Senior Project Manager

Job Description

The Senior Project Manager helps maintain client relationships and plans, executes, and finalizes projects according to deadlines and budgets. This individual assists in the effort to develop and execute strategies to grow revenue that meet and exceed assigned objectives including, client management, development, and retention. The Senior Project Manager understands client challenges and leads internal and external core teams to conceptualize, design, and deliver novel solutions for clients’ needs in a manner consistent with the values and reputation of Synchrony. A key to success will be the ability to define and communicate project scope, timelines, resources, and budget and to oversee quality control throughout the project’s lifecycle. The Senior Project Manager acquires resources and coordinates efforts of team members and third-party contractors or consultants and has comprehensive knowledge of the status and timelines for all tactics associated with a project or campaign. The Senior Project Manager should communicate project knowledge and updates to the client and team members and take a proactive approach to identifying potential risks and implement problem-solving tactics to maintain predetermined timelines and budgets.

Job Duties

Project Planning and Management

Maintain an understanding of client business, objectives, and tactics

Cultivate understanding of company project process and procedures and participate in identifying process improvements

Review and contribute to project briefs and initiate project kick-offs

Set and reinforce project expectations of team members and vendors

Develop detailed project plans and timelines adhering to company process, including breakdowns of individual team tasks

Create interdependent project plans for multi-part projects and deliverables

Evaluate available resources and assign billable work to internal team members or obtain external supplemental resources as needed

Assume responsibility for tracking and maintaining timelines and delivery of all projects throughout all project stages with internal team and external resources

Develop internal project status reports and conduct weekly team project review meeting

Route documents and next-step directions to team in a timely manner to maintain efficient completion of deliverables

Monitor team progress to identify potential delays and proactively call team meetings to resolve queries and provide additional direction

Regularly maintain ongoing project-related communication with core team, client, and external resources

Assist with cross-client resource allocation and planning

Account Management Support

Participate in development of yearly brand planning proposals with estimates and projected year-long project plans

Support the development, presentation, and selling of high-quality deliverables

Provide support in client presentations, selling the agency's point of view

Attend on-site and virtual client meetings and congresses as needed, and communicate key learnings to team and client

Demonstrate ability to accurately assess and relay client requests, comments, and concerns to the internal team

Assist in delivering any project-related information to the client, including but not limited to financial, timeline, and client status review/updates

Provide support to determine and refine project specifications, develop proposal cost, and create timeline estimates

Assist in facilitating communication between team members and clients to maintain strong relationships and effective account management

Demonstrate knowledge of client/brand objectives and strategies through communications with the internal team, partners, and vendors

Keep management apprised of:Critical internal Synchrony issues, concerns, and opportunities

Critical client concerns and opportunities

Brand accomplishments and tactics

Monitor industry and therapeutic area and best practices and advances to ensure that Synchrony and our clients are at the cutting edge or leading the field

Financial Management and Tracking

Enter and maintain project budgets and billing schedules in company financial system

Evaluate project progress against contracted billing schedules and initiate AR invoice requests

Maintain cost-to-complete estimate report for active projects

Complete internal invoice forecasting on monthly basis and evaluate forecast against actual billing to provide early warning to Account Services and Business Unit Lead of unmet forecasts

Create monthly client accrual reports

Track budgets of active and completed jobs against total yearly client budgets

Monitor project status and notify Account Services of budget risks or out-of-scope financial impacts

Work with Account Services to develop Change Orders for out-of-scope work

Review project labor and expense reports to identify incorrectly recorded project hours or expenses, potential performance efficiency issues, and possible out-of-scope project hours and address with  internal team and client

Perform budget reconciliations at the completion of all projects and use that information to adjust future project estimates

Troubleshoot client financial questions and discrepancies

Quality and Risk Control

Ensure alignment of brand strategy to tactical executions

Ensure that all quality control measures (eg, editorial review, graphics review) are completed

Initiate and maintain electronic files for all projects

Ensure that all specifications of projects sold are being met and delivered to meet or exceed client expectations

Key Competencies

Professional behavior and confidence

High level of integrity, confidentiality, and accountability

Ability to manage outcomes to win-win resolution

Well-developed professional communication skills, including written and interpersonal

Ability to accurately estimate costs for standard and new project types

Ability to independently develop timelines for standard and new project types without use of a template

Experience managing cross-functional teams

Proactive, solution-oriented approach to project management

Highly developed organizational skills and attention to detail and timelines

Ability to coordinate and execute multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment to serve multiple therapeutic teams and meet project goals

Capability to adhere to structure while maintaining ability to be flexible, creatively problem-solve, and be decisive

Strong presentation and persuasion skills: Can develop a clear point of view and tell a meaningful “story”; is effective in a variety of settings and group sizes with clients, peers, and management; confidently expresses both data/facts and more controversial topics; commands attention and can manage group dynamics

Ability to oversee, manage, and support priorities and workflow to ensure high-quality project execution according to project timelines and budgets

Ability to identify key issues; creatively and strategically overcome challenges or obstacles

Sound analytical thinking, planning, prioritization, and execution skills

Proficiency in Microsoft (MS) Word, Excel, PowerPoint applications

Ability to master various content management systems

Desire to meet professional goals and acquire new skills

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