Freelance Vice President, Project Management

Weber Shandwick is a leading global communications network that delivers next-generation solutions to brands, businesses and organizations in major markets around the world. Led by world-class strategic and creative thinkers and activators, we have won some of the most prestigious awards in the industry. Weber Shandwick was named to Ad Age’s Best Places to Work in 2019 and was the only PR firm designated an Ad Age A-List Agency Standout in 2017 and 2018. Weber Shandwick was also honored as PRWeek’s Global Agency of the Year in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, and earned 25 Lions at the 2019 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Data-led, with earned ideas at the core, the agency deploys leading and emerging technologies to inform strategy, develop critical insights and heighten impact across sectors and specialty areas, including brand and B2B marketing, healthcare marketing, change management, employee engagement, corporate reputation, crisis management, data and analytics, technology, public affairs, social impact and financial communications. Weber Shandwick is part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). For more information, visit http://www.webershandwick.com

The VP-level Project Management position has overall accountability for all aspects of deliverables on large-scale, account(s). As the client team’s project management lead, the Project Manager serves as a collaborative business partner to team leads and agency finance, ensuring that a cross-practice approach is applied to all issues related to deliverable quality and fiscal health.

The VP Project Manager is responsible for: ensuring that the principles of continuous improvement are utilized throughout the program development and delivery, and that project teams use flexible project planning designed to support the creative and executional process. The Project Manager will be responsible for managing a variety of integrated PR projects, some requiring expertise in digital ecosystems such as website development.

This position serves as the primary contact for internal team members, agency practice and discipline leads, and outside vendors. The position is directly or indirectly involved in leading projects from concept/strategy through flawless execution. One of the most important aspects of this position is the ability to be the conductor of the project/team and be a proactive, solution-oriented, operationally strategic leader.

He/she is responsible for the optimization of team staffing structure, ensuring the right skill sets are applied to the work to serve the business requirements, deliverable quality, and partners with the account lead to manage the financial health of the account. The role requires day to day leadership and management as well as supervisory management. This role may also require oversight of a day-to-day project manager assisting with a specific program or across the broader account.

Job Responsibilities

Financial Acumen

• Client-facing lead on all financial management issues or within a specific area of the client contract; responsible for client and internal budget reporting in partnership with agency account lead and finance lead and other project managers
• Professionally manages client engagements with a focus on balancing quality, cost and schedule while managing client expectations
• Partners with agency account and finance lead to help facilitate accurate and realistic forecasts; actively manages any forecast mitigation as needed
• Routinely monitors financial performance of accounts to maximize revenue recognition and profit margin, collaborating with agency finance lead on account
• Responsible for the development, review or oversight of all estimates, job creation, fees, burn reports, invoices and establishes team process for effective financial management of the account
• Primary agency contact for clients and client procurement relative to financial management of the account (SOW development; monitoring and tracking deliverables and budgets; change management and reporting). Partners closely with agency account leads and finance lead
• Creates or reviews all statement of work documentation for the team; accountable for top-down and bottom-up budgets to ensure scopes accurately reflect required work effort
• Knows when a change order is needed and works with account team to communicate the change proactively to the client

Management/Leadership

• Identifies needs on business for delivery support and appropriately aligns resources against those needs
• Leads project delivery on his or her account
• Partners with agency account lead to manage team on-boarding processes, if necessary
• Develops the team roles and responsibilities, process and templates
• Partners with cross-practice leads to identify and manage resource needs
• Demonstrates strong, professional work ethic
• Accountable for contract management (client, vendor, and inter-company issues) and ensures product is delivered within the scope

Performance Standards

• Well-versed in budget and resource management
• Considered an expert in creative and/or digital work and understands other mediums well enough to develop project plans, scopes of work, and budgets; is the Project Management Lead on those programs
• Provides a breadth of process and business skills as well as hands-on experience that fosters credibility and drives thought leadership
• Able to negotiate conflict, manage differences of opinion, and communicate effectively
• Uses excellent interpersonal and listening skills

Weber Shandwick is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Weber Shandwick recruits qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, ethnic or national origin, protected veteran status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or citizenship status.