Associate Project Management Director

Job Description

Job Description

Mower is a fiercely independent, 100% employee-owned, full-service advertising, marketing, and public relations agency with team members located across the United States.

Our team is seeking an Associate Project Management Director to lead complex, integrated client work while helping strengthen our project management team, processes, and practices. This individual will serve as a senior project leader, problem-solver, and collaborative partner who can see the big picture while understanding the details required to move work successfully from planning through execution.

The ideal candidate is an experienced agency project management professional who thrives in a fast-paced, collaborative environment. They know how to anticipate risks, manage resources and financials, guide cross-functional teams, and bring structure to complex work without slowing it down. They are highly organized, solutions-oriented, accountable, and ready to take on increased responsibility for mentoring others and improving how work gets done.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Other duties may be assigned.

Project & Program Leadership

· Independently manage and provide senior oversight for multiple highly complex projects and/or client accounts.

· Develop comprehensive project plans that define scope, schedules, team assignments, workflows, dependencies, budgets, and deliverables across multiple agency disciplines.

· Partner with Account, Creative, Strategy, Media, Performance Marketing, Technical, Production, and other teams to plan and execute integrated work.

· Proactively identify risks to projects, budgets, resources, schedules, and client relationships and develop solutions before they affect delivery.

· Provide leadership to cross-functional project teams at critical integration points and ensure teams remain aligned throughout the project lifecycle.

· Guide projects through internal processes, ensuring appropriate forecasting, resource planning, reviews, quality assurance, and approvals are completed on time.

· Manage changing project requirements and clearly communicate impacts to scope, resources, schedules, budgets, and deliverables.

· Ensure projects are delivered on time, within scope, within budget, and at the expected level of quality.

Team Leadership & Development

· Provide ongoing guidance, mentorship, and support to Project Managers and Project Supervisors on complex projects and client accounts.

· Review project plans, schedules, budgets, scopes, and workflows and provide feedback and direction as needed.

· Help Project Managers anticipate and resolve issues involving scope, resources, budgets, schedules, workflow, and client expectations.

· Support the training and development of Project Managers on Mower processes and best practices for managing integrated digital and traditional marketing work.

· Help identify development opportunities and strengthen the skills and capabilities of Project Management team members.

· Participate in workload and resource management discussions to help ensure projects are appropriately staffed.

· Foster an inclusive, collaborative environment where diverse perspectives are welcomed and teams are encouraged to solve problems together.

Client & Account Collaboration

· Build strong working relationships with clients and understand their unique communication, workflow, and project management needs.

· Partner closely with Account leadership to ensure client relationships and projects are operating efficiently.

· Actively participate in and lead internal and client discussions, bringing valuable project management perspectives and recommendations.

· Support new client onboarding by helping establish project structures, workflows, schedules, status processes, and ways of working.

· Partner with Account Management and Project Management teams to translate approved proposals into clear Statements of Work and actionable project plans.

· Communicate project status, requirements, changes, risks, and issues clearly and proactively to clients and internal stakeholders.

Digital, Production & Technical Expertise

· Apply strong working knowledge of digital marketing, interactive development, media, and production workflows to scope and manage complex projects.

· Manage integrated projects across websites, digital media, paid social, paid search, email, video, broadcast, print, outdoor, events, and other marketing tactics.

· Understand website and interactive development processes, including requirements, development workflows, SEO, analytics, tagging, and tracking.

· Understand creative and production workflows for video, broadcast, print, digital, and other campaign executions.

· Partner with agency subject-matter experts to identify and manage technical requirements and integration points.

· Maintain strong knowledge of Mower’s Project Management methodology, systems, processes, templates, and tools.

Financial, Resource & Process Management

· Develop accurate project estimates, pricing, resource plans, and Statements of Work that clearly define scope, deliverables, assumptions, timing, and budget.

· Monitor project financial performance and proactively identify potential budget or profitability risks.

· Manage scope changes and ensure work is appropriately re-estimated, communicated, and approved when requirements change.

· Help ensure client work meets agency profitability goals.

· Participate in resource management discussions to balance workloads and project needs across teams.

· Identify opportunities to improve Project Management processes, workflows, tools, and ways of working.

· Partner with Project Management leadership to implement and champion new processes and technologies that improve collaboration, efficiency, and project delivery.

Education & Qualifications

· Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.

· Approximately 8–10+ years of project management experience within a marketing, advertising, digital, or similar agency environment.

· Demonstrated experience successfully planning and managing highly complex, cross-functional projects from scope through execution and delivery.

· Experience providing leadership, mentorship, training, or supervision to Project Managers.

· Experience managing multiple complex client accounts and projects simultaneously.

· Hands-on experience with digital media, social media, website or interactive development, video production, print production, and integrated marketing workflows.

· Experience developing project estimates, Statements of Work, budgets, schedules, and resource plans.

· Strong knowledge of project management methodologies, software platforms, collaboration technologies, and resource management practices.

· Excellent written, verbal, client-facing, and interpersonal communication skills.

· Exceptional organizational, prioritization, and time management skills.

Knowledge, Skills & Competencies

· Strong project and program leadership skills.

· Ability to lead and influence cross-functional teams without direct authority.

· Ability to mentor and develop Project Management team members.

· Strong business and financial acumen, including project profitability, forecasting, pricing, resource planning, and scope management.

· Ability to anticipate risks, dependencies, and resource needs and proactively develop solutions.

· Strong digital and technical fluency with the ability to understand complex workflows and translate them into actionable project plans.

· Sound judgment, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving abilities.

· Strong attention to detail while maintaining visibility into broader client, team, and agency priorities.

· Solutions-oriented approach with strong emotional intelligence and professionalism.

· AI proficiency: Ability to confidently and responsibly use AI tools in daily work to improve efficiency, creativity, and insight. Demonstrates curiosity about emerging technologies and identifies innovative ways to apply AI to enhance productivity, problem-solving, project delivery, and client outcomes while adhering to Mower policies. Embraces new possibilities and adapts readily to evolving technologies.

· Self-motivated with a strong sense of accountability and ownership.

Salary Range: $88,000–$121,000 annually

Salary differential is based on seniority, merit, education, training, and experience.