Sr Project Manager Operational Initiatives

FREEMAN

Chicago, IL

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JOB DETAILS

SALARY

$100,000–$120,000 Per Year

SKILLS

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Budget Management, Budgeting, Change Management, Continuous Deployment/Delivery, Continuous Improvement, Cost Control, Cost Forecasting, Cross-Functional, Customer Experience, Dental Insurance, Diversity, Documentation, Economics, Finance, Financial Operations, Global Branding, Leadership, Marketing Software, Mentoring, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Visio, Operations Management, Performance Management, Product Pricing, Project Estimates, Project Management Professional (PMP), Project/Program Management, Team Lead/Manager, Trade Shows, Vision Plan, Willing to Travel

LOCATION

Chicago, IL

POSTED

25 days ago

About Us

Sparks is a leading global brand experience agency, specializing in the design and execution of award-winning experiences that forge deep connections between brands and audiences. Recognized by Adweek as Experiential Agency of the Year, we bring a unique blend of strategic insight and execution excellence to every brand activation, corporate event, trade show exhibit, and immersive experience. Our commitment to creativity, innovation, and flawless execution drives us to craft impactful experiential marketing solutions that deepen relationships, inspire action, and build trust—all around the world.

Summary

The Senior Project Manager, Agency Operations leads internal agency operations and serves as a driving force for organizational transformation at Sparks. This role advances how Sparks operates by elevating customer experience, employee experience, and financial and operational performance. The work spans the Sparks, Freeman, and TFC landscape and requires close partnership with Technology, Data, and Digital teams to enable scalable, sustainable change. As the central hub for a large-scale transformation program, the Senior Project Manager owns PMO governance, resourcing strategy, delivery performance, and continuous improvement. This role scopes transformation projects, leads cross-functional planning teams, and drives adoption through deliberate change management. A core priority is keeping leadership engaged in shaping strategy while ensuring impacted teams understand the vision, the rationale for change, and how each phase affects them. This role is suited for an energetic, adaptable leader who thrives in a fast-paced environment managing multiple concurrent workstreams. This person is eligible to work a hybrid schedule based out of our Willis Tower office in Chicago, IL.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

PMO Governance and Transformation Leadership

+ Lead and continuously improve the PMO governance framework to drive consistent, high-quality execution across all transformation workstreams.

+ Provide oversight across the portfolio so workstreams stay on track, on budget, and aligned with organizational and financial objectives.

+ Deliver portfolio status reporting that keeps senior leaders informed and engaged in shaping strategy.

+ Champion change management communications at every level of the organization, connecting impacted groups to the vision, rationale, and progress of each initiative.

+ Elevate the broader project management community by establishing standards, templates, and mentoring practices that compound delivery quality across teams.

Financial and Operational Management

+ Partner with Finance to ensure programs meet financial targets.

+ Support budgeting, forecasting, and cost management.

+ Identify and resolve delivery and operational risks.

Process Design and Transformation Delivery

+ Lead end-to-end process mapping of Sparks' workflows, documenting current-state processes, roles, handoffs, and dependencies.

+ Scope transformation projects and lead cross-functional planning teams through discovery, gap identification, design, and implementation.

+ Design and implement future-state processes and systems aligned with industry evolution and organizational growth.

+ Maintain accessible, up-to-date process documentation.

+ Lead change management for each initiative, including stakeholder communications, training, and sustained adoption.

Education & Experience

+ 10 to 15+ years in PMO, Agency Operations, Delivery Operations, or Program Management.

+ Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

+ PMP, PgMP, SAFe, or similar certification preferred.

+ Agency, experiential, or events industry experience preferred.

+ Demonstrated ownership of delivery governance, transformation programs, and organizational change at scale, beyond individual projects.

+ Track record of scaling or maturing a PMO function within a transforming organization.

+ Strong project management, budgeting, scheduling, and delivery expertise.

+ Proven experience in change management and change communications, with the ability to align diverse stakeholders to a shared vision.

+ Experience working with executives and leading large cross-functional groups.

+ Demonstrated ability to influence executives and peers without direct authority, navigating ambiguity to build consensus across complex stakeholder groups.

+ Commercial fluency that extends beyond budgets to margin, labor strategy, pricing, and client-impact economics.

+ Fluency with modern project management and collaboration platforms (Smartsheet, Wrike, MS Project, Lucid, Miro, Visio).

+ AI enthusiast who will implement AI tools into the PM model.

+ Proficient in Microsoft Office and Google Workspace.

Travel Requirements

Travel up to 25%

What We Offer

The Freeman Company provides benefits that aim to empower our people and their families to thrive mentally, physically, and financially. These are a handful of the types of programs and benefits our full-time people may be eligible for. There may be some variances in specific benefits across regions.

+ Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance

+ Tuition Reimbursement

+ Paid Parental Leave

+ Life, Accident and Disability

+ Retirement with Company Match

+ Paid Time Off

+ Base Salary $100-120k based on level of experience

Diversity Commitment

At The Freeman Company, our commitment to diversity and inclusion is helping us to create not only a great place to work, but also an environment where our employees, our customers and our communities around the world can reach their goals and connect with each other. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status and other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

#TFCSparks #LI-Hybrid

Sr Project Manager Operational Initiatives

FREEMAN

Chicago, IL

About the Company

FREEMAN

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