Associate Program Director

SPCSHP (previously known as Big Spaceship) is an independent agency of creative specialists exploring new ways to engage and connect with people. We are a diverse community of "explorers, not settlers" looking to help brands make meaningful human connections through curiosity and belief. Partnering with brands like Starbucks, Google, JP Morgan Chase, Tia, Fast Twitch, and more. Remote-first with over 100 humans and constantly growing, we are thrilled with your interest in joining our crew.

SPCSHP is looking for an Associate Program Director to join the Program Management team in the Midwest. In this role, you will lead the delivery and overall management of a portfolio of complex client engagements by working with a team of talented, cross-discipline leads, and you will serve as the focal point for tactical leadership while staying up-to-date on daily project activities.

Role + Responsibilities:

Collaborate across disciplines for the development and delivery of agency content including print, digital, social, and video, creating the most efficient project workflow based on project scope and deliverables

Stay up to date on the Clients' business needs and priorities to understand the content needs and cohesion of messaging and visuals across all campaign assets

Documentation and tracking of your projects to ensure work stays on track

Creation of project timelines

Creation of project budgets (understanding when OOP is needed and consulting with production or vendors for estimates)

Resourcing (Forecasting and management)

Oversee the project team's activities to guarantee the overall quality of work and ensure projects are delivered on time and on budget

Consistent project status communication out to Account, Production, Strategy, and Creative teams for weekly or daily internal and client status meetings

Monitor and calculate the financial impact of scope creep and slippages and escalate as needed

Keep clients on pace from a project milestone perspective and flag in real-time SOW implications when milestones are at risk of being missed

Build strong relationships with agency discipline leads including Account, Strategy, Creative, Studio, Production, and Finance for support of projects

Owner and operator of Agency process, knowing how and when to adjust based on project needs in conjunction with lead producer and senior resource manager

Suggest and implement new processes that build on established processes to ensure consistent internal and client satisfaction, the most efficient workflow, and highest quality of deliverables

Lead the development and creation of project scopes and staffing estimates in collaboration with the Account, Production, Creative, Strategy, and Analytics.

Lead the team in creating estimates and gathering approvals from Clients and Vendors

Be aware of how the process flows alongside Production on generating POs and approving invoices

Track and reconcile project budgets while ensuring revenue tracking tools are accurate

Build project plans with an understanding of internal resources, third-party capabilities, time requirements, and business objectives

Additional duties as Client and Agency needs to evolve

Lead constructive strategies with team members to implement change

Anticipates and mitigates obstacles, risks, and business disruptions caused by change initiatives

Effectively leverages hard data as inputs to making decisions

Thinks several steps ahead in deciding the best course of action, anticipating likely outcomes, risks, or implications

Approaches challenging team situations with optimism and an open mind, focusing on coming to a respectful conclusion

Builds consensus to make and implement team decisions, often navigating through challenging tasks, ambiguities, or interpersonal obstacles

Can handle difficult discussions or dynamics with an open-minded and professional demeanor

Aligns project teams & clients around a vision focuses their efforts in the right direction & instills confidence in their ability to execute

Monitors sold work and ensures successful delivery and client satisfaction and acceptance against the scope

Drives mitigation solutions in higher-level conversations with internal or external stakeholders around issues and risks to support project teams

Owns the development of scopes and helps/coaches project managers in getting smaller scopes from the first draft to final

Assesses and monitors project financial performance; identifies potential risks and mitigates those risks

Creates program-level financial models that accurately portray both the current state as well as future scenarios and determines the path forward based on those models

Ensures appropriate resources are available to achieve objectives which may include contracting freelance, or additional resources such as content creators

Requirements

8-10 years of experience within a creative agency environment in a project management capacity

Must be Mid-West based (Chicago or Detroit)

You have extensive experience in a client services organization, structuring, and managing multi-year engagements with parallel and interconnected project tracks and teams

You manage long-term, multi-million dollar engagements with multiple project tracks and teams, as well as a firm command of project management processes and methodologies

You can focus on goals and solutions that impact both individual work streams but also the program as a whole

You manage and set client expectations in partnership with Account

You are a mentor and manager; someone who both leads by example, while also actively fostering the talents of those working under them

Highly organized, highly motivated, goal and detail-oriented, self-starter who is passionate and experienced

Someone who is all about hustle, flexibility, creativity, and adaptability in a highly challenging, positive, rewarding environment

Experience with projects and deliverables ranging from $500k to $7m

Strong ability to manage cross-discipline teams

Understanding of, and experience executing projects that adhere to platform guidelines, legal considerations, advertising regulations, and best practices

Strong Excel and Google Sheets skills

Experience with contract writing

Experience creating and managing budgets and staffing plans

Experience in budget reconciliation

Strong communication skills

Ability to work both independently, and as a part of a team

Ability to work well in a fast-paced environment