Project Director

Job Overview:

The Project Director (PD) is a strategic and operational leader accountable for the successful delivery of all work within an assigned portfolio. This role drives operational excellence by optimizing workflows, implementing best practices, and ensuring process efficiency across teams. The PD partners closely with senior leadership to evolve agency operations, mentor project management talent, and uphold high standards of client satisfaction and delivery. With proven experience scaling operations and serving as a trusted point of contact for growing AOR or D/AOR clients, the ideal candidate is an expert project manager, strategic thinker, skilled communicator, and solutions-oriented leader with a strong record of guiding teams and delivering outstanding project results.

Key Responsibilities, including but not limited to:

Tactical Plans, Implementation, & Project Facilitation

• Lead and oversee the tactical planning, activation, and effective execution of work for a large 8-10M account or portfolio of 2-3 brands or franchises.
• Oversee and guide a team in developing and executing tactical project plans, ensuring proactive project activation and seamless implementation across all projects within an assigned portfolio.
• Oversee successful project facilitation across the portfolio, helping teams to navigate ambiguity, resolve challenges, and drive clear, actionable outcomes.
• Mentor junior and mid-level team members to align tactical execution with agency standards, strategic objectives, and project goals.
• Ensure assigned portfolio meets or exceeds revenue and on-time delivery targets.
• Project Schedule, Scope, Budget, Forecasting, & Resourcing Health
• Lead and oversee project scheduling, estimation, scope management, budget tracking, and forecasting across a portfolio, making strategic decisions when issues arise.
• Oversee all estimates, ensuring consistency and accuracy across the portfolio.

Oversee budget management across a portfolio—ensuring estimates align to project plans, changes of scope are promptly escalated and addressed, and effective partnership with finance through revenue reconciliation processes. Ensure all projects are properly scheduled, resourced, and delivered on time and within scope and budget—or risks are escalated and quickly driven to resolution and next steps. Oversee and lead the forecasting process across the portfolio, making strategic decisions regarding resourcing conflicts and capacity planning. Lead team consensus-building by providing recommendations, establishing clear next steps, and ensuring documentation of key decisions. Oversee and guide project health analysis, working with team members to identify risks early and implement strategic solutions. Mentor junior and mid-level team members in project health best practices and support issue resolution. Ensure assigned portfolio meets or exceeds monthly forecasting targets. Internal Team Relationships & Communication Oversee and guide communication best practices across a portfolio, ensuring project managers know how to adapt their communication style effectively based on audience, context, and individual needs. Work cross-functionally with Client Services, Strategy, Technical, and Creative leadership on an assigned account to ensure seamless delivery and prioritization of work. Foster a culture of collaboration, trust, and accountability within project teams, effectively motivating and supporting internal stakeholders. Proactively identify and address team dynamics, risks, and challenges—serving as an escalation point when necessary to ensure smooth project execution. Lead strategic internal communications and presentations across all levels of the organization, including senior and executive leadership, with a focus on advancing internal business and operational objectives. Mentor junior and mid-level team members in relationship management and best practices, and support issue resolution when communication challenges arise. Client Relationships & Communication Oversee the development and maintenance of strong client relationships, ensuring the overall health of project management to client interactions across a portfolio. Serve as a trusted senior face of delivery for the client, elevating their experience and building confidence in the PMO. Lead and contribute to senior and executive-level client presentations and new business opportunities, effectively representing project management expertise. Ensure project managers across the assigned portfolio consistently build and maintain strong client relationships, providing mentorship, guidance, and leadership in resolving client issues as needed. Proactively identify and mitigate client relationship risks with diplomacy and professionalism. Mentor junior and mid-level team members in effective client relationship building, communication, and account management. Ensure assigned portfolio meets or exceeds target Client Satisfaction Scores. Process & Efficiencies Optimize operating procedures, forecasting processes, resource management and workflow tools to ensure operational excellence across an assigned portfolio. Ensure the adherence and effective use of existing tools, templates, and processes across the team to maintain consistency and efficiency. Identify opportunities for process improvements and work closely with departmental leadership to drive strategic enhancements. Project Management Team Leadership Set the standard for professionalism, leadership, and project management best practices, acting as a subject matter expert within the organization. Lead team efforts in training, mentoring, and onboarding new team members, actively contributing to the overall performance and growth of the department. Act as a subject matter expert on project management best practices, ensuring operational excellence. Support team resourcing decisions and contribute to departmental strategy and growth initiatives. Works closely with departmental leadership to grow and development the PMO. People Management Effectively manages, guides, and coaches direct reports by staying involved in their development and providing valuable feedback, guidance, and encouragement. Takes an active role in mentoring junior and mid-level team members on best practices and client handling and alerts them to opportunities for mentorship across CG Life to achieve career goals. Escalation point for a team of Associate Project Directors, Senior Project Managers, Project Managers, and Coordinators, ensuring expectations are met as well as providing leadership, strategic guidance, and problem-solving support. Contributes to staffing planning for client accounts.

