Salary: £48,000 - £58,000 per annum

Employment type: Permanent

Reporting into: Product Manager - Learning Systems

Department: IT

Click here to read the full job description and view our excellent benefits here

This role operates primarily on a remote working arrangement that will require little to no travel into our various UK sites. Our working model arrangements are a non-contractual benefit so please note that an Arden work location is added to our employment contracts.

About Arden University:

We are an aspirational and multi-award-winning university, delivering rapid growth with ambitious plans to disrupt the HE sector through our passion for innovation and digital education. Our vision is to become the first-choice university for career-focused lifelong learners worldwide, ensuring that everyone, everywhere can access higher education.

There has never been a more exciting time to join Arden University, as we expand into new disciplines, forge worldwide partnerships, and expand our locations.

About our Department:

The Project Manager (Learning Systems) sits within our Technology Department that is crucial to making sure our employees and students can work effectively, deliver projects, find the right solutions and ensure we develop the technology that will make the biggest difference.

Our IT team is made up of around 65 employees with a vast range of skills from Software Development to IT Operations and Security.

Our IT Department values employee development and we have lots of great examples of employee progression and promotions within the team.

About the Opportunity:

This is an exciting opportunity to join Arden University as a Project Manager within our Learning Systems team, playing a key role in delivering IT and business-driven projects that enhance our digital learning environment.

You will be responsible for managing the full project lifecycle—from initiation and planning through to delivery, go-live, and post-implementation support—ensuring outcomes are delivered on time, within scope, and to agreed quality and cost standards.

Working across technical teams, academics, and wider business stakeholders, you will coordinate cross-functional delivery and ensure clear communication, effective progress reporting, and strong stakeholder engagement throughout. You will also act as a key link into wider enterprise change programmes, ensuring work is effectively prioritised and integrated into Learning Systems delivery.

This role is central to ensuring smooth implementation of change, minimal disruption to teaching and assessment, and successful transition into business-as-usual support.

About You:

You are an experienced Project Manager with a strong track record of delivering complex IT and change projects in fast-paced, multi-stakeholder environments. You are confident leading cross-functional teams, managing competing priorities, and ensuring projects are delivered successfully from initiation through to go-live and benefits realisation. You combine strong organisational skills with excellent communication and stakeholder engagement, and you are comfortable influencing at all levels to drive successful outcomes.

Essential Requirements:

• Significant experience managing complex IT and/or business change projects across multiple technology domains (e.g. business applications, infrastructure, data/BI systems)

• Strong project and change management skills, with experience delivering initiatives in complex organisational environments

• Proven ability to plan, prioritise, and manage multiple projects and competing demands to tight deadlines

• Experience of managing project budgets, ensuring effective control and reporting of spend

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret complex or conflicting information and identify practical solutions

• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build strong relationships across technical and non-technical audiences

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly and persuasively

• Experience using project management tools (e.g. MS Project / Project Server) to track delivery and reporting

• Experience of delivering change within complex organisations, ideally including higher education or similarly regulated environments

• Understanding of enterprise systems and digital platforms, including VLEs (e.g. Moodle)

• Knowledge of project governance, PMO practices, and relevant professional, legal, or regulatory frameworks

Desirable Requirements:

• Experience working within the Higher Education sector

• Experience working with Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), particularly Moodle

Why Arden:

At Arden, you will become a part of a passionate and dedicated team who are committed to removing unnecessary barriers to learning and making education more accessible. Our people work hard to ensure our students journeys are the best they can possibly be, as such we want to reward our people with fantastic benefits. Employees benefit from:

• 30 days holiday + bank holidays on-top, and even a Christmas closure!

• A generous Aviva pension plan, company contributions starting from 7%

• SimplyHealth plan option

• Private Medical Insurance coverage (applies to certain job roles)

• Access to Perkbox benefits

• Study any Arden course for free, with a discount for all family and friends

• Plus, other excellent benefits

• Our ‘Golden Ticket’ which allows you to gift anyone in your life a free Arden education
  

Our Values:

Stand out, Progressive, Accessible, Resourceful, Kindness, reflect who we are as an institution, a team and as individuals. If they also reflect you and you are excited by the chance to be the driving, creative force within a growing business, we want to hear from you.

There has never been a more exciting time to join Arden University, as we expand into new disciplines and locations.

Closing Date: 29th June

We reserve the right to close this vacancy before the specified closing date should we receive sufficient applications or in order to respond to business needs. In order to avoid missing an opportunity to apply please submit your application as early as possible.

If you are a current Arden student or have an upcoming course with us, you are not eligible to apply for Student Experience roles due to a conflict of interest related to system access.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion:

Arden University is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. This means that if you have a disability, as defined by the Disability Equality Act 2010, you may be guaranteed an interview if you meet the essential criteria for the role.

If you wish to be considered under this scheme, you can indicate via the application form below. By doing so, you are also consenting for this information to be shared with the hiring team. For more details on what qualifies as a disability under the Disability Equality Act 2010, please refer to the guidance here.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. Therefore, we make sure that our recruitment and selection processes never discriminate based upon people's age, disability, gender, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances, and actively welcome applications from all groups.

Sponsorship statement:

Please be aware that some roles may not meet the points requirement for a sponsored Skilled Worker visa under the points-based immigration system. However, we welcome applications from candidates who do not currently have the right to work in the UK but may be eligible for a visa through an alternative route.