Blackboard Careers

Principal, Transformation Operations

Remote - United States

About the role

Blackboard is evolving. We are the originator of the learning management system, and our next chapter will redefine it. That requires a set of cross-functional changes our competition avoids: operating model, cost structure, systems consolidation, and how artificial intelligence changes every aspect of how we work. 

This role is where that agenda meets the numbers. You are the Transformation Management Office's partner to Finance. You own the transformation projects that let Finance innovate, and the tracking that tells us whether the changes we committed to across the company are showing up in the cost structure. 

You will hold that picture through relationships as much as through the ledger. A realization number is only honest if people are willing to tell you their initiative is slipping, and they will only tell you if you have earned their trust. You will do all of this with artificial intelligence as your toolbox. We expect you to understand what we need deeply enough to build it yourself, in weeks rather than quarters, and to set the pace for the rest of the company.

Why the role exists

Our transformation is about promises in dollars and ways of working. Most organizations lose track of those dollars somewhere between the business case and the general ledger. Savings get claimed twice, timing gets mistaken for structural change, and costs that moved from one line to another get counted as reduction.

Responsibilities

Own cost realization tracking. A single ledger of what each transformation initiative committed to deliver, what has actually landed, and what remains at risk. Reconciled to actuals. You own it, and when a number is not real, you say so.

Partner with Finance. Work alongside FP&A and the business finance partners as one team. Baselines, business cases, and savings methodology get built jointly so there is never a second version of the truth. You will be present through the whole project lifecycle, not just at the beginning or end.

Earn the room. You will spend as much time with initiative owners as with the ledger. Understand what each project enables, what stakeholders are worried about, and what might hold back our success. You will find problems in conversation, well before they reach a status report.

Hold the financial view of the portfolio. Cost, committed benefit, realized benefit, and confidence level across every material initiative. Enough for the executive team and sponsor to have a clear view of our progress. Run the rhythm. Ensure transformation work is well run: agenda, materials, the choices that actually need a decision, and the mechanics of keeping momentum. Capture, drive, push, and chase until it is done.

Drive our evolution. Find the places in the business that deserve rethinking, and build the tools that let others come with us. You will write agents, automations, and internal applications yourself rather than filing requests for them. Realization tracking should not live in a spreadsheet someone updates by hand.

What success looks like

First two weeks. A first read on what has been committed: understand and refine the dollar promises, what they were based on, and how well each is tracked. You have met the Finance partners and the initiative owners, they know how you can help them, and they are ready for your partnership. One honest observation on your portfolio, delivered to the Chief of Staff, that we had not already made ourselves.

First month. A single defensible cost baseline and realization ledger covering the portfolio, agreed with Finance on methodology. Your first read on which committed savings are real, which are timing, and which are not going to happen. Reviews on a predictable rhythm with materials that arrive before the meeting. At least one working tool you built to make the work scale.

First year. The realization number is in the bank. The Chief Financial Officer uses it without reconstructing it, and it holds up in board materials without a scramble. Initiative owners bring you a problem before you find it, because they have learned that is the better outcome for them. Business cases are built to a common standard because you set it. The way you work with artificial intelligence has been picked up by teams outside this office. You are not only tracking the strategy. You are telling us where the next cost opportunity is, and we are taking it seriously.

Required Skills and Experience

• You have 20+ years of experience. 
• You are financially fluent and can prove it. You have built baselines and business cases, defended them to a CFO or a controller, and you know the difference between a structural saving, a timing benefit, and an accounting artifact.
• You build trust with people who do not report to you. You can ask a hard question without making an enemy.
• You work natively with modern artificial intelligence tools, not as a curiosity but as how you actually work. You have built things with them: agents, automations, analyses, internal applications. Tell us what you built, what it replaced, and whether anyone else uses it.
• You have run complex cross-functional work in an organization where nobody reported to you, and you can describe what shipped.
• You are comfortable in the general ledger and in front of executives.
• You write clearly and briefly.
• You follow through without being reminded.
• You are steady when priorities shift, and you say so plainly when something is not working.
• Fluency in written and spoken English.

About Blackboard

Blackboard is a leading EdTech company and SaaS provider that delivers the digital environment for transformational teaching and learning. We serve thousands of institutions with the industry's most AI-advanced LMS, Blackboard Ally for accessibility, and institutional effectiveness solutions that put educators and learners at the center. We're an education company that builds technology. Learn more at blackboard.com.

The expected salary range for this position is $154,000 - $245,000. The range reflects base salary only and does not include additional compensation such as company bonus or benefits. Placement within the pay range will depend on a variety of factors, such as experience, skills, internal parity, and location.

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the country where the role is based at the time of hire and must maintain that authorization for the duration of employment. The company does not provide visa sponsorship or immigration support for this position.

This job description is not designed to contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required. Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities at any time.    

Blackboard is an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, gender, age, color, religion, national origin, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, protected military/veteran status, or any other legally protected factor.