Senior Project Manager

at  McCann

McCann Birmingham is part of McCann Central, the UK’s largest integrated agency. Over 500 individuals working together to help brands play a meaningful role in people’s lives.
We are also part of McCann Worldgroup, a global agency network that delivers culture-shaping work for some of the world’s biggest brands.
And to add to the (literal) wheelbarrow full of awards we’ve got including Euro Effies most effective global agency, Cannes Network of the Year, Campaign’s European Integrated Agency of the Year, not to mention McCann Central’s haul of awards in recent years at Cannes Lions, Clios, One Show, D&AD, LIAs, Golden Drum & Creative Circle Awards. So creativity really is at the forefront of everything we do.
We’re a team of passionate creatives, strategists and marketers from a wide mix of backgrounds. But there’s a lot that unites us – like caring deeply about everything we make. And though our skillsets are wide and our process knowledge is deep, we are all still learning every day.
As a Senior Project Manager you will work on an account for a global airline. Handling multiple top tier projects to ensure consistency and quality of delivery. Managing the campaigns from the start to finish, you will umbrella the whole project working closely with all disciplines and agency partners. You will be client facing, with ownership and responsibility for timings, scope of work, staffing plans, budgets and logistics, becoming the trusted face of delivery. You will refine process, become the backbone of every project and be the client operations expert on every account.

The day-to-day stuff:

• Lead forward planning, holding regular status meetings with your account teams to keep communication open. To update relevant workflow documentation
• To set up and run ignition meetings at the beginning of every project, ensuring all are clear on the agreed actions/plan discussed
• Partner closely with Account Handling and discipline leads to manage client scope of works, across multiple channels, managing multiple agency partners
• To produce fee estimates together with a scope of work document, gaining the relevant approvals before starting the work and to continually track project burn rates by client, tracking project progress, flagging any concerns with the relevant team
• Track and report incremental scope opportunities
• Producing (and following) accurate timing plans, which should be agreed with all parties
• Working closely with the Project Director, Creative Services Director, ECD and Studio Mgr to define and book resource, having a viewpoint of the skill sets required for the project and what is required from the team
• Scheduling and attending all creative review meetings, facilitating attendance of key stakeholders and ensuring the meetings start and finish on time with clear deliverables
• Hold regular catch ups with the Account Management team to monitor and control the creative and production workflow on your account(s)
• Working closely will all producers to ensure they see the work prior to client presentation and have the opportunity to comment and raise any concerns
• This is a client facing role, so attending production meetings and where necessary client presentations is required
• Ensuring client expectations are set and met appropriately and fed through the account team structure
• An advocate for all internal processes
• Ensuring the right people are involved at each key stages of the project
• Work with all other Project Managers within the team to ensure you are aware of all live projects going through and work with the team to plan and prioritise accordingly

People Management:

• To be the calming and motivating influence in the team
• Use knowledge of individuals strengths to ensure effective teamwork
• Make sure effective agreements are reached quickly and with minimum disruption to the workflow when disruptions and conflict arises
• Communicating project changes quickly and clearly, making sure he/she is always understood by all project participants
• Apply strong written and verbal communication
• The go-to person/lynch pin of the project

Budget Control/Financial Management:

• To produce fee estimates together with a scope of work document, gaining the relevant approvals before starting the work
• Ensure the creative teams know how much time they have on a project and keep communication high if the time is not enough, or if we are starting to go over – pre warn on a project, do not wait until the time is spent and we cannot do anything about it
• Attend weekly financial meetings with the relevant financial controller/account team to review financial status on live projects
• Accurate estimating and management of client approvals
• Issuing of purchase orders to suppliers and checking against purchase invoices
• Reconciliation of every project on completion

What you need to have under your belt:

Required key skills:

• Ability to contribute to the development and execution of creative work
• Proactive with a ‘can do’ attitude and solution focused
• Well organised and efficient
• Forward thinking and practical
• An enthusiastic team player with the energy to take responsibility for the core team
• Strong Project / Program Management
• The ability to anticipate and proactively manage projects
• Planning and process optimization
• Knowledge of both online and offline production
• Ability to work with external agency partners
• Willingness to learn and develop with the core team
• Strong financial control

EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE:

• Client facing experience in both management and delivery of a wide range of projects, across multiple channels
• Demonstrable experience in delivering projects to quality, on time and on budget
• Interest and appreciation of world class creative output
• Strong negotiation skills with ability to control and report on costs and budgets
• Good verbal and written communication skills, ability to influence, negotiate and solve problems at all levels and stages of a project
• Demonstrate a solid track record of managing & mentoring more junior project managers within an agency environmentPrevious experience in an agency environment
• 
  Benefits
  In addition to a competitive salary, we are committed to creating a brilliant environment for all our people. This includes benefits such as 28 days holiday, plus the opportunity to buy more holiday, enhanced pension contributions, life assurance and much more.
  A culture of learning and development is also central to our ethos, so you’ll have access to industry leading training and development programmes, plus you’ll get to work closely with the world’s biggest media partners to access exclusive features and products.
  Most importantly, you’ll be part of a fun and collaborative team and you’ll work in an environment where you are supported and developed.
  If you want to join an iconic network agency that offers you the chance to work on one of the top clients in our portfolio & the opportunity to progress your career with an unrivalled development programme, contact us now. And not through a recruiter, please.
  Our commitment to equal opportunities
  For us, diversity is a business imperative – one that must be embedded into every aspect of how we operate to drive success. Simply put, we believe an encouraging and inclusive environment makes sound business sense.
  As a globally integrated community that influences and shapes culture, it’s vital that the talent mix in our agencies encompass all dimensions of diversity, and that we demand the same of the people we work with.
  Conscious inclusion encompasses social, cultural, and cognitive differences and cultivates an ethos of belonging, connection, and shared purpose. It is the integration of this philosophy that allows us to create meaningful experiences for our employees, drive better business practices with our vendors and clients, and ultimately lead with purpose

Please refer the Job description for details