Creative Project Manager ( 3 month FTC)

This is a critical role in delivering extraordinary customer experiences for Selfridges. Part of a cross departmental function, working across creative, communications and customer channel teams, to facilitate the management and delivery of key initiatives and campaigns. The jobholder will also interact with many other departments in the business (e.g. Buying and Merchandising, Visual Projects, Retail Operations etc.) and external partners, to ensure content is of a consistently high standard.

The Creative Project Manager will provide essential coordination, under the guidance of Directore of Brand Strategy, to plan and coordinate the delivery of brand led campaigns and other key miscellaneous project as required.

The role will be critical in originating and/or maintaining detailed documentation – including critical paths & milestones, budgets, status reports and project packs - for each stage of cross-functional campaigns. The job holder will demonstrate excellent communication and organisational skills and ensure relevant documentation is accurate, useful and up to date. They will be able to provide transparency and clear accountability at all times.

The Creative Project Manager will at times be required to present at a Senior level in the business, so confident presentation skills and the ability to give clarity to multi-layered projects is preferred.

Although project management skills are the key requirement, projects may originate from the Creative, Customer or Communications team, so the jobholder should have an affinity with the creative/ art world, as well as understanding of the fashion/ retail and digital worlds. They must also have a strong desire to surprise, amaze and amuse customers.

As the Creative Project Manager, you will:

• Understanding the Creative Concept brief for campaigns, developing a deep understanding of the Selfridges brand and acting as a brand guardian throughout a project lifecycle
• Building relationships across Creative, Communications and Customer channel teams, as well as the wider business, ensuring effective and evolving communication processes are in place with key stakeholders
• Maintaining and sharing project status updates, creating master critical paths and milestones, project packs and regularly updating and communicating to key stakeholders as necessary/ requested
• Taking/ producing detailed, succinct notes with action points from steering meetings, workstreams and key creative reviews & sign-off’s sessions.
• Coordinating steering meetings and relevant workstreams, and chairing them as required
• Presenting project overviews at various forums across the business
• Prompting delivery teams to supply documentation to relevant stakeholders, and miscellaneous tasks related to the management of the project.
• Arranging and/ or attending key meetings for the Creative, Comms and Customer teams as required, updating on process when relevant.
• Ensure risks and issues are being recorded, monitored and proactively managed to minimise disruption to successful delivery
• Provide clear regular status updates on project developments to the Director of Brand strategy, to enable relevant updates to be taken to Director level forums
• Support on campaign budget management where applicable, ensuring that functions are communicating their latest spend and updating trackers and line manager accordingly.
• Communicate correct codes to Project Team leads at the outset of project delivery

• Maintain a clear visibility & transparency on budget expenditure on projects at all times, communicated directly and competently with finance and accounts as appropriate.

• Build strong and effective working relationships with Project Leads and Customer Channel Planners to ensure campaigns are running smoothly.
• Operate with meticulous accuracy, probing and analysing projects looking for gaps in information or planning.
• Communicate confidently, clearly and openly with people using a range of styles and media.
• Produce written work and data that is accurate, clear and well presented.
• Use impeccable organisational skills to facilitate focus, accuracy and quality in the relentlessly fast paced turnover of content.
• Communicate matters of logistics and scheduling to all stakeholders clearly, ensuring all areas of remit/responsibility are understood and agreed.
• Adhere to all company policies and procedures, e.g. absences, time and attendance and holidays, etc.

You will have:

• Proven experience in assisting in the delivery of multi-channel projects or comparable, including experience tracking expenditure and producing schedules
• Digital experience an advantage
• Working in a creative or brand-based environment, but with project management focus
• Experience of working in the fashion, retail, media or art world preferred

• Highly organised and methodical
• Resilient – able to cope with pressure, be flexible, think quickly to solve problems and safeguard the team’s ability to deliver
• Confident and articulate
• Positive, cheerful and self-motivated - approaching tasks with energy and enthusiasm
• Seeks to understand the differing views of others, conflicting pressures or differing peak work times, but able to challenge appropriately
• Intuitive, levelheaded and calm. Can clearly demonstrate they have understood what is being asked of them and learn and develop processes from any relevant feedback.
• Strong interest in the Creative / Fashion world.