Creative Operations / Project Manager【外資系大手テックカンパニー担当】

TBWA\Media Arts Lab is the bespoke global agency for Apple and only Apple. We think different to create impact for the world’s most iconic brand.

We are looking for a Creative Operations / Project Manager in Tokyo; our Japan office that reports into the Los Angeles hub. This is a hands-on, hybrid role that sits at the very core of the agency. Combining high-end project management and creative operations, and working cross-functionally, the Senior Project Manager is responsible for successfully driving projects from initial brief through to execution. This role is the foundation on which the efficiency, timeliness, and quality of our work is built.

The Work

Project Management

• Build and document a definitive understanding of what is required, and of whom, to deliver projects at MAL, from initial brief, through creative development and production.
• Facilitate ‘JumpStarts’ to ensure projects are scoped, objectives are defined, and relevant workflows are clear from the get-go.
• Define and maintain project plans for all campaigns running concurrently — including detailed timing plans, key milestones, budget considerations, resource requirements and deliverables.
• Flag and appropriately address or escalate potential project-related challenges.
• Facilitate the creative development process — work shares, addressing review feedback, internal creative reviews, LA ET reviews.
• Quickly and effectively communicate updates and shifting priorities.
• Facilitate internal communications ensuring all internal stakeholders are consistently updated and tracking status throughout the lifecycle of any given project.
• Schedule and facilitate internal leadership reviews — provide clear agendas, manage leadership feedback, recap and distribute next steps and accountable people.
• Own the preparations for all client creative reviews. Ensure the deck is on-point and has been reviewed by executive leadership.
• Own the weekly ‘Priorities’ meeting, providing broader stakeholders with a snapshot of all projects, what’s critical for this week.

Creative Operations

• Working with account and strategy leadership, stay abreast of possible proactive briefs and have one eye on what’s coming next.
• Operate as the lynchpin that draws the account, strategy and production teams ever-closer to creative, integrating with department leadership to ensure the creative department is at the centre of the agency.
• Partner with department heads and the HR team to preview, track and ensure that all projects are optimally resourced — both in the sense that the agency has the talent it requires, when it requires, but also that staffing utilisation is maximised.
• Know creative talent profiles and in conjunction with our ECD, recommend creative allocations against appropriate briefs.
• Forecast freelance or specialist talent requirements across projects.
• Integrate with the global creative services function, enabling the timely flow of information and well as ‘freelancing the network’ resourcing.
• Provide a level of pastoral care to the creative department that strategically engages, motivates and fosters a high-performance culture.
• Partner with creative leadership and the talent development team to identify and address skills gaps within the department. Drive a continuous improvement and growth culture within the team.
• General — Undertake ad-hoc duties/ project work, on a permanent or temporary basis, as directed, that may sit outside of these ‘Key Responsibilities’ but that is broadly and reasonably in-keeping with the remit of the Senior Project Manager role.

Who Will Thrive in This Role?

• Possesses an unrelenting ambition to create smart, simple, iconic work that makes culture for the brand.
• The ability to develop and maintain meaningful and trusted relationships with senior agency stakeholders and clients.
• Next-level communication skills – clear, concise, articulate, and actionable.
• A natural networker, able to bring together key stakeholder from across the agency around a sense of shared purpose.
• A collaborator, but with the highest level of influencing skills.
• A trusted adviser to executive leadership, with the gravitas and negotiation skills to challenge and hold a line, but also the awareness to know when to compromise.
• A task- and detail-oriented person with a passion for organisation, prioritisation and process, capable of making the complicated feel manageable.
• A strength of will, positivity, and a resilience — able to roll with the punches, adapt, and keep even the most difficult of projects moving forward.
• Possesses a pragmatic, flexible approach — a natural problem solver always bring solutions.
• Possesses a sensitivity to different cultures, languages, communication styles and business practices.

Qualifications & Skills:

• Fully bilingual in Japanese and English
• Substantial project management experience within advertising or equivalent creative industry, working at scale and complexity on top tier global brands.
• Strong understanding of advertising processes, creative nuance, and the skills required to deliver campaigns across all media types.
• Substantial experience of managing and motivating people in a creative environment.