Job Description
JOB DESCRIPTION
The Director is an account team’s production lead! Ultimately responsible for the delivery of high-quality deliverables that power client satisfaction, meet business requirements, and balance client and agency economics. The Director leads a multi-skill (ie online and offline) team of project managers. This person owns project definition, scope monitoring, budgeting & timing at the account level. Career-manages a team of direct reports.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
KNOWLEDGE
- PM Approach: Ensures that the project management team utilizes a flexible project management approach
- PM Technical Skills: Leads large teams to drive complex programs/campaigns to completion based on scope and budget. Well-versed in production needs; considered a specialist in multiple channels and understands other mediums well enough to be a strategic problem solver
- Talent Selection: Demonstrates the ability to hire and retain highly capable people while cultivating diversity and career development
- SOWs: Accountable for the accuracy of all team SOWs
- Problem Solving: Team’s chief problem solver and talent choreographer
- Agency process: Develops key operational tools (i.e. team or brand specific processes)
- Growing Talent: Demonstrated ability to grow mid-level producer talent; able to effectively handle performance issues
- Client finances: Collaborates (with Business Manager if available) to provide accurate and realistic cost-to-complete estimates and forecasts for assigned projects
- Technology: Continuously learning technology. Advanced Microsoft Project and Excel ability. Solid understanding of today’s digital technologies
STRATEGY
- Resource allocation: Reviews all projects across account to resolve resource and skill requirements; drives resource allocation management; ensures the right resources are cast to the need
- Project Plans: Accountable for account-level master project plan creation and management.
- Process improvement: Proactively sees opportunities to adjust processes for efficiencies
- Quality Control: Structures and leads project status reviews; leads cross-team post-mortem sessions
- Advising: Partners with account/ marketing team to provide appropriate and consistent communication directly to client(s) in an effort to clearly manage expectations
- Risk Management: Leads large teams to develop and manage risk mitigation plans
TACTICS AND EXECUTION
- Agency Cost Management: Vigilantly seeks to optimize both agency services and internal resources
- Internal Relationships and Team Leadership: Collaborative business partner to team capability leads
- Management: Responsible for the career development of others
- Execution: Prioritizes work in progress (WIP) with production and account teams to pull work forward and break bottlenecks
- Vendors: Point of escalation for vendor management concerns
- Scope Definition: Scopes and estimates complex, multi-channel engagements
- [Optional: add sentence or two specific to BU here]
CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
- Relationship: Client-facing lead on issues related to production and project management
- Client knowledge: Understands the client’s business and plans projects accordingly
- Passion: Demonstrates passion for the brands and our work
- Accountability: Owns vendor/partner relationships
- Problem Solving: Able to drive difficult or complex production discussions with client and facilitate resolution
- New Business: Production lead on new business pitches; identifies upsell opportunities
- Communication and Writing: Uses advanced interpersonal and listening skills. Solid written and presentation skills