Project Director

Exciting opportunity for an experienced Project Director in creative advertising and with exposure to the healthcare market to take on a role, either on a FTC or Perm basis.Project Management is the engine of the agency, running the day-to-day delivery of projects and balancing the needfor exceptional quality and project profitability. As a Project Director, you are an expert in integrated creative designand a leader in seamless project execution. You are responsible for leading a programme of work in tandem withAccount Management or other departments within the agency. This requires you as Project Director to understandthe dependencies of other projects outside of your stream that can affect one another.Your responsibilities cover planning, implementation, and delivery with a focus on timing, quality, and budget. Youprovide expert guidance, enforce procedures, and collaborate on complex challenges. You will direct and drive aportfolio of projects for one or more clients and brands.The Project Director is responsible for supporting the Operations Director in ensuring that operations are runningsmoothly, and agency processes are adhered to and optimised, and in overseeing the team of Project Managers tosupport them in the management of their projects. You actively collaborate with other teams, support businessdevelopment, and ensure successful system and process enhancements.Financially, you partner with Account Management and Finance, review reports, and input to scopes of work. Youoversee agency billability and contribute to forecasting.At the team level, you lead, motivate, and mentor, fostering a positive culture and mediating conflicts. You assignaccounts, participate in staffing discussions, and collaborate with other directors for team growth.You understand the agency’s capabilities both locally and at group level. Change management is integral to yourrole, and you may participate in Group-level initiatives, demonstrating your expertise as a Project Director.As a Project Director you are a self-motivated, adaptable problem-solver with strong attention to detail and excellentcollaboration skills. You possess emotional intelligence, resilience, and a growth mindset, making you adept atbuilding and leading effective teams while maintaining composure under pressure and demonstrating commercialacumen.At this senior level not only are you expected to be integral to your account or brand, but also for the agency. Supporting thought leadership, new ways of working and being a person for others to trust to speak to regarding wider agency initiatives.Project Delivery? Work closely with the crafts within the agency (Creative, Design, Production) to ensure the work is of thebest standard in relation to the project and resources available. Including escalating when there is a need toinvolve outside or third parties if required.? Ensure detailed project documentation, implementation and actions plans are created for the duration ofeach project as appropriate.? Oversee all scopes of work, budgets and project timelines for assigned projects.? Ensure correct resource allocation & timelines. Drive discipline with your teams to regularly review & update that information, ensuring dept heads and agency leadership have visibility of wider resource requirements.? Ensure monitoring of progress against all projects is timely and accurate and reports and action plans are distributed to enable stakeholders to have visibility and sufficient information for any relevant decisionmaking.? Ensure risks, issues and dependencies are being recorded, monitored, and proactively managed to minimisedisruption to successful delivery.? Participate in project reviews, approvals, and gating processes.? Ensure the appropriate and relevant level of testing and quality control is in place for all projects.? Produce agreed levels of portfolio reporting on all projects being delivered or within the oversight of theProject Management function.? Support or deliver an effective and timely schedule of project communications liaising withrelevant stakeholders.? Work very closely with other team leads to assess Business Unit requirements, help with scoping work,developing and implementing the appropriate processes and organising workflow.? Manage and mentor more junior members of the team, such as Project Managers and Senior ProjectManagers.? Onboard and educate teams on digital requirements, processes, tools and platforms that help adopt adigital-native approach across teams.? Work very closely with other network agencies on integrated projects.? Develop strong relationships with key client stakeholders, lead client calls and meetings asnecessary to discuss process, project progress and upcoming work.Delivery Approach? Alongside the Operations Director, be an advocate of project delivery approach.? Contribute to the shaping of project delivery requirements and approach across the organisation, workingclosely with relevant colleagues.? Contribute to devising, producing and implementing new systems and processes to optimise more effectiveproject management as required per project and within the framework of the organisations project deliveryapproach.? Facilitate sharing of best practices through relevant communication channels, PM team collaborationand/or formal training sessions to enable a consistent approach across projects and Business Units.? Encourage knowledge transfer and lessons learnt activities within the PM function and Business Units todrive best practice.Financials? Ensure PM’s / Account teams are building accurate scopes, with correct fees, resourceallocations and revenue phasing.? Using the reporting tools available work closely with the Business Leadto ensure accurate and robust budget monitoring against project scopes and plans.? Ensure a robust process of notification and escalation is in place to report on both underspend andpotential overspend with the appropriate approvals sought for either situation.? Support the management and monitoring of outsourcing any project deliverables to 3rd party suppliersincluding freelance.? Working closely with the Operations Director, ensure post project reviews are in place and include lessonslearnt exercises which identify both positive and negative outcomes to be actioned.Teamwork & Leadership? Oversee the day-to-day activities of your allocated PM team.? Provide visible, motivational and decisive management and leadership to your allocated PM team.? Lead and inspire in a way that engages the PM team and retains people within the organisation.? Set the highest standards in terms of leadership behaviours; support a culture of diversity and inclusion;respect for others, collaboration, responsibility, and accountability.? Drive a culture of high performance across the team; through effective line management and leadership,ensure high quality selection, training, development, and performance management of all line reports.? Carry out goal setting, check in, performance review and 121 meetings.? Create opportunities for learning and development and best practice sharing.? Proactively engage with Business Leads and senior managers to identify opportunities for businessimprovements and new business opportunities.Required:? Proven experience in project management to a director/leadership level (creative, integrated or digital environment)? Healthcare sector experience highly desirable? Experience in managing a team of Project Managers? Managing projects with budgets of £500k+? Recognised formal project management qualification (PMP/APMP/Prince2/) desirable? Experience in managing 360 projects such as campaign film and mixed media, traditional print, website andmicrosites builds, apps, social media campaigns, banner campaigns, email campaigns, and interactiveexperiences? Working on complex interdependent projects simultaneously for a variety of clients without compromisingquality? Able to demonstrate excellent communication skills and senior stakeholder management, both on the clientside and internally? Brilliant at building a strong team ethic and capable of having conversations with clients regarding projectprogress, risks and impacts? A diligent project leader who takes accountability on projects and exhibits the below traits:o Adaptable, confident, and solutions-driveno Self-motivated and proactiveo Impeccable attention to detailo Strong collaboration and negotiation skillso Personable and brilliant at building a strong team ethico Resilient and able to remain calm under pressureo Possess a growth mindseto Confidently apply commercial acumeno Deep emotional intelligence, able to self-reflecto Capable of leading a team, comprised of all levels of seniority, through challenging periodso Experience of working in matrixed environments and able to thrive