We value the power of collaboration and teamwork; hence the candidate should be committed to working 4 days a week out of the hired city office, but with the option to work within other offices if required (Atlanta, Chicago, and Cincy). 

A critical partner to client teams, the Director, Operations role provides oversight and support across assigned clients to drive operational excellence, track client financial health, and steward flawless execution of our work. 

This individual is an experienced integrated project manager who is comfortable and thrives in a fast paced and ever-changing environment. This individual must flourish within a dynamic agency team and build effective cross-functional relationships with all departments.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Deliver excellent service and relationship management in a fast-paced environment
• Develop a deep understanding of clients’ business and markets
• Collaborate with stakeholders across the organization to write Scopes of Work for client retainers and projects
• Coordinate cross-functional internal teams (media planning, creative, strategy, analytics) on client deliverables, in partnership with client leads, including billing & budget management
• Partner with internal teams to create project estimates and timelines
• Ensure team members are following through on action items in a timely manner, helping the team remove barriers as they arise
• Assist with performing risk analysis for projects and develop mitigation plans. Identify needs and risks that stakeholders may not recognize.
• Ensure the team consistently provides service and delivery of offerings that align to the contract/scope of the partnership
• Attend internal and client meetings and have strong presentation skills to manage/lead meetings as needed
• Evaluate client health by tracking and manage against estimated vs. actual hours 
• Supports the broader Operations team by streamlining and improving business processes across assigned clients

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE/ABILITIES:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of  education and years of experience
• 7+ years client operations / project management experience in advertising/marketing industry
• Demonstrated competency in program/project management and the execution of multiple client projects
• Deep experience with financial health/project management/time entry platforms

KEY CHARACTERISTICS/DESIRED COMPETENCIES:

• Ability to anticipate challenges and provide actionable solutions
• Strong attention to detail
• Proven success in a fast-paced environment with a “roll-up-your-sleeves” attitude 
• Initiative and resourcefulness in finding solutions  to limitations and challenges 
• Self-directed, with considerable initiative
• Superior listening skills and creative problem-solving skills
• Ability to build internal and external relationships
• Ability to negotiate with others to reach agreements/solutions that meet internal and external (client) needs
• Motivated by new challenges and problems to solve on a daily basis
• Strong verbal and written communication skills; effective presentation skills
• Proven track record with training and mentoring team members 
• Ability to effectively delegate decision-making, when appropriate, to allow others to develop problem-solving and decision-making competencies
• Strong propensity for developing a “coaching” atmosphere among direct reports
• Acute attention to detail and superb time/task management skills
• Acute self-awareness and commitment to self-growth
• Efficient and effective multi-tasker
• Can effectively execute against multiple priorities (internal and external) simultaneously in a cross-functional environment
• Highly enthusiastic, passionate, curious, confident and tenacious (particularly in regard to making the agency better)

Empower participates in E-Verify. We will provide the Social Security Administration, and if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security, with information from each new employee’s form I-9 to confirm work authorization. Please note that we do not use this information to pre-screen job applicants. You may click on the following hyperlinks for the E-Verify Notice and Right to Work Notice.