Sr Project Manager

We are seeking an experienced and polished Senior Project Manager to join Aquent Studios, embedded directly within our Managed Services team supporting our top defence & aerospace client.

In this role, you will lead end-to-end project management for high-priority communications initiatives spanning multiple business units, functions, and Centers of Excellence (COEs). Operating in a central PM capacity, you will manage governance for enterprise-level intake, lead the Gated Strategic Priorities Review process, oversee cross-functional resource allocation, and optimize overall operational workflows using tools like Workfront.

The ideal candidate is a proactive problem-solver with strong executive presence who thrives in a fast-paced environment, navigates changing priorities with agility, and is confident engaging directly with senior leadership and external partner agencies.

Strategic Project & Program Management

• Lead high-priority client communications initiatives from initial intake through final execution, translating strategic objectives into detailed project plans, milestones, dependencies, and decision points.
• Facilitate high level cross-functional collaboration, serving as a confident daily point of contact for senior leadership, key enterprise stakeholders, and external agency partners.
• Establish project governance, meeting cadences, decision rights, and clear escalation paths for complex, multi-discipline efforts.
• Maintain portfolio visibility into project health, status, scope, and critical decisions while developing polished, executive-ready dashboards, status reports, and briefings.
• Proactively address bottlenecks, scope creep, resource constraints, and competing priorities before they create downstream delays.

Gated Strategic Priorities Review

• Serve as the PM lead for the client's Gated Strategic Priorities Review process, managing intake, pre-read development, meeting logistics, and decision documentation.
• Gate-track initiatives from planning through execution and evaluation, maintaining accountability across action items, timelines, and dependencies.
• Identify recurring bottlenecks in the gated process to continuously refine governance, workflows, and resource alignment.

Enterprise Intake & Prioritization

• Act as the primary PM point of contact for enterprise strategic requests that fall outside standard business or account team alignment.
• Assess incoming requests for scope, urgency, complexity, dependencies, and resource requirements to help leadership determine ownership and governance paths.
• Maintain visibility across the enterprise portfolio to identify competing demands, resolve resource conflicts, and consolidate overlapping efforts.

Resource & Workflow Management

• Coordinate cross-functional resources across Brand Reputation teams, account leads, creative leads, and external agency vendors.
• Partner with discipline leads to assess capacity constraints, establish production timelines, and balance workloads.
• Utilize Workfront and other enterprise PM tools to drive team accountability, workflow efficiency, and transparent reporting.

Execution & Continuous Improvement

• Manage project administrative needs, including cost estimates, vendor requirements, procurement processes, and archive documentation.
• Conduct post-initiative evaluations to capture performance outcomes, metrics, and lessons learned.
• Remain agile and receptive to shifting plans, identifying operational patterns across intake, resourcing, and execution to propose systemic solutions rather than quick fixes.

• 8+ years of senior project management experience within an agency, managed services environment, or embedded corporate model, including experience collaborating with external agencies and vendor partners.
• Highly polished, articulate, and well-spoken, with no hesitation in communicating with, influencing, and presenting to executive-level stakeholders.
• Exceptional organizational and problem-solving skills with a track record of identifying operational bottlenecks, resolving complex conflicts, and staying flexible through changing project scopes.
• Advanced proficiency in Workfront (or similar enterprise PM tools) and comfort working within a PC/VPN virtual environment.
• Willingness and ability to undertake up to 25% domestic travel as required by project demands and executive syncs.

Compensation Range: $110 -115K DOE

The range provided is our reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role. The actual amount may be higher or lower, based on factors such as experience, knowledge, skills, abilities and location.