Associate Director, Project Management

Agency:

Job Function:

Job Subfunction:

Job Description:

At BBDO Chicago the Associate Director Project Management is a senior project management leader who drives complex integrated programs and creative production from briefing through

final delivery.

This role sits at the center of highly collaborative cross-functional teams and brings structure clarity and momentum to complex work. The Associate Director partners closely with Account Creative Strategy Production and discipline leads as well as integrated agency team (IAT) partners to define scope process timelines budgets staffing dependencies and delivery strategies across multiple concurrent workstreams.

The Associate Director provides oversight across projects and programs anticipates and mitigates risk and ensures teams have the structure resources and information needed to deliver high-quality creative work. This person must understand the realities of creative production and know how to navigate complex agency structures shifting priorities interconnected workstreams and multiple stakeholders while keeping the work moving forward.

Things youll do:

• Lead complex integrated projects and programs from briefing and discovery through creative development production and final delivery.

• Provide strategic oversight across multiple concurrent projects and workstreams ensuring alignment across scope timing budget resources dependencies and deliverables.

• Define project and program approaches SOWs schedules estimates staffing plans milestones and delivery assumptions in partnership with Account and discipline leads.

• Drive the operational management of creative production ensuring teams understand key milestones dependencies approvals production requirements and delivery expectations.

• Partner closely with Creative and Production teams to build realistic project plans that support the creative process while maintaining accountability to scope budget timing and quality.

• Navigate complex integrated agency team (IAT) structures coordinating across multiple agencies disciplines production partners and stakeholders to establish clear ownership dependencies decision points and ways of working.

• Serve as a central point of connectivity across internal teams and agency partners ensuring information flows effectively and teams remain aligned throughout the project lifecycle.

• Identify cross-agency and cross-functional dependencies early and proactively resolve issues that could affect creative development production timing or delivery.

• Maintain visibility into the overall health of assigned programs and accounts including scope budget staffing timelines dependencies deliverables and delivery risk.

• Organize teams and establish clear expectations around roles responsibilities priorities milestones deliverables approvals and deadlines.

• Proactively identify project and program-level risks and lead teams in developing solutions before those risks affect delivery.

• Oversee project financials including estimates burn budget reconciliation forecasting scope management and actual versus planned hours.

• Partner with Account and Finance leadership on SOWs estimates change requests annual planning and other financial and scope considerations.

• Work closely with Resource Management and discipline leads to forecast staffing needs identify resource constraints and optimize utilization across projects and programs.

• Ensure clear accurate and timely project communication and documentation including project plans status reports meeting notes change requests resource requests and financial reporting.

• Communicate project and program health to senior stakeholders providing clear analysis recommendations and solutions when priorities requirements timelines or budgets change.

• Serve as a senior escalation point for complex project production scope budget resource and delivery challenges.

• Provide oversight guidance and mentorship to Project Managers and Senior Project Managers helping strengthen project leadership creative production knowledge financial management communication and problem-solving skills.

• Identify opportunities to improve project management processes tools workflows and ways of working across the account and agency.
  

Things we are looking for:

• 7 years of project management experience within an advertising creative or integrated agency environment.

• Significant hands-on experience managing creative production is required. You understand the creative development and production lifecycle and have successfully managed complex work from briefing through production and final delivery.

• Demonstrated experience leading large-scale integrated projects or programs involving multiple concurrent workstreams deliverables and stakeholders.

• Experience working within complex integrated agency team (IAT) structures and successfully coordinating across multiple agencies disciplines and partners.

• Strong understanding of integrated campaign development and production across channels with the ability to manage interdependencies across creative and production workstreams.

• CPG experience is a plus particularly experience supporting high-volume integrated consumer brands.

• Strong financial acumen with experience managing scopes estimates SOWs budgets forecasts burn change requests and resource utilization.

• Proven ability to anticipate risk identify solutions manage competing priorities and keep complex programs moving forward in a fast-paced environment.

• Excellent communication skills with the ability to confidently partner with senior clients agency leadership creative teams production teams and cross-agency stakeholders.

• Strong leadership skills with experience guiding mentoring or overseeing Project Managers and other project management talent.

• Experience with project management platforms such as Workfront or Smartsheet

• Bachelors degree and/or equivalent relevant professional experience.

In-Office Policy:

At BBDO Chicago we believe being together in person enhances our ability to collaborate communicate and innovate. Currently BBDO Chicagos in-office policy requires employees to work in the office on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday with the flexibility to work from home on Monday and Friday.

Benefits:

BBDO Chicago offers a competitive compensation package with benefits including:

• Comprehensive Health & Wellness benefits
• Paid Time Off
• 401K Retirement Savings Plan
• Paid Parental Leave

The salary range for this position is $90000 to $120000 annually. Actual salaries will vary based on factors including but not limited to budgetary and market considerations as well as an applicants experience pertinent/specialty experience qualifications and tenure in the role/similar role.

This job description is not an exhaustive list of all functions that an employee may be required to perform and the employee may be required to perform additional functions reserving the right to revise the job description at any time.

It is the policy of BBDO Chicago and any of its affiliates to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race religion color ethnic origin gender gender identity age marital status veteran status sexual orientation disability or any other basis prohibited by applicable federal state or local law.

Omnicoms policy requires employees to work in the office for a minimum of three days a week unless additional in-office days are directed by their agency or manager. Our objective is to increase this requirement over time and many of our agencies as well as Omnicoms corporate group already require five days of in-office attendance.

Omnicom is committed to hiring and developing exceptional talent. We agree that talent is uniquely distributed and were focused on developing inclusive teams that can bring the best solutions to everything we do. We strongly believe that celebrating what makes us different makes us better together. Join uswe look forward to getting to know you. We will process your personal data in accordance with our Recruitment Privacy Notice.

Link to Recruitment Privacy Notice: US Job Seekers:

It is the policy of Omnicom and any of its affiliates to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race religion color ethnic origin gender gender identity age marital status veteran status sexual orientation disability or any other basis prohibited by applicable federal state or local law. EOE/AA/M/D/V/F.