Creative Program Manager

Program Manager – Creative Operations (Contract)

Location: Chicago preferred (Hybrid)

Duration: October – June, with potential to extend

Overview:

Our client is seeking a Program Manager to support their in-house creative team in executing high-impact design and experiential programs across multiple workstreams. This role will oversee creative project timelines, workflows, and stakeholder communication—ensuring deliverables are on-brand, on-budget, and on-time. You’ll help keep complex creative initiatives organized from concept through production, driving visibility, efficiency, and alignment across teams.

Key Responsibilities:

• Coordinate and manage end-to-end project timelines across creative, design, and production workstreams, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities.

• Serve as the operational hub for internal creative teams—tracking progress, facilitating reviews, and maintaining documentation across all deliverables.

• Partner with designers, producers, and external agencies to ensure milestones, dependencies, and deliverables are clearly defined and executed.

• Manage intake and resourcing for multiple concurrent creative programs, balancing shifting priorities and ensuring stakeholder visibility.

• Support ideation sessions, kickoff meetings, and feedback loops—driving clarity, accountability, and on-time delivery.

• Maintain dashboards, trackers, and reports to communicate progress, risks, and next steps to leadership and partners.

Ideal Profile:

• 5 years of program or project management experience within creative, experiential, or marketing environments.

• Proven ability to manage cross-functional creative initiatives, from concept through execution.

• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills with a collaborative, solution-oriented mindset.

• Experience using tools such as Asana, Smartsheet, Workfront, or Monday.com to track creative workflows.

• Demonstrated success managing multiple fast-moving projects with tight deadlines and multiple stakeholders.

• Keen understanding of creative and production processes, with the ability to balance operational structure and creative flexibility.