Project Manager - Studio

JD Group; Manchester; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading omni-channel retailer in Manchester seeks a Project Manager to oversee the execution of creative campaigns across multiple platforms. Responsibilities include managing project lifecycles, ensuring timely delivery, and adapting to shifting priorities. The ideal candidate will have excellent organisational skills, a strong communication style, and a passion for creative development. This role offers opportunities for personal growth and aligned with strategic goals within a dynamic retail environment, making it a fitting position for those ready to drive innovative projects forward.

Benefits

Staff discount on JD Group brands

Personal development opportunities

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a similar role.
• Must be organised and able to manage workloads.
• Excellent communicator with business acumen.
• Ability to articulate ideas clearly.
• Desire for creative development and retail understanding.

Responsibilities

• Manage end-to-end project execution across channels.
• Coordinate among creative teams, marketing, and partners.
• Ensure project delivery on time and on budget.
• Champion studio processes and support operational efficiency.
• Assist in developing and implementing workflow improvements.

Skills

Organisational skills

Excellent communication

Business acumen

Resilience

Leadership

Creative passion

Tools

Project Management Tool

Job description

Overview

As a Project Manager you will be responsible for transforming approved creative concepts into fully executed campaigns across multiple channels, including digital, social, and print. You will play a pivotal role in managing end-to-end projects, acting as the central point of coordination between creative teams, marketing, brand, retail, and external partners, and you will ensure all projects are delivered on time, on brief, and to the highest standard. You will manage the full project lifecycle, from initial briefing, scoping, and scheduling through to production, quality assurance, and final delivery, while maintaining clear communication, structured workflows, and exceptional organisation throughout. Working closely with the internal studio team, marketing teams and internal stakeholders, you will champion studio processes and support operational efficiency across fast-paced, multi-channel campaigns. Success in this role means balancing creative ambition with commercial requirements, solving problems proactively, and driving projects forward with confidence and clarity. You will be expected to manage multiple concurrent workstreams, adapt quickly to shifting priorities, and ensure stakeholders remain aligned at every milestone. Ultimately, you\u2019ll play a key part in enabling JD Sports to deliver best-in-class creative content across retail, digital, social, experiential, and brand marketing channels.

Key Areas of Responsibility

• Project Ownership and Delivery: Working within the Studio Dispatch Team, responsible for planning and delivering projects on time, on budget, with personality and flair.
• Reporting to the Senior PM, ensuring accurate upfront project preparation.
• Conducting daily production meetings to maintain information flow, project progress, and milestones.
• Generating weekly/monthly reports on live and upcoming projects.
• Presenting reports to senior leadership, highlighting budget tracking and projects at risk.
• Managing costs and budgets across projects.
• Delivering projects within budget while maintaining stakeholder satisfaction.
• Employing a methodical approach to archive management and file organization.

Collaboration and Stakeholder Management

• Communicating with SLT and workflow managers to allocate resources for current and future projects.
• Managing day-to-day communications on key projects with internal studio teams and the wider marketing teams, including but not limited to Campaign Marketing, Social and Paid Media.
• Assisting the Dispatch team in maintaining and growing internal and external relationships.

Team Support, Process Improvement and Professional Growth

• Supporting management in evolving and implementing studio workflow improvements.
• Acting as an advocate for the JD Studio Team.
• Maintaining awareness of production cost rules, usage, and licenses.
• Mentoring and coaching junior team members.
• Focusing on personal and professional development.
• Proven experience within a similar role.
• Must be organised and able to manage workloads.
• Excellent communicator.
• Excellent business acumen.
• Maintain a strong and broad knowledge of fashion content trends.
• Able to work accurately, effectively, and quickly turn work around whilst maintaining a high level of quality.
• Display high levels of resilience and leadership.
• Desire to develop deep understanding of the nuances associated with individual creative disciplines.
• Ability to clearly articulate ideas to line manager and other team members.
• Must be passionate for creative and have an interest in retail.
• Desire to develop and gain a greater understanding of the business.
• Appetite to move creative forward and create exciting, on-brand campaigns.
• Able to react to retail in an ever-changing environment.

Desirable

• Previous experience in a creative studio or similar.
• Previous experience using a Project Management Tool.
• Knowledge and understanding of the production process.

Company Context

• Established in 1981 with a single store in the Northwest of England, the JD Group is a leading omni-channel retailer of Sports Fashion, Outdoors and Gyms with our colleagues working in stores across several retail fascias in many markets around the world.
• JD Sports Fashion Plc was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996 and has been a FTSE100 publicly quoted company since 2019 and continues to grow in the UK and internationally. We want to be the leading global omnichannel retailer in the sports and outdoor industry.
• To be a part of this successful company and help us to achieve this you will have the desire to ingrain our strategic goals of being a people-led, innovative and customer-focused organisation which provides operational excellence whilst identifying new areas of growth as part of our day to day objectives.
• We know our colleagues work tirelessly to make JD Sports the success it is today and in turn, we offer them some amazing benefits including staff Discount On JD Group and other brands within the organisation and personal development opportunities to learn and develop at work.