Project Manager
At Real Art, Project Managers are the force that transforms ambitious ideas into exceptional work. They lead complex, integrated campaigns from kickoff through launch—bringing together strategy, creative, digital, video, experiential, fabrication, and production teams to deliver
work that exceeds expectations.
We’re seeking an experienced Project Manager to join our Dayton, Ohio, team. This is not a junior role. Our Project Managers are strategic leaders who thrive in complexity, bringing structure, clarity, and momentum to multifaceted client engagements. They develop comprehensive project plans, manage schedules and budgets, coordinate multidisciplinary teams, proactively identify risks, and keep both clients and internal stakeholders informed every step of the way.
You’ll partner closely with account executives, strategists, creatives, developers, other project managers, and clients to ensure projects are delivered on time, on budget, and at the highest level of quality. Success in this role requires exceptional organization, outstanding communication skills, and the ability to confidently manage multiple integrated workstreams simultaneously.
Responsibilities
Integrated Project Leadership
- Lead complex, multi-channel marketing campaigns spanning branding, digital, websites, video, experiential, social media, fabrication, and content development.
- Develop comprehensive project plans from kickoff through launch, ensuring alignment across internal teams, client stakeholders, and external partners.
- Anticipate project risks, remove roadblocks, and proactively guide teams toward successful outcomes.
Scheduling & Resource Management
- Build and maintain detailed project schedules with clearly defined milestones, dependencies, deliverables, and critical paths.
- Coordinate resources across multiple disciplines while balancing competing priorities and shifting timelines.
- Forecast upcoming work and partner with department leaders to optimize staffing and workload across the agency.
Budget & Scope Management
- Collaborate with account teams to define project scope, staffing plans, and cost estimates.
- Monitor budgets, track burn rates, manage change requests, and ensure projects remain aligned with approved scope and financial expectations.
- Clearly communicate the impact of scope changes on timelines, budgets, and resources.
Client Communication
- Serve as a trusted day-to-day client partner, providing regular project updates, status reports, meeting recaps, and proactive communication throughout the life of each engagement.
- Facilitate client meetings, establish next steps, and ensure expectations remain aligned across all stakeholders.
- Present project plans, timelines, and recommendations with confidence and professionalism.
Team Leadership
- Foster strong collaboration across strategy, creative, design, development, video, production, and account teams.
- Lead internal status meetings, coordinate cross-functional workflows, and ensure teams remain informed, aligned, and accountable.
- Create an environment where challenges are surfaced early, decisions are documented, and momentum is maintained.
Quality & Delivery
- Champion operational excellence while maintaining the creative integrity of every project.
- Ensure deliverables meet agency quality standards before reaching clients.
- Continuously identify opportunities to improve workflows, communication, and project execution.
Skills & Experience
- Five or more years of experience managing integrated marketing, branding, digital, or experiential projects within a creative agency.
- Demonstrated success leading complex, cross-functional campaigns involving multiple stakeholders, deliverables, and timelines.
- Expertise building detailed project schedules, resource plans, and production timelines for integrated marketing initiatives.
- Experience with industry-standard project management platforms such as Asana, Monday.com, Wrike, Jira, Workfront, Microsoft Project, or similar collaboration and workflow tools.
- Exceptional organizational skills with meticulous attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
- Outstanding written, verbal, and presentation skills, with experience providing regular executive-level client and internal project updates.
- Strong financial acumen with experience managing budgets, forecasting, change orders, and project profitability.
- Collaborative leadership style with the confidence to drive alignment across multidisciplinary teams.
- Strong understanding of digital production processes, creative development, content production, websites, video, and integrated marketing campaigns.
- Calm under pressure, highly adaptable, and relentlessly solutions-oriented.
About You
You’re the person everyone trusts to keep the most complicated projects on track. You thrive in fast-paced environments, enjoy bringing order to complexity, and know how to balance details without losing sight of the bigger picture. You build confidence with clients, earn the trust of your teammates, and believe that thoughtful planning is what makes breakthrough creative possible.
Most importantly, you’re energized by ambitious work, collaborative teams, and pushing beyond what’s been done before.
About Real Art
Real Art is a creative agency that gets our clients noticed through never-before-seen campaigns that instill a sense of wonder. We specialize in branding, content, and experiential campaigns, and because we do design, video production, programming, and fabrication in-house, we can ensure our ideas always maintain that initial creative spark. Founded in 1985, we are proudly independent and Ohio based.
We believe the best work happens when we’re together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. This is primarily an in-office position with some flexibility to be in front of clients across the country.
Real Art 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.
Apply for this job
Send your resume with “Project Manager” in the subject line to:
jobs@realart.com
