We believe in the power and joy of learning
At Cengage, our employees have a direct impact in helping students around the world discover the power and joy of learning. We are bonded by our shared purpose - driving innovation that helps millions of learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.
Cengage's portfolio of businesses supports student choice by providing a range of pathways that help learners achieve their goals and lead a choice-filled life.
Our culture values inclusion, engagement, and discovery
Our business is driven by our strong culture, and we know that creating an inclusive workplace is absolutely essential to the success of our company and our learners, as well as our individual well-being. We recognize the value of diverse perspectives in everything we do, and strive to ensure employees of all levels and backgrounds feel empowered to voice their ideas and bring their authentic selves to work. We achieve these priorities through programs, benefits, and initiatives that are integrated into the fabric of how we work every day. To learn more, please see https://www.cengagegroup.com/about/inclusion-and-belonging/ .
The Program Manager, AI Operations ensures that AI initiatives, tools, vendors, and operational processes at Cengage are delivered in a coordinated, scalable, and compliant manner. This role drives operational execution across AI enablement efforts, vendor intake, governance workflows, compliance coordination, and cross-functional delivery tracking.
You will partner across AI Enablement, Legal, Security, Privacy, Procurement, Product, and Engineering teams to establish repeatable operating cadences, manage AI operational workflows, and ensure that AI adoption across the enterprise can scale responsibly and efficiently.
This role is the operational backbone for AI Enablement - the person who ensures that initiatives move from intake through execution with clear governance, accountability, documentation, and stakeholder alignment. The ideal candidate has experience managing enterprise programs or operational portfolios at scale, demonstrates strong organizational rigor, and can move quickly in a rapidly evolving AI environment without compromising process discipline.
What You'll Do Here:
AI Operations & Program Management
Manage and coordinate the operational cadence for enterprise AI initiatives, pilots, vendor onboarding, and governance activities
Conduct and coordinate vendor risk assessments for AI tools, platforms, and integrations
Manage the third-party AI intake process including security, privacy, and contract review
Build and maintain the criteria matrix for AI vendor approvals and connector decisions
Partner with Procurement on AI contracts, DPAs, and commercial terms
Maintain the approved AI vendor list and periodic reassessment cadence
Establish and maintain program governance artifacts including intake workflows, decision logs, action tracking, status reporting, and executive updates
Coordinate cross-functional stakeholders across AI Enablement, Legal, Privacy, Security, Procurement, Product, Engineering, and Operations teams
Track program milestones, dependencies, risks, and operational readiness across AI initiatives
Support operational scaling of AI enablement activities including onboarding, documentation, communications, and process standardization
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE
Ensure FERPA, GDPR, CCPA, and other applicable regulatory compliance for AI use cases
Monitor emerging AI regulation and translate requirements into operational requirements and implementation activities
Partner with Legal and Privacy on DPIAs, PIAs, and regulatory assessments
Maintain compliance documentation, attestations, and audit evidence
Support external audits, customer security questionnaires, and due diligence requests
Coordinate governance checkpoints and approval workflows to ensure compliance activities are completed on schedule
AI GOVERNANCE, DOCUMENTATION & REPORTING
Partner with Legal on operational support related to AI intellectual property, documentation, and innovation tracking
Maintain centralized documentation for AI initiatives, vendor decisions, governance reviews, and operational procedures
Track and report operational metrics including vendor approval cycle time, governance throughput, compliance adherence rates, and program status
Deliver weekly updates on vendor intake, compliance, governance activities, and operational priorities
Develop repeatable playbooks, templates, and operational processes that improve AI program execution at scale
What You'll Need
Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Systems, Program Management, Technology, or related field
5+ years of experience in program management, operations, governance, compliance operations, or cross-functional technology delivery
Demonstrated experience managing enterprise operational programs or cross-functional initiatives
Working knowledge of FERPA, GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy/data protection regulations
Experience coordinating contracts, DPAs, MSAs, or vendor governance processes
Strong attention to detail and operational discipline
Excellent stakeholder management across Legal, Procurement, Security, Product, Engineering, and Business teams
Ability to move quickly without compromising rigor
Strong written and verbal executive communication skills including status reporting, meeting facilitation, and operational updates
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Experience in EdTech with FERPA and state-level student privacy regulations
Experience supporting AI, data, platform, or technology programs in enterprise environments
Familiarity with AI-specific regulatory frameworks (EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF)
Familiarity with AI vendor landscape and typical contract terms
Experience with GRC platforms and vendor management tools
Certifications such as PMP, PgMP, Agile, SAFe, PROSCI, or privacy/compliance certifications are a plus
TOOLS & TECHNOLOGIES
You should be comfortable with many of the following:
GRC: ServiceNow GRC, Archer, LogicGate, OneTrust
Vendor Risk: OneTrust Vendorpedia, SecurityScorecard, Whistic
Contracts: DocuSign CLM, Ironclad, Agiloft
Documentation: Confluence, Notion, SharePoint
Collaboration: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace
Analytics: Tableau, Power BI, compliance dashboards
Program Management: Jira, Smartsheet, Asana, Monday.com, Airtable, or similar workflow/project management tools
Cengage is committed to working with broad talent pools to attract and hire strong and most qualified individuals. Our job applicants are considered regardless of any classification protected by applicable federal, state, provincial or local laws.
Cengage is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities including during our job application process. If you are an applicant with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in our job application process, please contact us at accommodations.ta@cengage.com .
About Cengage
Cengage, a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. For more than 100 years, we have enabled the power and joy of learning with trusted, engaging content, and now, integrated digital platforms. We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through our scalable technology, including MindTap and Cengage Unlimited, we support all learners who seek to improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.
Compensation
At Cengage Group, we take great pride in our commitment to providing a comprehensive and rewarding Total Rewards package designed to support and empower our employees. Click here (https://www.cengagegroup.com/news/perspectives/2024/cengage-group-total-rewards-philosophy/) to learn more about our Total Rewards Philosophy .
The full base pay range has been provided for this position. Individual base pay will vary based on work schedule, qualifications, experience, internal equity, and geographic location. Sales roles often incorporate a significant incentive compensation program beyond this base pay range.
In this position, you will be eligible to participate in the company's discretionary incentive bonus program. This position's bonus target amount, which is not guaranteed and is dependent on individual performance and overall company results among other factors, is provided below.
15% Annual: Individual Target
$120,000.00 - $150,000.00 USD
Cengage, a global edtech company, supports learners, educators and institutions across more than 100 countries. With products serving nearly 16 million digital users across the Higher Education, School, Work and English Language Learning markets, we've built a learning ecosystem that connects education to employment. We combine trusted content, AI-powered insights and scalable digital platforms to power learning for every future and drive meaningful outcomes at every stage of the learning journey.
Warning: Be aware, there has been an increase of targeted recruitment scams perpetrated by bad actors falsely providing job offers on behalf Cengage Group to candidates as a means of obtaining personal information. Note that Cengage will always interview candidates via live in-person meetings, phone calls and video calls before an offer would be extended. Also, be sure to check that communication is coming from an @cengage.com email address.
