Why Program Manager is a Great EdSkip

Thank you for reading the EdSkipper, Skip’s newsletter about skipping from education to education-aligned careers. Every Saturday, I send out a list of curated remote jobs. Premium subscribers receive two additional emails a month with industry insights and advice to help you apply more competitively to the jobs you’re passionate about.

“Educators are program managers!” I said this in the live talk Holly Owens and I had earlier this week.

And I think it’s something that educators forget when we focus on the individual tasks that keep our classrooms running — the administrative tasks, the planning tasks, the evaluation tasks, not to mention the teaching tasks.

But each of these tasks align quite nicely with project and program management jobs. Which is one reason that I share so many of them on the job board!

About 20% of the jobs I’ve shared on the job board fall into the category of project or program management jobs.

Many of those jobs fall into the distinct subcategory of program management — or jobs where you plan and manage on-going programs that a company or non-profit offers.

Some examples of program management jobs that are currently on the job board show the range of programs that a program manager might be called on to navigate.

• managing programs offering professional learning and/or curriculum to educators at Deans For Impact or Teaching Lab or the Literacy Design Collective 

• supporting alumni programming at Questbridge or connecting scholars to mentor networks and opportunities at Thrive Scholars

• creating the operational and evaluation systems that help Matriculate empower high-achieving low-income students

Even when the type of programming is distinct, most program management jobs have an established set of core skills that align quite nicely with the tasks that you do regularly as an educator.

In the rest of the newsletter, I’m going to do a deep dive into program management jobs at education-adjacent non-profits, anchored in an analysis of job descriptions I’ve posted over the last few years.

What’s in this issue:

• What does a Program Manager do? (premium subscribers only)

  • The 3Ps: What’s the difference between Project, Product, or Program Management?

  • The 4 Primary Tasks a Program Manager Performs

  • What Experience do Program Manager Job Descriptions Usually Require?

  • What is the Average Salary Range for a Program Manager?

• Book Club: Burnout: Unlocking the Stress Cycle (premium subscribers only)

Subscribe to The EdSkipper Plus to read the rest.