Project Manager

Michigan Creative, the largest provider of creative services to the University of Michigan, is looking for an operationally motivated Project Manager to serve as the dedicated organizational lead for our paid advertising team.

Reporting to the Managing Director, you will support a team of three Senior Media Buyers. This team manages paid projects for clients across U-M's 19 schools and colleges, Michigan Medicine, and multiple institutes and centers. You will be the primary client contact and workflow lead, helping complex multi-channel campaigns move smoothly from intake to reporting.

This role is designed for an experienced project manager who can manage work in a fast-paced agency environment. You will maintain rigorous schedules in Wrike, support project-level financial tracking and reconciliation, identify process improvements, and deliver paid advertising work with clarity, accountability, and operational discipline.

Primary Client Liaison

Be the first point of contact for clients on all projects, maintaining regular communication to ensure satisfaction and manage expectations regarding timelines and deliverables.

Client Intake and Scope Confirmation

Lead the intake process for new paid advertising requests, gathering project goals, target audiences, timelines, budgets, required assets, reporting needs, and approval requirements. Confirm scope and deliverables with clients and our teams to reduce ambiguity, identify risks early, and ensure projects are defined before work begins. Coordinate media buyer input and ensure assumptions, deliverables, and costs to support proposal and estimate development are clearly documented.

Workflow and System Management

Ensure the project database is accurate and production milestones are met as you develop and manage detailed project plans and schedules within Wrike. Monitor workflows, identify recurring process issues, and recommend improvements that increase efficiency, clarity, and accountability across the paid advertising process.

Budget and Financial Oversight

Diligently track actual fees and expenses against agreed-upon project budgets. Oversee budget pacing and resourcing to alert media buyers, other team members, and leadership if campaigns are at risk of missing financial targets.

Billing and Reconciliation

Manage project billing and ensure all expenses are processed accurately and on-time. Assist media buyers with billing reconciliation and vendor invoice approval to ensure financial accountability throughout the project lifecycle.

Buyer Support and Implementation

Assist Senior Media Buyers with daily tactical needs, such as coordinating creative asset handoffs, tracking creative deadlines, and completing QA checklists before campaigns go live. Monitor buyer workload across simultaneous launches and flag potential capacity issues, timeline risks, or resource constraints to leadership.

Vendor, Contract and Authorization Coordination

Coordinate with finance, procurement, media buyers, and campus partners to support vendor setup, purchase authorization, contract routing, and other administrative requirements for paid advertising campaigns.

Campaign Verification

Manage launch workflows, including verifying platform access and confirming platform setup across performance channels such as Meta, Google, Snapchat, and LinkedIn.

Operational Integration

Facilitate communication between media buyers and creative teams, including designers, writers, and developers, to keep testing cycles and optimizations on track.

Reporting Coordination

Coordinate weekly and monthly reporting cycles by collecting platform data to assemble performance decks that translate complex metrics into actionable insights for clients.

Experience

A minimum of five years in a professional project management position, preferably inside a paid media agency or startup environment. We will consider candidates with equivalent experience gained through work, education, or non-traditional means.

Communication

Exceptional written and oral communication skills, with the ability to translate technical media updates into clear information for clients, manage client opportunities and challenges, and help resolve conflicts or misalignments around scope, timelines, deliverables, and expectations.

Financial Literacy

Demonstrated experience managing project budgets, analyzing profitability, and overseeing invoicing.

Paid Media Knowledge

We require a functional understanding of major paid media channels and platforms. These include Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, out-of-home, programmatic, and CTV. Additionally, understanding campaign structures, creative specifications, media placements, trafficking needs, and reporting basics is necessary.

Software Mastery

Proficient in managing complex workstreams in Wrike or equivalent project management systems and G-Suite.

• Experience in higher education recruitment or B2B marketing.
• PMP or similar project management certification.
• Familiarity with performance metrics such as ROAS, CPA, and CTR.
• Ability to recognize potential business development opportunities through client conversations and elevate them to media buyers or leadership.

Operations Model and Work Location

Our office is located in a residential area with free street parking in downtown Ann Arbor. Michigan Creative currently follows a hybrid work model that includes both on-site and remote work. Staff work in the Ann Arbor office on designated in-person days, with remote work options available based on role responsibilities, team needs, and unit expectations.

The University of Michigan is an equal employment opportunity employer.