Associate Program Director

BBDO Worldwide; New York (NY); On-site; USD 125,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Omnicom seeks an Associate Director to lead project management across assigned accounts, driving process improvements and resource optimization. You will collaborate with client teams and PMs to ensure efficient workflows and proactive problem solving.

The role requires active leadership, strategic thinking, and the ability to manage multiple high-priority projects while mentoring junior team members and aligning with account leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead process optimization across multiple projects
• Coach junior PMs and coordinate day-to-day client work
• Manage internal meetings, calendars and status reports
• Optimize resource allocation and track hours
• Ensure projects stay within scope and timelines

Job description

Job Description

The Associate Director is a senior team leader responsible for customizing processes, managing the workflow and optimizing the resources of all projects across their assigned account(s). Must be seen as an active & present leader across client & PM teams.

Agency

BBDO

Job Function

Projects and Performance Improvement

Job Subfunction

Project and Program Management

Job Description

The Associate Director is a senior team leader responsible for customizing processes, managing the workflow and optimizing the resources of all projects across their assigned account(s). Must be seen as an active & present leader across client & PM teams. The Associate Director is an active problem solver who may be assigned to manage more junior team members in coordinating the day-to-day efforts of their clients. The Associate Director is proactive, detail-oriented, able to partner closely with many different stakeholders/departments, drives tangible change on complex clients to improve processes and incremental fee & proactively brings agency-level solutions to the Director of PM for implementation.

Primary Role

• Determine and formalize the optimal processes, work flows, tools and templates at the account level and iterate as needed
• Train team on processes and ensure adherence
• Identify inefficiencies and work with team leaders to resolve
• Partner with functional leaders to set priorities for account
• Lead internal Account-level status meetings
• Interact with clients in partnership with the account leadership team
• Motivate team in a positive manner engendering teamwork and creativity
• Acts as consultant to Project Managers on their projects as needed
• Review project plans and estimates before Project Managers deliver to Account team
• Create and maintain master project calendar, looking for ways to avoid bottlenecks (staggered project timing), maximize resources and gain efficiencies across the team.
• Work with resourcing team to resolve conflicting requests across projects.
• Ensure updates of project status reports are updated for internal and client-facing use
• Ensure projects are tracked correctly in scope tracker, alerts account team when out of scope projects arise.
• Primary focus is high-priority projects.
• Provide weekly (or daily depending on team preference) hot sheets to key internal stakeholders & track completion accordingly
• Ensure notes are captured in internal meetings & distribute summarized feedback afterward. Ensure all team members acknowledge receipt & provide clear next steps when necessary.
• Develop and own project plans & maintain timeline throughout key project stage gates. Must be able to maintain across large client portfolio.
• Create detailed project plans and optimize throughout the lifecycle of the project.
• Provide guidance to more junior PMs on areas of concern & guide them on how to properly juggle multiple moving pieces.

Resourcing

• Partner closely with Resource Manager to solve agency-wide resourcing concerns.
• Determine resource needs at the account and project level, working with Resource Director to fill positions and utilize staff efficiently.
• Think strategically about resource utilization and optimization, taking into account client needs, as well as cross-discipline perspective.
• Actively anticipate & remove obstacles so resources can focus on their tasks.
• Facilitate and ensure cross-discipline alignment on task assignments, teams, communication and next steps/action items.
• Make sure team knows where to track their hours and does so appropriately. Analyse burn data at the resource level.

Budgets + Finances

• Organize and request the opening of job numbers in advance of the work.
• Track, analyze and mitigate risk against actual hours billed.
• Create SOWs detailing scope items and delivery assumptions.
• Ensure client signature/authorization before beginning work.
• Provide monthly budget reconciliations, analysis and proposed solutions (when necessary) to Director of Project Management and Account leads, showing progress against plan.
• Track scope delivery status along with actual vs planned hours per project/brand/account as applicable.

$125,000 -$140,000

Omnicom’s policy requires employees to work in the office for a minimum of three days a week, unless additional in-office days are directed by their agency or manager. Our objective is to increase this requirement over time, and many of our agencies as well as Omnicom’s corporate group already require five days of in-office attendance. Omnicom is committed to hiring and developing exceptional talent. We agree that talent is uniquely distributed, and we’re focused on developing inclusive teams that can bring the best solutions to everything we do. We strongly believe that celebrating what makes us different makes us better together. Join us—we look forward to getting to know you. We will process your personal data in accordance with our Recruitment Privacy Notice.

Link to Recruitment Privacy Notice: https://www.omc.com/privacy-notice

For US Job Seekers

It is the policy of Omnicom and any of its affiliates to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, ethnic origin, gender, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, disability, or any other basis prohibited by applicable federal, state, or local law. EOE/AA/M/D/V/F.

$125,000 -$140,000