Creative Agency Project Manager

We are looking for the operational backbone of our client projects. You will lead the planning, coordination, and execution of cross-functional initiatives across creative, digital, and strategic teams. Your primary mission is to drive operational excellence—ensuring all deliverables are completed on time, on budget, and to the agency’s highest quality standards while protecting project profitability and team sanity. Primary Responsibilities Project Planning & Coordination Lead project planning: Build detailed project plans, timelines, milestones, and resource allocations for all assigned accounts. Align internal teams: Coordinate and lead project kickoffs to ensure everyone is aligned on objectives, deliverables, and timelines. Own internal operations: Translate approved scopes into actionable, clearly documented work plans, serving as the central internal point person. Timeline & Workflow Management Maintain schedules: Develop and manage dynamic project schedules across all phases of the creative and digital lifecycle. Monitor critical paths: Proactively track task completion, identify project dependencies, and resolve resourcing conflicts before they cause delays. Protect team capacity: Maintain realistic schedules to shield internal teams from overloading and sudden timeline disruptions. Financial Tracking & Scope Control Monitor budget health: Partner with Account Managers to track project budgets, resource burn rates, and profitability in real time. Manage scope creep: Ensure projects stay within agreed scopes; identify, escalate, and assist in preparing change orders or budget updates for out-of-scope requests. Client Support & Collaboration Provide operational updates: Support Account Managers in client meetings by delivering clear, professional updates on schedules, next steps, and project implications. Document approvals: Promptly capture and distribute client feedback and approvals to keep internal teams aligned. Risk Management Mitigate risks: Proactively identify potential bottlenecks or threats to timelines, budgets, and deliverable quality. Solve problems: Develop actionable mitigation strategies alongside internal leads and escalate major risks with proposed solutions. Process Improvement & Systems Management Optimize operations: Refine agency project management practices, templates, and workflows, participating in quarterly reviews to optimize processes. Maintain data hygiene: Ensure project management tools and project documentation (briefs, notes, assets) are accurate, up-to-date, and properly archived. Required Skills & Experience Agency Expertise: Deep understanding of creative, digital, and strategic workflows—from discovery through delivery—across brand, web, campaigns, and media scopes. Methodology Agility: Comfortable navigating waterfall, agile, or hybrid project management approaches and knowing when to apply them. Operational Leadership: Proven ability to run internal status meetings, drive team accountability, and maintain a calm, structured environment in a fast-paced agency setting. Financial & Analytical Acumen: Skilled at tracking budgets, managing scopes, and forecasting the financial impact of project changes. Technical Proficiency: * Fluent in the Google environment (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive). Experienced with ClickUp or similar project management software (such as Workamajig, Asana, Trello, or Monday.com). Highly proficient with collaboration and communication platforms, specifically Zoom and Slack.