Qualifications and Skills:

8+ years of experience in agency and/or project management within an integrated advertising agency.

• Experience working with AOR and D/AOR clients within pharma.
• Proven expertise in multi-channel marketing, including media planning and execution.
• Proven experience being financial accountable for managing up to $3M in revenue and oversight for up to 10M.
• Proven ability to stand-up new client accounts and large books of business.
• Highly collaborative and solution-oriented, with the ability to manage and lead while maintaining professionalism, humor, and tact.
• Proven ability to effectively lead through change, ensuring adoption of new processes or initiatives.
• Exceptional communication skills, capable of motivating diverse teams, fostering teamwork, and leading across all levels of the organization.
• Exceptional organizational and prioritization skills, with a proven ability to help a team of project managers effectively break down work into clear, actionable steps.
• Exceptional problem-solver, skilled at anticipating roadblocks, mitigating risks, and driving solutions—especially in fast-paced, high-stakes environments.

Demonstrated ability to grow and develop a team of project managers. Expertise in complex meeting management and facilitation, ability to keep discussions on track, deescalate conflict, and guide teams towards clear decisions and next steps. Deep expertise in project management tools and methodologies, including risk management, scope management, and change management, with a proven track record of issue resolution and workflow optimization. Experience in software development life cycles, web technologies, creative design processes, and digital marketing strategy preferred. Exceptional attention to detail and follow-through in all aspects of project execution, proven ability to instill this across a team of project managers. Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and other relevant project management software.

We are proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package to all of our employees:

Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance. We cover a generous portion of employee contributions 401K plan. We invest in present and future you, which is why we offer a generous match and immediate vesting on our plan Parental Leave. Generous paid time off for parents to bond with their newest addition Professional Development. Each employee has an annual budget to allocate to professional development opportunities. Employees are encouraged to take a workshop, attend a webinar, join associations, and do anything else that will help them grow in their careers. And more! We offer flexible time off, life insurance, LTD, a robust employee assistance program, and more! At CG Life, we recognize that attracting the best talent is key to our strategy and success as a company. As a result, we aim for flexibility in structuring competitive compensation offers to ensure we are able to attract the best candidates. As required by law in this state, the estimated salary range for this position is $130,000 - $165,000 and represents our good faith estimate as to what our ideal candidates are likely to expect. We tailor our offers within the range based on organizational needs, internal equity, market data, geographic zone, and the selected candidate’s experience, education, industry knowledge, location, technical and communication skills, and other factors that may prove relevant during the selection process. At CG Life, it is not common for individuals to be hired at the higher end of the range, and compensation decisions depend on a variety of factors. This position is eligible to participate in a discretionary bonus program, subject to the rules governing the plan. CG Life offers a variety of benefits, including health benefits, 401K retirement with a generous company match and immediate vesting, and flexible time off. This job posting is intended for direct applicants only; please, no outside recruiters.