Manager, Creative Operations & Project Management

«out the Team The Customer Experience (Marketing) team works to showcase our brand through the lens of expertise and love. They work to provide a personalized experience for our consumers backed by best-in-class, data-driven marketing capabilities. The Customer Experience team focuses across 4 departments including, Marketing, Creative, Communications, and our Loyalty & CRM team. Everyone brings their own point of view to create a unique experience for the pets and pet parents. About the Location Hybrid Position: This position may be considered Hybrid based on PetSmart’s FlexSmart policy and business needs. A Hybrid work arrangement is considered to be a blend of onsite and remote work activity. Associates with a Hybrid work arrangement have a work space at Phoenix Home Office and can be required to come onsite between 1-5 days a week as determined by leadership and based on business needs. About the Job Manager, Creative Operations & Project Management We are a small, fast-paced internal Creative Team who aims to be a highly strategic and innovative group that consistently demonstrates leadership and innovation in our work. We strive to gain the trust and respect of our business partners through our ability to deliver exceptional results, with a focus on creativity, agility and collaboration. Our goal is to evolve into a revered in-house resource for our clients, providing them with cutting-edge solutions that drive exceptional results and leave a lasting impact on their business and our pet parents. We have a vision to ultimately aspire to be a driving force in the industry, setting the standard for excellence and inspiring others to follow our lead. Who do you report to? Sr Manager, Creative Operations & Project Management Responsibilities: Independently own full project life cycle from concept to production to final delivery for major and minor initiatives simultaneously in a very fast-paced environment. Manage documentation, resources, scheduling, and project scoping. Ensure projects are delivered on time, on budget and meet marketing objectives and project scope. Work creatively and analytically in a critical thinking, strategic, problem-solving environment demonstrating teamwork, innovation and excellence. Identify potential roadblocks, mitigate risks on projects, develop contingency planning, and proactively engage in problem-solving. Provide status reporting regarding project milestones, deliverables, timelines, resources, risks and issues. Set and continually manage project and program expectations of internal and external partners. Provide relevant and succinct information in presentations, reviews and meetings. Always know what is happening under your realm of responsibility and have a general grasp of the bigger picture on the team. Passionately champion the creative processes and operations of the team. Research best practices for continual process and operational improvements and efficiencies. Be interested in scrappy ways of solving problems. Be interested in new technologies that can vault the team forward faster. Ability to translate marketing objectives to the Creative team, as well as communicate creative needs to Marketing partners. Excellent communication skills to collaborate with creative, marketing partners and external vendors. You work with passion and energy. The Creative Project Manager is detail oriented, able to work in a very fast paced environment, a critical thinker who thrives on finding ways to say “Yes, we can!” You have great knowledge of creative processes combined with strategic action plans to break down barriers and solve problems. You are comfortable working with ambiguity, organizing information and being a “go-to” resource for project plans, project details and creative operations. You are quick on your feet and a proactive self-starter. You’re able to juggle multiple projects at once. You are a go-getter that recognizes where challenges exist and you don’t wait to be told to fix it, you proactively solve problems, and keep your management, the creative team and partners continually in the loop. You're a highly collaborative team player who is always coming up with solutions. You love creative ops and project management and you’re always looking to do more in new and innovative ways while maintaining high standards of yourself. You can influence others with confidence and know how to negotiate timelines and process shifts to enable the creative team to thrive. You are tightly connected to your management and partners and understand what it takes to achieve the Creative Team vision. You adapt quickly with a positive attitude while working cohesively with the team. You welcome constructive criticism with a growth mindset, always seeking to improve yourself and how we work. You are unbelievably reliable and flexible to the situations thrown your way with a calm demeanor. You’re always thinking ahead and playing offense, not defense. You have experience working on an internal creative team or with a creative team in an agency environment. You work through a strategic and critical thinking filter. You understand strategy while always focusing on pet parents and business needs first and foremost. You make Creative Ops and Project Mgmt decisions that are thoughtful, strategic and always in the best interest of the team and department. You’re always prepared to articulate the reasons “why” the decisions were made. You proactively troubleshoot and self-edit to create a curated point of view. You are accountable for the work and have ownership of the outcomes. You catch on quick and understand objectives and how to execute on them. You are incredibly organized and always on time. You juggle and multi-task with the best of them. You work efficiently in a fast-paced environment with tight deadlines and limited budget. You never sacrifice quality. You understand how creative I developed and what it takes to build good work. You have the ability to help creative teams meet tight deadlines, you understand and question briefs, and you always seek to understand the ongoing direction coming from leadership. You’re well-versed with project management software, and you thrive to work through solid processes that allow creative to thrive. You take total responsibility for working with the creative teams to deliver projects on time and on or under budget. You are a master of managing timelines, documentation, reporting and scheduling. You’re a highly versatile team member and you have a range of skill sets to show for it. You’ve worked through many processes that support a multitude of platforms and campaigns. You have a general knowledge of the Adobe Creative Suite and can easily navigate MS Office applications on a Mac Platform. Required Skills and Experience Bachelor's degree in advertising, marketing, operations or related discipline or equivalent professional experience preferred. 4-5+ years project management experience on an in-house creative team or creative agency account/project management role. We're looking for the right experience and fit, not the right number of years. Knowledge of cross-functional creative processes and marketing practices in retail. Knowledge of the digital arena and print production process. Knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite programs, MAC proficient and skilled using MS Office applications. Experience project managing the delivery of simple to large, complex, cross-functional creative projects. Solid understanding of the creative development process. Passion for creative project management and operations. Experience managing or working within cross-functional marketing and creative teams. Effective diplomatic and motivational skills including the ability to manage up, across and down multiple business units while being incredibly positive and collaborative. A relationship builder who can establish credibility and form partnerships with internal partners. Excellent organization and time management skills with the ability to set priorities both for yourself and for your projects. Excellent communications skills (written and verbal) with the ability to create presentations with little advance notice. Unbelievably organized, energetic and quick on your feet. Experience managing processes, resources and schedules with proven problem-solving and resourcefulness. Proactive and decisive. Able to quickly adapt to change and competing demands through critical thinking and strategic problem solving. About the Culture At PetSmart, we work hard to create a culture where every associate feels like they truly belong and we celebrate the unique stories, backgrounds, and experiences our associates share. These experiences not only bring new perspectives in shaping our Belonging culture but they’re core to PetSmart’s success. Not sure if you meet 100% of the position requirements and whether you should apply? We’d still like to hear from you and encourage you to apply with us! You just may be the ideal candidate for this role, and if not this one, perhaps another position. Our home office offers outstanding amenities in a fun and rewarding workplace including: Pet friendly environment, bring your pets to work! On-site Dog Park “Top Dog” gym with equipment, fitness classes, massage therapists and personal trainers “Sit & Stay” Café serving fresh breakfast and lunch options On-site coffee bar “Lil’ Paws” learning center and onsite daycare facility (associate paid) Volunteer events with PetSmart Charities Learn more about
LifeAtPetSmart here: https://www.lifeatpetsmart.com/life-at-petsmart/ Check out Associate stories and share in some celebrations at PetSmart: https://www.blog.lifeatpetsmart.com/ Explore PetSmart Benefits here: https://benefits.petsmart.com/ If you don't already live in the Phoenix area here's a guide to the area: Welcome to Phoenix Guide