Project Manager

About Acceleration Academies

At Acceleration Academies, we believe in transforming the lives of students who have disengaged from traditional schooling to achieve their high school diploma through personalized, flexible learning and innovative educational practices, we empower young adults to earn their high school diploma tuition-free. Partnering with school districts nationwide, our dropout recovery and student re-engagement programs are supported by cutting-edge technology and a commitment to compassionate, impactful teaching.

The Role

The Project Manager is responsible for leading complex, cross-functional initiatives that support Acceleration Academies growth, scalability, and operational excellence. This role plays a key part in executing high-impact projects such as charter school openings, new academy launches, mergers and acquisitions, and other enterprise-wide strategic initiatives.

Working closely with senior leaders and cross-functional teams, the Project Manager translates strategy into execution and ensures projects are delivered on time, within scope, and aligned with Acceleration Academies mission and operating model.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end planning, execution, and delivery of medium to large-scale initiatives across the organization
• Define project scope, owners, objectives, timelines, milestones, dependencies, risks, and success metrics
• Ensure projects are delivered on time, within scope, and aligned with organizational priorities
• Proactively identify risks and implement mitigation strategies to keep work on track
• Support charter school openings and new academy launches by coordinating operational readiness across staffing, systems, compliance, facilities, and enrollment
• Lead project coordination for academy expansions, program launches, and other growth initiatives
• Support mergers and acquisitions and integration efforts, including operational alignment, process standardization, and transition planning
• Execute special projects tied to organizational transformation, innovation, or operational improvement
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on efficiency, quality, and scalability
• Lead process mapping, root cause analysis, and data-informed improvement efforts
• Develop scalable solutions, playbooks, and standard operating procedures
• Measure and report project impact using defined performance metrics
• Partner with leaders and teams to align priorities, expectations, and execution plans
• Lead project planning and execution meetings, driving clear ownership of deliverables, tracking progress, and keeping leaders informed of status, risks, and dependencies
• Facilitate clear and consistent communication across stakeholders
• Support change management efforts to ensure adoption and sustainability
• Influence without authority and effectively navigate competing priorities
• Maintain project documentation, timelines, and status reporting
• Provide regular updates to leadership highlighting progress, risks, and outcomes
• Ensure adherence to project management standards and best practices

Required Qualifications

• Five to seven or more years of experience leading complex, cross-functional project initiatives
• Proven success managing multi-stakeholder efforts from planning through execution
• Experience operating in regulated, operationally complex, or mission-driven environments
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting charter schools, public education systems, or education service organizations
• Experience with new site openings, program launches, or organizational integrations
• Lean Six Sigma, PMP, PgMP, or other project management or continuous improvement certifications preferred but not required
• Familiarity with Agile, Waterfall, or hybrid delivery models
• Experience with software to drive project planning (Gantt charts, etc)
• Experience working closely with senior leadership teams
• Ability to work regular business hours aligned with Central or Eastern Time zones

Key Competencies

• Results-dri