Project Manager, Creative Agency

About the role

This role directs creative production for a fast-growing charter school network in New York. The Project Manager aligns teams and timelines to deliver high-quality materials for large-scale events while advancing educational equity. Success is framed as enabling a fair shot at college and life for students.

Designers shape how products look and feel. Designers create user flows, wireframes, prototypes, and polished visuals. They test ideas with users and iterate on feedback. Design work spans research, interaction design, and visual design. Collaboration with product and engineering happens daily. Design decisions are judged by outcomes such as usability, conversion, and customer satisfaction. Most design teams keep a living design system to keep products consistent.

Key facts

What you'll do

Steering cross-functional teams, both internal and external, to complete print, video, and digital projects on schedule and to a high standard. This work ensures events reach intended audiences and meet strategic goals.

Distributing standardized project structures for plans, timelines, and summaries so teams maintain alignment and clarity across initiatives. These frameworks organize workflows and support consistent execution.

This duty ensures each event delivers a coherent brand experience to stakeholders.

This focus sustains collaboration and credibility.

Requirements

Earning a Bachelor's degree as a baseline for the role.

Holding PMP/PMI certification or related credentials as a preferred qualification.

Bringing five or more years of experience managing creative for events that involve print, video, and digital assets in fast-paced agency or startup settings.

Communicating effectively with all organizational levels using strong oral and written skills.

Navigating dotted-line relationships to coordinate across multiple departments and achieve shared objectives.

Challenging partners to clarify needs and aligning on solutions that ensure optimal project outcomes.

Launching projects on time and on strategy while anticipating shifting priorities, partner approvals, technical hurdles, and partner sign-offs.

Understanding content and media production practices, including content management systems and project tracking tools, as a practical advantage.

Practical notes

This position is not eligible for bonus compensation.

Success Academy Charter Schools is an equal opportunity employer.

Typical interview steps

Design interviews usually include a portfolio review, a design exercise, and a team conversation. Candidates present past work and explain their process and decisions. Some loops include a live design challenge. Communication matters as much as the visual output. Portfolios are strongest when they show the problem, the constraints, and the iteration, not just the final screens. Interviewers also watch how you take feedback.

Good to know

Project management in education focuses on balancing creative ambition with strict timelines and compliance needs.

Cross-functional collaboration is central, requiring comfort with stakeholders at many organizational levels.

Familiarity with digital content tools and production workflows supports day-to-day responsibilities.

Roles in K-12 marketing often blend brand strategy, public events, and community focused messaging.

Clear communication and relationship management define success in nonprofit and mission-driven environments.

Questions to ask

Worth asking in any interview: how the team measures success, who the role works with daily, what the onboarding looks like, and what the company is trying to achieve this year. Asking what past hires did well is a strong final question. Keep the list short and pick the questions that matter most to you.

Career growth

Design careers grow from junior to senior, staff, and principal levels. Some designers move into design management or design operations. Specializations include UX research, interaction design, and brand design. Cross-functional influence grows with seniority. Senior designers are expected to influence product strategy, not just execute visuals. Building a habit of user research strengthens any design career.