Project Director (Creative Services)

About SketchDeck

Elevate your career working with leading global brands alongside inspiring colleagues in a flexible, remote-first environment. At SketchDeck, we aim to bring great people together to deliver exceptional impact. Through a combination of purpose-driven partnership, technology, and global talent, we help brands realize their limitless potential with quality creative and digital solutions provided on demand. We work with clients ranging from startups to well-known enterprise brands such as Dropbox, Rémy Cointreau, and Asana. 

At SketchDeck, our values are more than just guiding principles—they’re the foundation of how we work and grow together globally. We commit to:

• Win as a Team.
• Find Solutions.
• Take Ownership.
• Do the Right Thing.
• Be Human.

Guided by our vision to be the best full-service creative partner, we empower our team to collaborate and innovate from anywhere with a flexible, remote-first culture. Our camera-on, Slack-heavy environment cultivates genuine relationships and collaboration, where we actively seek culture add, not just culture fit.

About the Role

As our Project Director, you will take ownership of two high-touch, fast-growing accounts that require strong day-to-day leadership and a thoughtful, strategic lens. You will independently manage an annual book of business of $1.8M–$2M, ensuring smooth delivery across every workstream and building trusted client partnerships that deepen over time.

In this role, you will oversee a blended mix of ongoing programs, multi-month initiatives, and quick-turn creative needs. You will bring structure, clarity, and proactive communication to complex engagements, partnering closely with Creative Directors, Strategists, Designers, and cross-functional teams to ensure high-quality outcomes across branding, integrated campaigns, digital, content, and video.

You will also operate as a strategic partner—spotting growth opportunities, supporting pipeline planning, guiding clients toward long-term success, and helping shape how SketchDeck shows up as their creative partner.

As these accounts expand, you will play a key role in building a scalable delivery model. This includes mentoring Project Managers and, over time, stepping into people leadership with direct reports. As your capacity and strengths allow, there will also be room to take on additional accounts or special programs.

The ideal candidate is based in PST, though we welcome applicants who can reliably work PST hours or have the flexibility to overlap with this schedule.

This is a senior role that bridges account leadership and project delivery. We are looking for someone who thrives in high-touch environments, can navigate complexity with confidence, and can own an account end to end while reinforcing our values and standards across both client and internal teams.

This role reports to the Senior Account Director.

What Success Looks Like

Clear and trusted client partnerships
Clients see you as their day-to-day leader. You communicate clearly, help them make informed decisions, and build trust through proactive, steady partnership.

Smooth, well-structured delivery of creative programs
You lead complex creative programs—often $25K–$150K+—with clear scopes, achievable plans, and aligned expectations. Work moves forward smoothly because timelines, deliverables, and ownership are well defined.

Strong cross-functional coordination
Creative Directors, Strategists, Designers, Project Managers, and Quality Control partners know what’s happening and what’s needed. You keep teams connected, anticipate challenges, and support efficient collaboration across workstreams.

Accounts that grow with consistency and insight
Your accounts retain and expand because the work is reliable, communication is consistent, and opportunities are surfaced thoughtfully and rooted in client goals and long-term needs.

Ownership of financial and delivery performance
You manage a portfolio of approximately $1.8M–$2M annually with clear scopes, accurate resourcing, and steady communication. Work is delivered reliably against agreed financial, timing, and quality expectations.

What You’ll Do

Program-Level Ownership

• Lead the delivery of multiple creative programs, ensuring each workstream has clear goals, owners, and timelines.
• Build straightforward plans that outline phases, milestones, and dependencies so teams and clients stay aligned.
• Provide regular updates that clearly communicate progress, risks, and upcoming needs.
• Support long-term planning by sequencing work realistically across multi-month initiatives.
• Bring consistency across programs by using shared approaches for planning, communication, and review cycles.

