Senior Project Manager

About the role

The Senior Project Manager (SPM) plays a pivotal role in leading the internal day-to-day operations and delivery for a set of strategic, creative and medium-to-high complexity tactical projects, from inception to completion, within a brand or multiple brands. The SPM has expert-level project management skills which allow them to lead any type of project or program, with limited supervision, and is considered the primary internal nucleus for their projects.

Responsibilities

• Full lifecycle delivery and management of complex, technical, strategic and creative projects
• Develops and actively manages project timelines, estimates, risk registers, communication plans, burn reports and change logs with minimal oversight
• Led the estimation process and provides project budget and staff plan parameters with minimal supervision
• Led the project timeline creation process in close partnership with internal and external stakeholders with minimal supervision
• Led project kickoffs and status meetings
• Creates and/or reviews and distributes meeting recaps; oversees and evolves Project Managers (PM) and Project Coordinators (PC) in their ability to write actionable recaps
• In partnership with AD and GPD, develops financial forecasts for proactive financial management
• In partnership with AD, Finance and Account, facilitates monthly billing, analysis and action
• In partnership with Account Services, AD and GPD, assists with the development of annual and project-based SOWs
• In partnership with ADs and GPD, provides input to program Gantt Charts
• In partnership with Account Services, AD and GPD, assists with change order creation and management
• Actively works with project stakeholders to identify, evaluate, log, communicate and mitigate project-level risks
• Works closely with Project Management Office (PMO) leadership to identify and mitigate program-level risks
• Identifies project staff needs and works with resource managers and PCs to ensure accuracy and updates of resource plans
• Resolves conflicts, including scope, schedule, resources, budget, quality and communication with minimal oversight
• Ensures all project artifacts (FRD, BRD, etc.) are properly stored within enterprise systems (Workfront, TFS, etc.)
• Accountable for application of Intouch delivery processes and PMO standards across their projects
• Actively mentors and supports training efforts for Project Managers and Project Coordinators
• Acts as first touchpoint of escalation for Project Managers and PCs
• Keeps direct manager informed; asks for help when needed; knows when to escalate issues/concerns to leadership; brings solutions
• Participates in candidate interviews as needed
• Effectively senses team morale and understands how to address issues
• modeling inclusive behaviors, and proactively managing bias.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent education plus professional experience required
• Three to five years of experience in a PMO role
• Pharmaceutical or advertising experience preferred (AOR or DAOR)
• Advanced understanding and applications of PMO standards and processes
• Experience leading the delivery of complex, technology, strategy and creative based projects
• Ability to develop a creative, strategic or technical heavy project plan
• Ability to tailor and flex process to provide solutions to proactively facilitate a project
• Experience leading a wide range of different functional groups and project teams
• Comprehension of project forecasting and reforecasting throughout lifecycle of project
• Expert project and program burn analysis and remediation
• Excellent scope and change management tracking and adherence
• Comfortable with client-facing communication
• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to anticipate, assess and mitigate risk
• Ability to build trust, negotiate and influence decision-making with Account, SMEs, Clients, Partner Agencies and third-party vendors
• Strong sense of ownership and accountability
• Strong decision-making and implementation, especially when faced with uncertainty
• Experience working with Project Management Information Systems such as Workfront, Workfront Proof, Smartsheet, MS Project
• Strong understanding of Microsoft Office Suite, specifically Excel
• Launch experience a plus