Senior Project Manager
VML · San José, Costa Rica
Advertising Services · 10,001+ employees
About the role
The Senior Project Manager will oversee the end-to-end delivery of social media and creative campaigns for global CPG clients. They are responsible for managing project financials, resource allocation, and cross-functional team collaboration to ensure high-quality, timely execution.
What they look for
Requirements
Candidates must have 5+ years of experience in digital or creative project management within an agency environment. Proficiency in social media platform guidelines, Agile methodologies, and enterprise task-tracking software is required, along with professional English communication skills.
Benefits
Full description
Who We Are
VML, part of WPP, is a leading creative company that combines brand experience, customer experience, and commerce, creating connected brands to drive growth. VML is celebrated for its innovative and human first, award-winning work for blue chip client partners including AstraZeneca, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Ford, Microsoft, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, and Wendy's. The agency is recognized by the Forrester Wave™ Reports, as a Leader among Marketing Creative and Content Service Providers, Commerce Services, Global Digital Experience Services, Global Marketing Services and, most recently, Marketing Measurement & Optimization. In addition, VML’s specialist health network, VML Health, is one of the world’s largest and most awarded health agencies. VML’s global network is powered by 26,000 talented people across 55+ markets, with principal offices in Kansas City, New York, Detroit, London, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Sydney.
About WPP
WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. We unite cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, world-class creativity, next-generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company – powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. For more information, visit WPP.com.
Sobre WPP
WPP es el socio de crecimiento de confianza para las marcas líderes del mundo. Unimos inteligencia de medios de vanguardia y soluciones de datos, creatividad de clase mundial, producción de próxima generación, soluciones empresariales transformadoras y asesoramiento estratégico experto en una única empresa, impulsada por talento excepcional y nuestra plataforma de marketing agencial, WPP Open, para ayudar a nuestros clientes a navegar el cambio, capturar oportunidades y generar un crecimiento transformador. Para más información, visite WPP.com.
VML Costa Rica, part of WPP, is hiring a Senior Project Manager (Social Media) to oversee social, creative, and community management program delivery for a premier global CPG client.
Positioned in a nighly visible, client-lacing capacity, you will manage une delivery or social channel content, creative campaigns, owned/earned social media, and community management activities across a diverse brand portfolio.
To succeed, you must have a strong creative sensibility, an analytical mindset for agency financials, and a genuine passion for the digital and social media landscapes. Operating in the fast-paced realm of social media, you must possess a keen sense of urgency, exceptional English communication skills, and the resilience to navigate real-time client feedback and rapid-turnaround requests.
What You'll Do
- Client & People Partnership
- Client-Facing Ownership: Serve as a trusted, daily partner to brand teams, managing expectations, presenting creative assets, and translating client objectives into clear briefs.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Account Leads, Creative Directors, Media Buyers, and Community Managers to ensure high-functioning, integrated project delivery.
- Team Motivation: Provide purpose, clear direction, and motivation to a multidisciplinary, cross-border team, fostering an environment of shared accountability.
- Social Media & Creative Program Delivery
- Social Workflow Management: Lead the end-to-end lifecycle (from scoping and content creation to community management and deployment) for organic and paid social content specifically tailored for TikTok and Meta platforms (Instagram, Facebook).
- Agile & Urgent Delivery: Act as the operational hub for real-time social media activities,
managing time-sensitive client feedback and immediate, culturally relevant reactive content needs with calm efficiency.
- Systemic Rigor: Establish, maintain, and optimize communication structures, project plans, and deployment schedules across multiple operating units and external agency partners.
- Al Integration: Actively seek opportunities and leverage Al tools to streamline delivery, automate workflows, and optimize team efficiency.
- Financials & Resource Operations
- Project Profitability: Take ownership of project-level financials. Plan, track, and approve project expenses, billing, and invoices to maintain healthy margins.
- Burn-Rate & Resource Monitoring: Monitor weekly resource allocations, track project burn rates, oversee budgets, and handle financial reconciliations.
- Scoping & Estimation: Drive accurate project estimations, staffing recommendations, and statement-of-work (SOW) development for new social and content workstreams.
- Project Documentation & Quality Control
- Rigorous Tracking: Keep projects moving seamlessly throughout the entire creative lifecycle-from initial brief intake, to creative concept review, through to final production and execution—while maintaining meticulous timelines, status sheets, and next-step documentation.
- Storytelling: Craft compelling presentation slides and project reports that communicate campaign progress, metrics, and operational health to both internal leadership and client stakeholders.
Who You Are
- A Builder: You are process-oriented, innovative, and enjoy standing up new client workstreams, establishing streamlined workflows, and building operational rigor.
- Open and Collaborative: You are highly comfortable with ambiguity. You naturally bring people together to co-create solutions and thrive in dynamic team environments.
- Optimistic and Resilient: You possess the stamina and balance needed to keep a team motivated under tight deadlines and are skilled at navigating obstacles with a solution-oriented mindset.
- Ego-less & Hands-on: You are willing to wear multiple hats-whether building a complex Smartsheet, writing meeting notes, or presenting a high-level deck-to ensure the team's success.
What You'll Need
- Experience:5+ years of digital, social, and/or creative project management experience in a PMO organization or delivery management role.
- Agency Background:Strong, direct experience working within a fast-paced creative or digital agency environment. This includes a proven track record of:
- Simultaneously managing multiple brands and projects under tight agency deadlines.
- Operating effectively within a multidisciplinary team setting (creatives, developers, strategists, and producers).
- Collaborating closely and side-by-side with Account Management teams to maintain account health and ensure client satisfaction.
- Social & CPG Expertise:Solid background managing programs for consumer-packaged goods (CPG) brands, with a strong grasp of social content requirements, platform guidelines (specifically TikTok and Meta), and production workflows.
- English Communication:Native or professional English language mastery (both written and spoken) is mandatory. You must be highly confident leading client-facing presentations, negotiating deadlines, and crafting professional client communications in English.
- Agile Methods:Familiarity with Agile methodologies applied to fast-turnaround creative production, including hands-on experience facilitating Program Increment (PI) planning or large-scale syncs.
- Task & Project Tracking Skills: Deep hands-on experience using Monday.com (or comparable enterprise task-tracking software like Jira, Smartsheet, Workfront, or Proof HQ) to map dependencies, assign ownership, and maintain real-time status visibility across multi-layered teams
- Tech Forwardness:A strong curiosity and active interest in leveraging Al tools to enhance project delivery.
En VML, parte de WPP, estamos comprometidos a fomentar un entorno laboral totalmente inclusivo que sea gratificante y propicie el desarrollo profesional. Creemos en la creación de un entorno de trabajo dinámico que valore la diversidad y la inclusión, y nos esforzamos por reclutar una lista diversa de candidatos para ayudarnos a lograr ese objetivo. Estaremos encantados de proporcionar acomodos razonables a las personas con discapacidades que necesiten un acomodo para usar o acceder al sitio de carreras de VML o para participar plenamente en el proceso de solicitud. Si necesita un acomodo para completar su solicitud u otro aspecto de nuestro proceso de reclutamiento debido a una discapacidad, comuníquese con nuestro departamento de Recursos Humanos o envíe un correo electrónico a (contacto de RR. HH.) para solicitarla.
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We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office an average of four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.
WPP (VML) is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.
VML is a WPP agency (NYSE: WPP). For more information, please visit www.vml.com, and follow along on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.
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