Account and Project Manager

Happy Medium; Des Moines (IA); Hybrid; USD 55,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible spending account

Health insurance

Paid time off

Parental leave

Job summary

Happy Medium is seeking an Account & Project Manager to be the trusted day-to-day contact for our client portfolios and to own delivery across marketing, web, and campaigns from scoping conversations through launch and beyond.

You'll work in a hybrid Des Moines office, guiding scope, timelines, and budgets, while leveraging AI-assisted workflows to keep teams focused on judgment calls and client outcomes.

Qualifications

• 4+ years managing client projects at an agency, studio, or in-house marketing or creative team.
• Experience as the primary day-to-day contact for multiple client accounts at the same time.
• Experience writing or managing project scopes, estimates, or change orders.
• Experience using a project management tool.
• Able to work from our Des Moines office on a regular hybrid schedule.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the day-to-day contact for our smaller client accounts, and support the account lead with delivery and communication on larger accounts.
• Lead kickoffs, status meetings, and presentations, translating client goals into clear direction for the team and presenting work back with context.
• Own project scopes, estimates, and change orders, ensuring alignment between promises and pricing.
• Balance capacity across designers, developers, strategists, and outside partners; protect the team from scope creep.
• Approve client invoicing and track budgets and margins; improve project management tools and automations.

Skills

Client management

Account management

Project scopes

PM software

Tools

PM software

Job description

The Account & Project Manager is the person our clients trust to tell them the truth and the person our team trusts to protect their time. You'll be the day-to-day contact for our smaller clients and own the delivery of the work across our marketing, web, and campaign accounts, from the first scoping conversation through launch and beyond.

This isn't a status-update job. We've built (and will continue to) AI-assisted workflows that handle much of the routine: status summaries, time-tracking reminders, scheduling, and meeting notes. That frees you to focus on the parts that require judgment: scoping work accurately, setting and resetting client expectations, deciding who works on what, and calling out risk before it becomes a problem.

The best person for this role is comfortable saying "yes, and here's what it changes" (and sometimes "no") with warmth and clarity.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Client Relationships

• Serve as the day-to-day contact for our smaller client accounts, building relationships based on candor and follow-through; on larger accounts, support the account lead with delivery and communication
• Run kickoffs, status meetings, and presentations, translating client goals into clear direction for the team and presenting work back with context
• Manage expectations proactively: when scope, timeline, or budget shifts, you raise it first, with options
• Spot opportunities to expand the work we do together and partner with the CEO on renewals and proposals

Scoping & Delivery

• Own project scopes, estimates, and change orders, making sure what we promise matches what we've priced
• Lead delivery from kickoff through launch for websites, campaigns, brand, and content projects, keeping work on time, on budget, and on strategy
• Shape the right process for each project rather than forcing one template onto everything
• Run retrospectives and turn lessons learned into better estimates and smoother projects

Resourcing & Team Advocacy

• Balance capacity across designers, developers, strategists, and outside partners;decide priorities and sequence work
• Protect the team's focus by shielding them from scope creep and last-minute fire drills
• Coordinate freelancers and vendors so their work meets Happy Medium standards

Operations & Profitability

• Approve client invoicing and make sure billing tracks with project progress and contracts
• Track project budgets, margin, and utilization, and bring insights to leadership
• Own and improve our project management tools and automations, and decide what to automate next

IDEAL EXPERIENCE & ATTRIBUTES

• Required
• 4+ years managing client projects at an agency, studio, or in-house marketing or creative team
• Experience as the primary day-to-day contact for multiple client accounts at the same time
• Experience writing or managing project scopes, estimates, or change orders
• Experience managing projects in a PM tool
• Able to work from our Des Moines office on a regular hybrid schedule
• Experience tracking project budgets, margin, or team utilization

Attributes we value

• Clear, direct communicator in writing and in the room
• Calm under pressure; you name the problem and bring a plan
• Curious about how work gets done and always looking for a better way

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

• Within 30 days, you own day-to-day communication for your client portfolio
• Within 90 days, every active project has a current scope, budget, and timeline, and changes are documented through change orders
• Within 6 months, clients describe working with us as easy and predictable, and the team says priorities are clear
• The CEO spends less time on day-to-day delivery and more time on growth

Pay: $55,000.00 per year

• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave