Creative Project Manager

Echo House is a market leader specialising in Creative & Technical Design, Artworking, Digital Content, Printing, Experiential Brand Activation, and Sustainable Production.

ECHO'S MISSION

Our mission is to empower our clients by delivering exceptional design and quality products through a seamless integration of innovation, technology, and meticulous attention to detail to create experiences that go beyond expectations. We are committed to nurturing sustainable practices, prioritising the wellbeing of our planet, and maintaining an unwavering dedication to superior service. With passion driving our purpose, we promise to transcend expectations, consistently and without compromise.

WE STAND FOR

An extraordinary culture of empowerment, respect, authenticity and collaboration and a business that exceeds all expectations.

A team that delivers beyond our leadership and who have an extraordinary life in and outside of the workplace.

Echo is acknowledged as the leader of sustainable design and creative production in the world.

Scope of the Role:

Collaborative. Positive. Respectful. Organised. Exceptional People Skills.

As a Creative Project Manager, you will be a pivotal member of the Echo team. Heading up accounts and projects, the role begins by receiving briefs directly from clients and account directors, and will be responsible for defining requirements, aligning expectations, and determining exactly what is required in every detail.

Working closely with Echo's design and artworking studio, print and fabrication departments through to logistics and installations – the role is all encompassing allowing our Creative Project Managers to embrace and direct all elements of a project's lifecycle.

The variety of briefs is unusual and can include anything from a single graphic to a full nationwide bespoke build roll out with modelling and digital animation to boot – all to be produced to the highest of standards and often within the tightest of timings. Working with clients ranging from world-renowned museums to world-leading luxury brands the project management must be diligent, consistent, and simply second to none. 

At Echo, our workflow approach is a hybrid. Dependent on the nature of the works, we combine the structured predictability of the Waterfall method with the flexible adaptability of Agile. This necessitates that all our team members are comfortable and proficient in both approaches, ensuring seamless integration and adaptability according to project demands.

The nature of our industry is that working ad hoc additional hours, or out of normal working hours, can be expected as a normal function of this role. Paid overtime, or time in lieu, is not provided for this. The leadership team of Echo House remain committed to limiting the extent and potential impact of this, for all individuals at Echo.

Echo operates within the vibrant pulse of the design and production industry, one of the world's most challenging yet fulfilling creative sectors. Our ethos centres around positivity, which underpins every interaction, be it team collaboration, client communication, or individual tasks. As the dynamics of our work continually evolve, maintaining flexibility, responsiveness, and composure are essential to delivering efficient and effective results. We uphold a culture of mutual respect, acknowledging that each team member's unique contributions enrich our collective output. Success at Echo hinges on your capacity to collaborate, deliver results, and bring a proactive spirit to our dynamic, often high-pressure environment.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

UNIVERSAL

• Operating with integrity – performing whole and complete work for and with all Echo

colleagues, clients and suppliers alike.

• Ensuring Echo House maintains its status as an industry leading team of dynamic, proactive & professional specialists.
• In depth training is provided as a core part of all new starters' induction. In addition, with such a nuanced and bespoke business, on–the–job learning remains the single most effective way to learn what we do and how we do it.

Client and Project Management

• Serve as the vital conduit between our company and clients, fostering relationships and engaging in meetings to understand new project briefs and unearth potential opportunities.
• Assume responsibility for overseeing key clients and their project portfolio. This may require internal support particularly from your own hub, which entails additional management tasks.
• Proactively drive work briefs from clients and develop commercial opportunities.
• Bring Visual Merchandising and Creative direction to all project works – both in advisement to clients and direction for internal teams.
• Manage expectations of clients, maintaining CPAs and managing workloads to ensure priorities are kept on top of, and deadlines are met.
• Quoting projects, with support from Echo account directors, and maintain budgets during project development.
• Interpreting briefs into works orders to be quoted on our internal MIS system – requiring a degree of data entry and administration.
• Co-ordination of spreadsheets for campaign roll outs, including managing data breakdowns for each team and analysing data for client quoting and alignment as well as appropriate departmental briefing. 
• Preparing installation briefs for bespoke jobs.
• Ultimately, Echo aims to be the creative production extension of any brand. We seek to understand the brand as much or even better than our clients do so we can best support them and drive current and new business highly effectively.
• The Creative Project Manager can offer both a project-based, and creative-based expertise on all works. This provides the client with a fully rounded service of both practical and creative direction on all their projects.

Creative

• Steer and shape conceptual design and development, extending to the design and production of every possible element within a retail environment. Vigilantly manage budgets and schedules, ensuring that the creative direction aligns with the client brief and brand values, whilst fostering, not inhibiting, creativity.
• Lead and participate in creative brainstorming sessions with the creative and technical design teams and external agencies, facilitating the development of major projects throughout the creative process.

Financial and Commercial Management

• Having a commercial awareness is essential for a Creative Project Manager at Echo.  Whether it's keeping a keen eye on budgets and margins or realising the potential of a client's business we expect our Creative Project Managers to think outside the box and maximise all commercial opportunities. 
• Being a Creative Project Manager carries the crucial responsibility of having a highly creative commercial awareness – both within our industry and the wider creative world. This ensures you can bring a well-rounded and innovative perspective on all works to our clients and their brands.
• Ensure all accounts are kept up to date and invoiced accurately on time.
• Developing new business is a key responsibility and opportunity for a Creative Project Manager.

Team Work

• Collaboration, communication, openness and respect are key pillars to the Echo culture and cannot be overstated.
• Working within a team is essential to everything we do at Echo and collaboration is the key to our success. Being a positive and constructive member of the creative and project teams as well as Echo as a whole will not only ensure a project's success; it will also encourage growth with our clients.
• Interacting with all teams throughout the company is an essential part of successful project management, and ensuring we deliver on time and to the supreme Echo standard.

GENERAL

• Echo is a dynamic, busy company with a close working team and as such we sometimes require our employees to work on additional bespoke projects outside of their daily duties. This is also aimed to encourage and broaden individual skills and ambitions.
• To perform other reasonable tasks as required by the Directors or your department head.
• Follow and promote to colleagues, visitors, and the public all health and safety procedures and protocols.
• Follow Echo's sustainability policies and procedures. Promote sustainable operations to colleagues, clients, and suppliers.

ESSENTIAL INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS:

• Excellent time management.
• Excellent organisational skills.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Individual diligence with a focus on team participation.
• Level-headed approach to demanding circumstances.
• Good leadership skills.
• Good written and oral communication skills.
• Experience in the graphics and creative production industry.
• Ability to clearly communicate instructions to a team.
• Flexibility and willingness to provide practical support where necessary.
• Good Excel and MS Office knowledge and practical experience.
• A quick learner with a positive approach will pick up everything they need to know at Echo.
• Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook and a quick learner in general operational software.

DESIRABLE INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS:

• A dynamic individual who takes pride and enthusiasm in all tasks they are assigned and those they seek out themselves proactively.
• Ability to manage multiple projects of varying nature simultaneously.

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

• Embrace Being Uncomfortable – The greatest learning moments occur when outside of your comfort zone.
• Be Quick Don't Hurry – provide agile service without compromising quality of work.
• Constantly Curious and Open to the New – Immerse into experiences and think outside the norm.
• All Hands on Deck, Always – No matter the nature of the job, we get it done together.
• Truth in Words and Actions – Take ownership and accountability.
• Culture in Action – Shut down conversations that are detrimental to other individuals. Look to surround yourself with colleagues that talk about visions and ideas, not other people.

Equality and Diversity:

We promote a working environment in which diversity is recognised, valued, and encouraged. We acknowledge the multicultural and diverse nature of the UK workforce and society in general. We are committed to principles of fairness and mutual respect where everyone accepts the concept of individual responsibility. It is therefore your responsibility to make sure you always observe and adhere to this policy.