Director, Project Management, AP Curriculum and Assessment

Role Description

The AP Curriculum and Assessment, Director, Project Management leads end-to-end project management for course and exam revisions and updates, ensuring rigorous execution, clear alignment, and on-time delivery of all milestones and deliverables. This role operates with primary accountability for execution, integration, and operational excellence across a complex and large portfolio of work.

You will own and continuously improve the roadmaps, timelines, and process infrastructure that support course and exam changes, including the course and exam changes roadmap and the standard setting roadmap. You will develop and maintain clear, scalable project plans (in Smartsheet), monitor progress at every stage, and provide transparent reporting on project health, risks, and dependencies. This role will work cross-functionally with other departments across the organization, ensuring strong coordination, communication, and delivery across teams.

In addition, you will build and manage process documentation specifically tied to course and exam changes, and lead project management for special projects across C&A. You will also partner on contracts and budgeting for the projects you manage, and contribute to the oversight of operational resources. This role plays a critical part in strengthening how work gets done across the department by driving clarity, consistency, and efficiency.

In this role, you will:

• Drive Project Delivery and Execution (70%)
  • Lead end-to-end delivery of course and exam revisions and updates across the full lifecycle
  • Build and maintain detailed project plans, timelines, and milestones
  • Track progress, monitor dependencies, and proactively manage risks, issues, and changes
  • Ensure all deliverables are completed on time, within scope, and at a high quality bar
  • Report on project health, key risks, and mitigation plans to stakeholders and leadership
  • Drive accountability across cross-functional teams to meet deadlines and commitments
  • Identify and recommend tradeoffs across scope, timeline, and resources to ensure successful delivery
  • Explore and integrate approved Generative AI tools into project management workflows to improve efficiency, scalability, and consistency across C&A operational processes.
• Lead Roadmaps, Process, and Operational Excellence (20%)
  • Own and continuously improve the course and exam changes roadmap and standard setting roadmap
  • Develop, refine, and maintain process documentation and templates specific to course and exam changes
  • Standardize workflows to increase clarity, consistency, and efficiency across C&A workstreams
  • Design and improve tracking systems, dashboards, and documentation to support execution and visibility
  • Ensure alignment between timelines, processes, and operational milestones across initiatives
• Coordinate Cross-Functional Integration and Special Projects (10%)
  • Serve as the primary C&A project liaison for cross-department initiatives within AP, ensuring clear communication and coordination
  • Synthesize cross-functional input and translate it into actionable project plans and timelines
  • Ensure alignment between cross-functional inputs and final project decisions, escalating gaps as needed
  • Manage project execution for special projects involving C&A staff, ensuring alignment with existing priorities and capacity
  • Support standard setting planning and coordination in partnership with Psychometrics, including roadmap alignment and data inputs
  • Ensure cross-functional work is integrated into core project plans, timelines, and documentation
  • Maintain visibility into interdependencies across teams and elevate risks or misalignments as needed

Qualifications

• Expertise in managing complex projects with at least five (5) years of project management experience required, preferably in the higher education industry.
• Superior technical skills/expertise in Smartsheet and full suite of Microsoft office applications (especially Excel and PowerPoint).
• Strong analytical thinking skills and a data-driven approach to decision-making and prioritization, with the ability to forecast and measure using appropriate metrics.
• Ability to oversee multiple workstreams with dependencies while keeping projects and budgets on track.
• Experience partnering on contracts and budget management for complex projects.
• Ability to identify risks early with a creative approach to problem-solving.
• Proven ability to build relationships and influence others to action.
• Ability to lead meetings effectively with a broad range of internal and external constituents.
• Superior presentation and written communications skills.
• Ability to manage the entire process/product line life cycle from strategic planning to tactical activities.
• Strong customer service orientation.
• A Bachelor's degree.
• The ability to travel 3-6 times a year to College Board offices or on behalf of College Board business.

Benefits

• At College Board, we offer more than a paycheck - we provide a meaningful career, a supportive team, and a comprehensive package designed to help you thrive.
• We’re a self-sustaining nonprofit that believes in fair and competitive compensation grounded in your qualifications, experience, impact, and the market.
• The hiring range for this role is $80,000–$130,000.
• Your exact salary will depend on your location, experience, and how your background compares to others in similar roles at the College Board.
• We aim to make our best offer upfront, rooted in fairness, transparency, and market data.
• We adjust salaries by location to ensure fairness, no matter where you live.
• You’ll have open, transparent conversations about compensation, benefits, and what it’s like to work at College Board throughout your hiring process.