Director, Project Management - VP

About the role

The VP, Director, Project Management (VP Dir, PM) is a team leader who manages and oversees the full range of client deliverables for an assigned multibrand portfolio, from project planning to final delivery. The VP Dir, PM capably manages and inspires a team of junior-to-senior level Project Managers, owning their group's staffing plan and talent acquisition activities, and matching talent-to-task. The VP Dir, PM’s production expertise allows them to drive the most complex omni- and multichannel development efforts, advising teams, vendors/partners, and clients on best practices, scopes, pricing, and schedules. The VP Dir, PM leads strong cross-functional relationships, working closely with all agency departments and leads and contributing to network initiatives as needed. The VP Dir, PM takes an active role in business development and agency cultural efforts to identify, propose, and execute solutions.

Responsibilities

• Partners with Account team for the overall health and success of the brand(s) including but not limited to, organic growth, promotion of cost-effective solutions for client's business needs, and new agile ways of working with clients.
• Oversees full range of client deliverables for an assigned multibrand portfolio from project planning to final delivery with regard to timing, quality, and budget.
• Serves as lead and escalation point across assigned client(s) and brand(s).
• Serves as content matter expert (CME) to answer client project-related questions and attend client meetings as needed.
• Leads partnership meetings with internal leadership stakeholders in Account, Creative, and Strategy to discuss brand health and other strategic topics.
• Advises internal teams on agency PM capabilities regarding particular client needs and asks.
• Solves project or client challenges in tight collaboration with internal stakeholders.
• Oversees status and internal brand meetings, contributing and providing valuable input.
• Understands, upholds, and enforces internal, network, and brand procedures and requirements.
• Partners cross-functionally with Account and Finance to preserve good financial health of a portfolio, the department, and agency.
• Manages and oversees project budget estimates as needed.
• Advises on issues with financial output reports, incoming briefs, and timelines/estimates from team prior to internal team review.
• Partners with Account and all cross-functional agency teams to build and approve scopes of work, tactical and staffing plans, pricing out assumption-based estimates, and resourcing for each tactic on a full year plan.
• Collaborates with Account on forecasting initiatives.
• Contributes to general financial responsibilities such as approving reallocations of billing, evaluating project completion costs for common trends or outliers, evaluating new client requests and staff billability to examine financial and project risk.
• Leads ongoing discussions and solutions towards organizational excellence with the department leadership team.
• Optimizes brand, process, and financial health of projects and portfolios.
• Participates in the department leadership team.
• Manages complex projects and problems; advises how to approach an out-of-the-ordinary project or ask.
• Leads strong cross-functional relationships, working closely with all agency departments and leads.
• Accountable for agency billability, utilization guidance and metrics, and timesheet oversight.
• Participates in forward planning and strategic meetings.
• Effectively utilizes internal dashboards to review project performance and ensure team is meeting critical KPIs for the agency and network.
• Understands IPGH capabilities,