Seeking Experienced Project Manager

JOB DESCRIPTION: EXPERIENCED PROJECT MANAGER ______________________

EXPERIENCED PROJECT MANAGER (paper shufflers need not apply) The Straight Goods Some people don’t think much of project management. More often than not, those people have never successfully managed a project, and probably never will. Project management is the art of taking on far too much work, organizing the sh*t out of it, and presenting it to colleagues and clients in a way that makes it possible to achieve, without a crisis every ten minutes.

Project management is not moving problems from your desk to someone else’s desk, with a pile of new paperwork neatly attached. Project management is diplomacy, organizational structure — and judgement around the allocation of scarce resources, especially time and money.

You are employed primarily to use your judgement to solve problems of scarcity for SAW and for our clients, in that order. If you are uncomfortable with that notion, you should not aspire to be a project manager.

We use the word ‘judgement’ advisedly. If you think a good PM simply takes instruction and executes orders, you are dead wrong. You will not last a week here.

Role An advocate of process and methodology, the Project Manager is both comfortable and credible in front of clients, respected by project teams, able to stand their ground and defend their perspective, all the while being fair and collaborative.

You need to be a highly motivated individual, organized and willing to tackle demanding tasks. You must take full responsibility for your decisions and actions. Taking the initiative to make suggestions and working to make things happen is paramount. Answers and information will not always come to you — you will need to seek them out. You will need a strong desire to learn and to share your knowledge with the broader SAW team.

In addition, you need to adapt your approach to different team members, helping to motivate and promote positive attitudes and solutions. You must excel at managing delivery, with a keen ability to define team and

1

JOB DESCRIPTION: EXPERIENCED PROJECT MANAGER ______________________

project objectives — including: managing expectations, budgets and deadlines; and monitoring the progress of your projects against targets.

You will use your strong oral and written communication skills to build rapport with internal and external stakeholders on projects. You will be a good listener, but also highly engaged to offer assistance and solutions to projects and team members alike. You will also be an analytical thinker who can create clear action plans with realistic timeframes; a self­motivated individual who manages your own time effectively and meets deadlines. You will maintain your customer focus, balancing the demands of a variety of clients.

This role requires you to wear a variety of hats and carries with it an imperative to be of service to the needs of numerous team members. The ability to be an effective facilitator to enable, support and solve problems for the client, company and project through timely and clear communication is the great challenge and expectation.

Duties ●

Plan, scope, define, manage, and facilitate the implementation of projects from inception, through production, development and launch, to post­launch assessment — based on the defined business requirements.

●

Assume overall responsibility for cost, schedule, financial, and deliverables for projects you are managing.

●

Identify the skills necessary, recruit (in some cases) and facilitate cross­functional teams (design, technology, etc.) in the delivery of projects for SAW’s clients.

●

Develop detailed project planning documents (including, but not limited to, estimates, quotes, briefs, timelines, sitemaps, functional requirements, scope, etc.) with the intent of clearly defining all aspects of the project and how SAW will produce it.

●

Create project communications plans, prepare status reports and conduct internal and external status meetings as regularly as is necessary to ensure effective issue­resolution and quality project delivery.

●

Communicate and track project milestones and monitor progress for all team members against plan.

●

Oversee and lead the project process to minimize scope creep and ensure that deliverables and timeframes are met.

2

JOB DESCRIPTION: EXPERIENCED PROJECT MANAGER ______________________

●

Anticipate project risks and solve issues before they are a problem.

●

Work collaboratively with the creative, interactive and new business teams.

●

In specific cases, you will manage the client relationship from approval to launch by conducting regular calls, monitoring and escalating project risks, soliciting client feedback, making modifications to deliverables and processes, and partnering with team members to ensure client satisfaction.

●

Manage vendor relationships, including consultants, contractors, and product vendors as necessary in the delivery of projects, including gathering estimates, negotiating rates, and working with the finance team to ensure prompt settlement of invoices.

Required Skills and Experience ●

5+ years project management experience, ideally in a creative agency environment

●

Experience project managing all phases of Traditional and Digital projects

●

Knowledgeable in core marketing concepts

●

Proficient software knowledge and skills, including the Microsoft Office suite (Powerpoint, Excel, Word), Microsoft Project, and the Google suite (Docs, Sheets, Slides) on a Mac platform

●

Strong knowledge of advertising industry trends and changes

●

Experience managing multiple projects simultaneously

●

Ability to focus on the little details when required, without ever losing sight of the bigger picture

●

Strong assets, but not absolute requirements: ○

Experience managing broadcast and video projects

○

PMP Certification

○

Knowledge of advertising industry trends and changes

What We Expect Even more important than your ability to manage and coordinate details, is how you apply your judgement and your general approach to working. First and foremost, you must be a great fit with our team and culture.

For more on that, check out the SAW website ​ (​ sawstrategic.com​ )​ . In addition, we’re looking for an individual gifted with the following traits:

3

JOB DESCRIPTION: EXPERIENCED PROJECT MANAGER ______________________

GOOD JUDGEMENT & CRITICAL THINKING ​ (They go hand in hand) Simply put, clients are paying us for our judgement — why action A instead of action B? Why is Solution C stronger than D? Why do this task before that one? The judgements you make are driven by your ability to analyse and understand each situation — the potential variables, the desired outcome, the balance between business needs and creative desires — then use critical thinking to identify the most appropriate action.

EXCELLENT COMMUNICATION Providing clarity, setting expectations, asking questions, freely providing knowledge without being asked.

Both verbally and in writing, these skills are essential.

ACCOUNTABLE Our studio environment only works when we have complete trust in one another. Your word is your bond.

You always do whatever it takes to ensure anything you have committed to do is done exactly as you said — at the top of that list is meeting timelines.

You take responsibility for the decisions and promises you make. If you make a mistake, you own it. If you love something a coworker did, you tell them. If you require information, you don’t passively wait for it to come to you — your proactively seek it out. If you disagree with a coworker, or something they did really annoyed you, you tell them that as well. Transparency and honesty only work when we all do it.

TEAM PLAYER​ Ours is a collaborative environment, with most everything we do the result of several individuals working together. We are reliant on one another to each do our parts. An awareness of what is happening around you and to you is crucial — the larger context in which any task is acted upon, or deliverable created, timing, other commitments, other projects, budget, additional resources required, additional knowledge required.

Sometimes it means coordinating your efforts with other team members to ensure you all have sufficient time to do your parts, in the order they need to happen. Other times it means organizing yourself within the context or several simultaneous deliverables for different projects.

In the words of Mr. Spock, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”. As a part of SAW, you need to embed yourself in the team and always be looking to serve others as well as yourself. We need to know you have your co-workers’ backs. If they need help, you jump in. They’ll do the same for you.

4

JOB DESCRIPTION: EXPERIENCED PROJECT MANAGER ______________________

RESPONSIBLE No one here wants to be your mom. We expect you to act responsibly in all matters — large and small. That means showing up on time, accurately proofing your own work, responding to inquiries in a timely fashion, being on top of your own schedule, keeping yourself organized, showing up to meetings you’ve been invited to, taking notes in those meetings. All those things that are just expected in a professional environment.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We are going to need you to demonstrate you’re the one we’re looking for. Please forward resume, links examples of project planning documents and anything else you believe will best make your case. careers@sawstrategic.com

You can read more about us at ​ sawstrategic.com

5