Program & Project Management

• Develop clear scopes of work and budgets that outline deliverables, timelines, and resource needs.
• Build and maintain clear creative roadmaps and timelines—tracking milestones, resourcing, and overall project health, and raising risks early with practical solutions.
• Maintain up-to-date documentation, including scopes, schedules, budgets, and summaries of key decisions.
• Communicate changes in scope, timing, or priorities with clarity, offering options so clients can make informed decisions.
• Partner with Creative Directors, Strategists, Designers, and Project Managers to ensure briefs are actionable and teams have the information they need to begin work confidently.

Strategic Partnership

• Develop strong, respectful relationships with senior client stakeholders, acting as a calm and trusted partner.
• Guide clients in planning by mapping priorities across quarters and translating them into structured programs.
• Identify opportunities to expand or evolve the work and collaborate with the Senior Account Director on renewals and account growth.
• Bring insights from your accounts into pipeline and capacity discussions to support smoother planning.
• Represent SketchDeck in client meetings with clarity, preparedness, and a supportive presence.

Creative Collaboration

• Support work across branding, integrated campaigns, digital design, content, decks, and video, with an understanding of how each creative discipline works.
• Turn client goals into clear creative briefs and structured plans that give teams the direction they need.
• Coordinate review cycles by organizing feedback, aligning stakeholders, and clarifying next steps.
• Balance creative ambition with practical considerations—scope, timing, and resources—to support strong and sustainable delivery.

Operational & Financial Oversight

• Manage portfolio revenue of $1.8M–$2M annually, maintaining visibility into how work maps to budget and goals.
• Build and maintain scopes and budgets in partnership with internal leads to ensure clarity and accuracy.
• Track account metrics such as revenue, growth, retention, utilization, and project profitability.
• Identify financial or operational risks early and present clear, actionable solutions.
• Support staffing alignment across internal teams and contractors to maintain sustainable delivery.

Leadership & Team Development

• Mentor Project Managers in core areas such as planning, communication, scoping, and navigating client needs.
• Strengthen delivery consistency by contributing to playbooks, QA processes, and scoping models.
• Support contractor engagement by helping clarify expectations, workflows, and communication.
• As accounts grow, take on formal people leadership with PM direct reports, including onboarding, coaching, and performance support.

Requirements

• 7–10+ years managing creative programs or large-scale projects in an agency or in-house creative environment.
• Experience working with Microsoft or similarly complex enterprise clients across branding, multi-channel creative campaigns, and integrated programs.
• Demonstrated success managing enterprise or Fortune 100 client relationships with clarity and confidence.
• Experience delivering 360-degree creative programs, including brand systems, integrated campaigns, digital experiences, content, decks, and video.
• Ability to manage annual portfolios in the $1.8M–$2M range with strong forecasting, budgeting, and financial communication.
• Strength in building scopes, estimates, and timelines that align expectations for both clients and internal teams.
• Experience collaborating with Creative Directors, Strategists, Designers, Project Managers, Quality Control partners, and cross-functional teams.
• Experience working with contractors, including sourcing, onboarding, guiding, and supporting creative talent across programs.

Benefits

Compensation: $110K–$145K OTE with uncapped commission

• Base Salary: $110,000–$125,000
• Commission: $10K–$20K annually, uncapped (paid monthly)

Benefits include:

• Health insurance (medical, dental, and vision)
• 401(k) with company match
• Fully remote working environment (pre-COVID and forward)
• Paid time off that grows with tenure
• Annual company retreat
• Technology stipend: $1,500 for computer setup + $500 for home office

We value diverse perspectives and are committed to an environment where everyone can bring their authentic selves to work daily. If you’re excited about a role but don’t meet every qualification, we still encourage you to apply—studies show that women and people of color are less likely to apply unless they meet all the requirements. We’re interested in what you can bring to our team, whether for this role or another opportunity in the future. 

SketchDeck is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on gender, sexual orientation, marital or civil status, pregnancy (or pregnancy-related conditions), gender identity or expression, transgender status or gender reassignment, race, color, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, religion or religious beliefs, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other grounds or characteristic that is protected under the law.

If you require reasonable accommodation during the interview process or employment, please contact us at [email protected]. We’re here to support you in every step of the process.