Project Manager, Agency Operations

Full-time  |  Remote, U.S. (Central or Eastern Time preferred)  |  Proposed reporting line: SVP, Managing Director

The Role

Build more consistent project delivery across Watauga’s account, media strategy, and digital media management teams. Initially focused on selected accounts, this first dedicated project management role will establish clear plans, owners, dependencies, and escalation practices that can expand across the agency. The Project Manager coordinates the process and visibility of work; account leaders retain client and financial ownership, and department leaders assign their teams’ resources.

What You Will Do

• Turn approved client requests and project briefs into coordinated schedules, milestones, task assignments documented by department leaders, dependencies, and deliverable checklists.
• Maintain an accurate shared view of project status, deadlines, owners, approvals, and next steps across account services, media strategy/planning, digital media management, and external partners as needed.
• Run concise internal project check-ins, document decisions, and follow up on action items so work moves predictably from request through launch and reporting.
• Identify schedule conflicts, missing inputs, approval delays, and delivery risks early; escalate with practical options to the account leader or relevant department leader.
• Track change requests and potential scope impacts, informing the account owner before additional work proceeds; account leaders retain responsibility for estimates, fees, budgets, and client financial decisions.
• Coordinate project handoffs, asset and approval readiness, and recurring production processes; create useful templates and improve documentation standards.
• Partner with department leaders on workload visibility and sequencing without independently assigning personnel or overriding department priorities.
• Pilot project management practices on selected accounts, measure what improves delivery, and recommend a practical phased rollout across the agency.

What You Bring

• Approximately 3–5 years of project management experience in an advertising or marketing agency; direct advertising agency experience required.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional campaign workflows involving account teams, strategy, creative or media, and digital activation.
• Demonstrated skill building realistic workback schedules, managing dependencies, tracking approvals, and escalating delivery risks.
• Working knowledge of agency scopes, change control, campaign production cycles, and common paid media execution dependencies.
• Exceptionally clear written communication, consistent follow-through, diplomacy, and comfort driving process in a fully remote team.
• Experience with project management platforms and proficiency in spreadsheets and shared documentation.

Helpful Experience

• Experience introducing or formalizing PM processes in a small or mid-sized agency.
• Familiarity with trafficking, tagging, campaign launch QA, media reporting cycles, or media agency workflows.

What Success Looks Like

• Selected accounts gain clear project ownership, visible schedules, and fewer missed handoffs.
• Account and media teams spend less time chasing status and reconciling conflicting deadlines.
• Potential scope changes and delivery risks are identified early and routed to the correct decision-maker.
• A repeatable PM approach is documented and ready for expansion without unnecessary process overhead.