tools to streamline recurring project processes and reduce manual administrative effort.

Practical notes

• This role operates within the United States and may require occasional travel to company offices or partner sites.
• The position reports to a director or VP level leader within the organization and works closely with the strategy team.
• Candidates should expect to collaborate with a diverse group of internal and external partners across multiple time zones and regions.
• The hiring process may include multiple interview rounds with various team members, including potential presentations of past project work and case studies.
• This is a full-time position with standard business hours and a hybrid or on-site work arrangement at Coursera offices.

About the company

Coursera was launched in 2012 by Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller with a mission to provide universal access to world-class learning. Today, it is one of the largest online learning platforms in the world, with 197 million registered learners as of December 31, 2025.