Project Lead, Management, Program ​/ Project Manager

Recess Studios is a brand agency built to challenge the expected. With offices in Portland and New York, we deliver end-to-end brand solutions, foundational development, consistent application across every touchpoint, and strategic amplification that drives impact. Our multidisciplinary team imagines worlds, crafts honest narratives, and creates experiences at the intersection of culture and commerce. We prize Good Honest Work by Good Honest People, building lasting partnerships through clear standards, tidy operations, and results that exceed expectations.

The Project Lead owns projects end-to-end scope, schedule, budget, and client communication and serves as the single source of truth for internal teams and clients. You plan the work, run the work, and protect margin and dates autonomously. You partner closely with Strategy, Creative, and Production, and report into an Account Director who sets account direction. This role is hands‑on, detail‑accurate, and steady under pressure.

• Project Planning & Scoping: Translate project scopes into clear plans, timelines, and budgets. Ensure work is structured to meet delivery requirements and financial targets, and proactively identify risks or constraints early.
• Project Setup & Kickoff: Lead internal and client kickoffs to align teams on objectives, roles, timelines, and expectations. Ensure all stakeholders have the information needed to begin work efficiently.
• Client Communication: Act as the primary day‑to‑day point of contact for clients. Run meetings, manage agendas, document decisions, and provide clear, timely follow‑ups. Maintain regular status communication that highlights progress, risks, and next steps.
• Budget & Financial Management: Monitor project budgets throughout the lifecycle. Track estimates against actuals, manage scope changes, and support invoicing processes. Partner with Account Directors to protect margin and address financial risks as they arise.
• Delivery Management: Guide cross‑functional teams to deliver work on schedule and within scope. Remove obstacles, manage dependencies, and elevate risks thoughtfully with clear recommendations.
• Documentation & Organization: Maintain accurate project documentation, timelines, and approvals. Ensure information is organized, accessible, and up to date as projects evolve.
• Project Close & Wrap: Oversee project closeout, including final deliverables, financial reconciliation, and post‑project learnings. Ensure all administrative and financial steps are completed cleanly.
• Cross‑Functional
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Work closely with Strategy, Creative, and Production partners to align expectations, coordinate workflows, and keep work moving efficiently.
• Process & Quality Standards: Uphold consistent project management standards and best practices. Encourage clear communication, strong meeting hygiene, and accountability across teams.
• Account Collaboration & Growth Support: Partner with Account Directors to support strong client relationships. Surface insights from project work, identify potential risks, and help spot opportunities for expanded scopes or services where appropriate.

• 4–7+ years in account management or project management roles within brand/creative/marketing
• Proven record delivering complex, multi‑disciplinary work on time, on budget, to spec
• Excellent client communication: clear writing, clean recaps, calm escalation, meeting facilitation
• High operational discipline: agendas before meetings, recaps after, files organized, PM tool current
• Proficiency with Keynote/Slides, Sheets/Excel, and project collaboration tools
• Comfortable running multiple projects concurrently; steady under shifting priorities
• Detail‑accurate, conscientious, and decisive; willing to be constructively disagreeable to protect scope, margin, and dates