Senior Project Manager

We are seeking the expertise of a senior-level project manager with solid through the line agency experience to join the Johannesburg team.

Responsible for developing and maintaining profitable and mutually beneficial relationships between VMLY&R SA and its clients.

Key responsibilities:

Working on through-the-line accounts for high profile brands, with the opportunity to expand as the team and client portfolio grows
Building strong working relationships with clients and external partners while delivering against tight timelines and budgets
Understanding and interpreting clients’ business and project requirements
Strategic input at a senior level and understanding of strategies developed for clients
Ability to independently take client briefs, ask clarifying questions, challenge the brief where necessary, and then develop a strong internal brief for strategy/creative/social/production etc
Manage and control all scoping and planning of projects
Develop full-scale project plans and associated support documentation
Manage timelines and communication thereof to meet project deadlines, ensuring to manage client expectations
Manage scope tracking per project deliverable, including number of reverts and budget spend
Provides recons internally and to client not only at the end of the project but at key milestones along the way
Anticipate risks / problems before they occur and find ways to accomplish project goals regardless of changing circumstances, i.e. develop risk management/contingency plans
Ensure that the project is completed successfully, within the given deadline and budget
Ability to push back to client as and when required
Owning the delivery and quality of projects for clients based on deep understanding of the TTL landscape, trends and opportunities
Conduct project postmortems in order to identify successful and unsuccessful project elements
Manage and oversee budgets and revenue on all projects to ensure profitability
Strong financial management including reviewing and assisting with quoting, implementing month-end billings and forecasting revenue spend
Ability to come up with a plan of action to mine for additional work to meet monthly/quarterly targets

Requirements

Four to Five years' TTL agency experience as an account/project manager/three+ years' digital experience running projects in an agency is essential
Good understanding of how to produce content and assets for digital paid media campaigns, social media campaigns, e-commerce and other owned platforms.
Ability to manage and effectively deliver on multiple campaigns/projects with fast turnarounds
Ability to deliver on all the responsibilities mentioned in the section above with proactivity, attention to detail and a good attitude
Great interpersonal skills both with the agency team and clients
Experience in strategically analysing and solving client's business problems
Planning skills
Presentation skills
Experience with managing budgets - a bit of a number cruncher
Understanding of various digital platforms
Post-matric diploma, degree, qualification in marketing communications or business – a plus