Senior Program Director

Edelman is a voice synonymous with trust, reimagining a future where the currency of communication is action. Our culture thrives on three promises: boldness is possibility, empathy is progress, and curiosity is momentum. 

At Edelman, we understand diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) transform our colleagues, our company, our clients, and our communities. We are in relentless pursuit of an equitable and inspiring workplace that is respectful of all, reflects and represents the world in which we live, and fosters trust, collaboration and belonging.

About your day to day:

• Own the intake of new work and the evaluation of new briefs, devising delivery approaches for each assignment drawing on PM best practices.
• Own and manage project definition in scopes and staff plans with account leads and specialty teams, producing indicative pricing and detailed budgets that match a description of deliverables and actual work effort.
• Champion project management tools and best practices that standardize how to author and maintain project schedules, project briefs, cost estimates, financial management (OOP & fee) and other relevant project documentation.
• Independently own the delivery of large, complex programs independently and with support from more junior project managers.
• Serve as an escalation point to manage risks and provide solutions-oriented consultation to integrated team leads, proactively looking around corners, controlling project scope and the change control process, and collaborating with leads to strategically identify and implement win-win solutions.
• Partner with Finance and Account teams to ensure clients are profitable, fees are appropriate, forecasts are accurate and SOWs are approved.
• Drive client discussions related to project plans, financial health, Edelman capabilities and approach to delivery.
• Partner with Resource Management to forecast current and future staffing requirements in order to identify the best talent for the work.
• Establish workflow and best practices on integrated businesses that enable teams to efficiently deliver against program goals.
• Ensure quality checks and consistency of all outputs across all project deliverables.
• Ensure flexibility in approaches to fit client, creative and business needs, while managing change and the exploration of various budget/time scenarios to elevate work.
• Contribute to project operations and "the work behind the work" - prioritizing of new project opportunities, establishing flexible frameworks and best practices with new teams, and providing input on PM team assignments.
• Manage and mentor Project Management team members, including resolving project escalations, setting and managing performance goals, coaching individual career growth paths, and balancing workloads.
• Balance a sense of urgency with a calm and confident leadership at all times.

About your background:

• A 4-year degree or equivalent work experience  
• 12+ years of project management experience in an integrated marketing/PR agency or related industry  
• Mastery of large, complex project delivery on integrated programs, from planning through execution  
• Demonstrated ability to motivate teams, foster career development and oversee performance of junior team members  
• Fluency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Smartsheet (or other similar project management tool) is required  

About you:

• A self-reliant multi-tasker, with the ability to work calmly and efficiently in a fast-paced environment
• A strategic mindset, with a knack for critical thinking and creative, head-on problem solving
• A bias for action and the unshakeable ability to confidently lead projects and teams through ambiguity
• A people leader with a "get things done" and positive mentality
• A passion for the art and the science of creative problem solving and operational excellence
• A strong and fearless communicator, with the ability to navigate conflict resolution and influence teams to a desired end goal
• A positive role model for fostering individual career development and an inclusive team culture