Design Studio Manager Jobs in Raleigh, NC (NOW HIRING)

Creative Project Manager

ABOUT LUCID DREAM

Lucid Dream is a custom game and interactive experience studio. We help leaders in medical, scientific, and technical industries use emerging technology to transform the way they engage, train, and explain complex science to providers and patients. Inspired by games, we create immersive and interactive experiences for VR/AR, mobile, desktop, and web transforming education and engagement through purposeful play.

Located in the heart of downtown Durham, NC, our office at the historic American Tobacco Campus is a short walk from world-class dining and entertainment venues including the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC).

ABOUT THE ROLE

As a Creative Project Manager at Lucid Dream, you will be the driving force behind our immersive projects, shepherding XR experiences from concept through delivery. You'll bridge the gap between creative vision and production reality, working hand-in-hand with artists, developers, designers, and clients to ensure every project hits its creative benchmarks on time and on budget. You'll also serve as a trusted partner to our clients, translating their goals into actionable creative briefs and managing expectations with clarity and confidence. Qualified candidates have had experience working for digital marketing agencies and/or mobile game development studios.

Please note this is a hybrid position requiring three days of in-office work per week in Durham, NC, and two days work-from-home.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Project Management & Oversight:

• Develop and manage detailed project schedules, ensuring all deadlines are realistic and achievable.
• Help break complex, multi-disciplinary projects into clearly scoped tasks with defined owners, dependencies, and acceptance criteria, giving the team a clear path from kickoff to delivery
• Maintain project momentum by tracking progress, ensuring adherence to the project schedule, and ensuring all parties stay focused on project goals
• Proactively identify bottlenecks and implement strategies to expedite projects when necessary while maintaining quality standards

Client & Stakeholder Management:

• Serve consistently as the primary liaison between clients and agency partners, and internal teams, leading kickoffs, progress updates and reviews.
• Facilitate clear communication and alignment throughout project lifecycles
• Collaborate with both internal and external stakeholders to align on strategy, project objectives, and deliverables, proactively communicating to avoid misaligned expectations.

Creative Process & Feedback:

• Bring sufficient design fluency to enforce brand and style guide adherence across deliverables, spotting inconsistencies in typography, color, composition, layout, and visual tone before they reach the client
• Support creative leads with creative leads on storyboards, concept art, and visual development reviews, ensuring narrative and visual direction stay aligned with client objectives as projects move from concept to production
• Ask clarifying questions to translate subjective client feedback ("this feels off," "it needs more energy") into clear, actionable creative direction that artists, designers, and developers can execute against

Resource & Budget Management:

• Support capacity planning and resource allocation to ensure projects are staffed effectively.
• Manage project budgets, flagging variances early and recommending adjustments to protect margins
• Partner with the team to evaluate completed projects, identifying opportunities for improved efficiency and effectiveness

Delivery & Logistics Coordination:

• Manage logistics for film shoots and deployments, coordinating closely with internal teams and external vendors to ensure all aspects are handled smoothly
• Manage and coordinate with contractors, defining scopes of work, and ensuring quality standards are met throughout project execution
• Coordinate with vendors and stakeholders to ensure all necessary deployment resources are secured and available when needed
• Oversee build delivery, submissions, and deployment logistics, ensuring all technical and compliance requirements are met

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO SUCCEED:

• 3-5+ years of relevant project management or production experience in a digital agency environment or digital production studio preferably in a healthcare advertising agency setting.
• Familiarity with project management tools such as ClickUp, Monday, Trello or similar
• Excellent communication skills, written, verbal and visual
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects for multiple clients in a fast paced environment
• Comfort with ambiguity and evolving requirements; you know when to hold the line on scope and when to flex
• Experience managing both creative talent and technical deliverables for web agencies, digital marketing agencies or game design studios.
• Professional and proactive attitude with strong attention to detail and a desire to learn

WHAT WE OFFER:

• Robust company culture committed to our core mission and values
• Amazing group of talented colleagues, and a management team dedicated to transparent leadership and helping everyone grow and thrive
• Competitive salary
• Employer-sponsored health, vision, and dental
• 401(k) Retirement Plan with company match
• Responsible Paid Time-Off Policy
• Hybrid Work policy
• Parental Leave Policy
• Downtown Durham office with parking
• Monthly team-building events
  

Lucid Dream is an Equal Opportunity Employer that gives all qualified applicants consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees based on mutual respect. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.

No recruiters - principals only please!