Contract - Senior Project Manager

Who We Are:

At VML, we are a beacon of innovation and growth in an ever-evolving world. Our heritage is built upon a century of combined expertise, where creativity meets technology, and diverse perspectives ignite inspiration. With the merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson, we have forged a new path as a growth partner that is part creative agency, part consultancy, and part technology powerhouse.

Our global family now encompasses over 30,000 employees across 150 offices in 64 markets, each contributing to a culture that values connection, belonging, and the power of differences. Our expertise spans the entire customer journey, offering deep insights in communications, commerce, consultancy, CRM, CX, data, production, and technology. We deliver end-to-end solutions that result in revolutionary work.

About Us: Passport Design, A VML Company

Passport Brand Design is a creative branding company south of Los Angeles offering creative leadership to companies of all sizes. For over 20 years, Passport Brand Design has worked across multiple categories, in multiple markets throughout Australia, Asia and North America. We've built a team with extensive knowledge, insight and a global perspective.

In partnership with VML, we're committed to building a united global network of creators and thinkers, regardless of their age, race, skin color, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. With over 12,000 employees across the globe, our influence is made stronger by applying our collective experiences to tell stories that not only sell products and experiences, but also guarantee positive representations of all communities.

VML is looking for experienced Senior Project Manager who can quickly understand our clients’ needs and objectives and has the ability to efficiently translate them into clear and concise user stories and acceptance criteria to be consumed by our teams. The senior manager will help client stakeholders, product owners, and agile teams communicate effectively throughout each stage of a project. VML needs individuals who are proactive problem solvers that can manage team dynamics, manage project financial performance, clearly communicate status, and drive progression towards dates.

Responsibilities

Business Analysis

• Client business practices and operations
• Problem statement
• Business key performance indicators (KPI) and Definition of Success
• Work with client product owners and stakeholders to efficiently, clearly and concisely document
• Coordinate story mapping or other requirements gathering sessions
• Organize and lead product demonstrations regularly
• May function as a client proxy for agile teams
• Works with client product owner to set priority, build roadmaps, and facilitate working sessions
  
  
  

Requirements Analysis

• Work with agile teams to groom and refine user stories and acceptance criteria to meet the agile team’s definition of ready.
• Annotate wireframes and/or creative to provide all needed detail for execution
• Decompose or combine stories to support effective execution
• Ability to communicate technical domain specific information to non-technical peers
  
  
  

Project Management

• Establishes dates required for completion of activities and evaluates impact of change to the overall timeline.
• Manages progress and identifies risks, issues and gaps that could impact timelines, and goals of services.
• Removes impediments from the working delivery team.
• Provides accurate and frequent status to internal teams on a regular basis.
• Manages resourcing based on project needs.
• Provides necessary external status reporting to clients as needed.
  
  
  

Team Leadership

• Facilitate understanding of clients’ environment to properly set up project teams, identify needed documentation, and setup status reporting
• Collaborate with agile team and leadership to produce estimates and timelines for various possible solutions
• Create exceptional quality project setup documents detailing scope, assumptions, success criteria, risks, and communication strategy
• Proactively work with agile teams to eliminate blockers and impediments
• Facilitate team retrospectives, stand ups, and sprint planning sessions
• Proactively identifies dependencies and issues between teams and facilitates resolution
• Tracks project scope changes, delivery timing, and key project metrics
• Communicates project progress, changes, and risks internally and externally
• Quickly learn the basics of a given industry as needed to support client work
• Adhere to and evangelize VML standard processes, tools and guidelines
  
  
  

Quality

• Perform desk checks and ad hoc testing before, during, and after quality assurance and user acceptance testing occurs
• Perform regular post-production deployment checks
  
  
  

Required Skills & Experience

• College degree or Business Systems Analyst experience
• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, computer science, computer information systems, marketing, or equivalent experience, preferred
• Candidates must be comfortable working within the niccotine category
• 5 years of analyst, project management, technical, and/or business experience
• Ability to break down and simplify complex problems and systems into smaller and more consumable components
• Ability to provide proactive and assertive servant leadership in problem solving, managing financial success of projects, maintaining timelines, and reducing waste
• Strong interpersonal skills and able to resolve conflict with productive outcomes
• Ability to be an effective and valuable part of a team
• Ability to effectively work across departments with diplomacy and a firm understanding of other’s roles and perspectives
• Able to view problems in context at the system level and align solutions with the strategic direction of our clients and company.
• Proactive, adaptable, and flexible
• Life-long learner, demonstrated commitment to continuous improvement
• Strong attention to detail
• Ability to work across multiple projects
• Ability to manage workload with minimal supervision
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience with at least one application lifecycle management solution
  
  
  

VML is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, religion or belief, sex, age, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, military/veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability, or other protected group status. We believe in creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity and inclusion and strives to recruit a diverse slate of candidates to help us achieve that goal.

#passportbranddesign

The base salary range for this position at the time of this posting is indicated below. Individual compensation varies based on job-related factors, including location, business needs, level of responsibility, experience, and qualifications. We offer a competitive benefits package, click WPP Benefits for more details.

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$60,000—$140,000 USD

At VML, we are committed to fostering an all-inclusive work environment that is both rewarding and career-forward. Our Inclusion, Equity & Belonging initiatives, alongside the VML Foundation, reflect our dedication to giving back and making a positive impact in our communities and beyond. Our people are the heartbeat of our organization—creators, doers, innovators, makers, and thinkers—who drive not just marketing, but meaningful experiences that resonate in every action and interaction.

VML is a WPP Agency. For more information, please visit our website, and follow VML on our social channels via Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

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