Grow with us – start your career at IU now!

Join our Academic team in full-time (40 hrs./week) as Senior Strategic Project Manager (f/m/d) at one of our locations in Germany or remotely (within Germany).

Your tasks

• Strategic Leadership:

• Collaborate directly with the Prorector and senior academic leadership to define and execute strategic initiatives that enhance academic excellence, regulatory integrity, and international collaboration.

• Project Management:

• Lead and coordinate complex, cross-functional projects across academic, regulatory, and international domains. Drive initiatives with a hands-on mindset, ensuring structure, focus, and timely delivery in high-stakes environments.

• Process Excellence:

• Oversee and continuously improve critical internal processes—such as institutional accreditation, academic governance, and regulatory workflows—with a focus on precision, accountability, and stakeholder alignment.

• People & Resource Management:

• Contribute to the strategic steering of multiple academic and operational teams. Take ownership of people and cost-related processes, ensuring transparency, efficiency, and alignment across structures.

• International Collaboration:

• Foster effective partnerships with international universities and stakeholders, including institutions in the UK and Canada. Act as a confident and culturally sensitive communicator in diverse, global contexts.

• Data-Driven Steering:

• Use advanced Excel and Power BI skills to generate clear, actionable insights for leadership. Support decision-making through robust data analysis and performance tracking.

• Communication & Stakeholder Engagement:

• Act as a trusted point of contact for internal and external stakeholders—such as ministries, public authorities, and academic boards—ensuring professional, solution-oriented, and accurate communication at all levels.

• Strategic Monitoring & Governance:

• Support the organization of OKRs, top-level KPIs, board meetings, and other leadership forums. Ensure strategic clarity and effective execution in all governance activities.

Your Profile

• You have a strong passion for education and a solid understanding of academic institutions. Ideally, you bring experience in the higher education or regulatory sector.

• You are highly self-motivated, thrive in a 360° leadership role, and are eager to take the fast track toward greater leadership responsibilities.

• You have a growth mindset, question the status quo, and strive for excellence—for yourself and your teams.

• You are experienced in managing complex structures and processes, ideally in dynamic, cross-functional settings.

• You are structured, reliable, and able to drive multiple priorities with focus and ownership.

• You have strong technical skills, especially in Excel and Power BI, and can use data to guide strategic decisions.

• You are a confident communicator who collaborates across disciplines, teams, and cultures with ease and impact.

• You bring initial leadership experience and a track record in managing HR and budget-related topics across teams.

• Your personality is open, positive, and extroverted—you build trust quickly and interact effortlessly, even in intercultural and high-stakes settings.

• You hold a degree from a top university and ideally bring 2–5 years of experience in a fast-paced and demanding environment (e.g. management consulting, private equity, high-growth startups, investment banking, or venture capital).

• You are fluent in both German and English at a negotiation level (C1+), essential for working with internal and external stakeholders, including public institutions and international partners.

What We Offer

• Shape your career: Rapid growth opens many new opportunities for you. Tell us about your dream career and we’ll help you make it happen.

• Work from wherever you want …: Modern tools and video meetings make it possible and so if you want to work abroad for a while, you can!

• … and flexible time: It’s your job: We trust you and give you the greatest possible freedom to organize yourself.

• You have the choice: You are free to choose your equipment because everyone has their own preferences when it comes to hardware.

• Take your knowledge to a new level: Benefit from a discount on tuition fees for all our courses. There is always something new to learn.

• Get a good rest: we push ourselves every day to go above and beyond. But we also take the time to recharge our batteries: with 30 days of annual vacation for all employees. If you need a longer period of time, we are happy to discuss sabbaticals and similar arrangements.

• Inclusive Culture: We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees, regardless of background, religion, gender, age, or sexual orientation.

If you are passionate about education and technology, thrive in dynamic environments, and are eager to take on a leadership role, we would love to hear from you. Apply now and be part of a team that is transforming higher education worldwide!

Be part of Europe’s fastest growing university group and biggest ed-tech company. We are Europe’s fastest-growing provider for personalized education with over 130,000 students enrolled. IU believes in education for everyone and believes that everyone should have the opportunity to grow on their individual learning journey. IU Group, which includes IU International University of Applied Sciences, the London Institute of Banking and Finance and the University of Fredericton is on a continued growth journey. We offer a well-diversified mix of online degree courses, part-time studies and on-campus learning. The mission is to provide learners with a personalized learning experience, leveraging newest AI technology and catering to worldwide education needs. Here at IU, over 4,000 employees are dedicated to making a difference.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Anna-Lena Obenhaus via anna-lena.obenhaus@iu.org

Words are followed by actions: We take our “Culture Of Everyone” very seriously and would like to take this opportunity to expressly point out that you are welcome to join us, regardless of your origin, religion, gender, age or sexual orientation. Even if you have a disability, our doors are wide open to you. We look forward to a diverse community here at IU!