Contract Creative Project Manager Jobs in Columbus, OH

About the Role

The Creative Project Manager ensures the right creative work gets done at the right time across multiple brands-balancing demand, capacity, and delivery so creative teams can focus on quality and brand excellence.

This role goes beyond task tracking. You'll bring structure, clarity, and thoughtful decision-making to a high volume of work-partnering closely with creative and business leaders and teams to move projects forward, maintain quality standards, and deliver against key business priorities.

You'll operate at the center of Creative Services, supporting work across design, photography, and retail marketing, while also helping ensure creative translates effectively across all markets.

What You'll Do

You will lead end-to-end delivery of creative projects across multiple brands, translating briefs into clear, structured plans with defined scope, milestones, timelines, and deliverables. This role owns intake, prioritization, and resource allocation across a high-volume pipeline-balancing competing priorities while aligning to business goals and launch timelines.

You'll manage schedules, risks, and dependencies from kickoff through final delivery, coordinating reviews, approvals, and handoffs while adapting to shifting priorities. You'll ensure creative output meets brand standards with a strong attention to detail, and communicate clearly with stakeholders to manage expectations, timelines, and tradeoffs.

You'll partner cross-functionally with Design, Photo Studio, Visual Display, Marketing, E-commerce, Sales, Product, and Brand teams to ensure work is aligned, on brief, and delivered on time. This role also supports retail launches and collaborates as needed to ensure creative work translates effectively into physical environments and customer experiences.

Key Responsibilities

• Own creative intake and serve as the central "front door" for all Creative Services requests
• Evaluate, clarify, and prioritize work based on business needs, timelines, and team capacity
• Balance workloads across creative teams and adjust as priorities evolve
• Lead seasonal planning, forecasting, and multi-brand launch calendar management
• Track dependencies and proactively manage risks for critical deliverables
• Maintain project management tools and reporting (e.g., Monday), ensuring visibility into active and upcoming work
• Monitor workload, timelines, and utilization, and provide insights to leadership
• Support Creative Services for board and sales meetings, including presentations and executive deliverables
• Manage last-minute changes and high-priority requests with professionalism and flexibility
• Drive continuous improvement through retrospectives and process enhancements
• Act as a point of coordination and escalation for prioritization and delivery challenges

What We're Looking For

• 5-8+ years of project management experience in creative, marketing, or retail environments
• Experience managingmultiple brands or business units simultaneously
• Strong understanding of creative workflows (design, photography, production)
• Experience withtraffic management, prioritization, and resource planning
• Ability to manage competing demands in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
• Attention to detail with a focus on quality and consistency
• Sound judgment and ability to make decisions and navigate tradeoffs
• Ability to be in office 4-5 days a week

Nice to Have:

• Experience with retail construction, store build-outs, or physical environment execution

How You Work

• You take ownership and follow through on commitments
• You approach challenges with a solutions-oriented mindset
• You stay organized and focused in a fast-moving environment
• You communicate clearly and build strong working relationships
• You maintain quality standards, even under tight timelines

What Success Looks Like in 90 Days

• Builds strong relationships with creative, brand, and cross-functional partners
• Establishes clear visibility into project pipeline, priorities, and team capacity
• Brings consistency and structure to intake and prioritization processes
• Demonstrates sound judgment in balancing speed, quality, and competing priorities
• Proactively identifies risks and resolves issues before they escalate
• Manages multiple brands and deliverables with confidence and follow-through

Work Environment

You'll be part of a fast-moving, collaborative retail environment where priorities evolve and teams work closely to deliver against shared goals. This role offers high visibility across both creative and business functions, with the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on how work gets done and delivered.

The pace can vary throughout the year, with certain periods, such as major launches or seasonal peaks require additional coordination and focus across teams. Success in this role comes from staying adaptable, maintaining strong communication, and helping bring clarity in moments that matter most.

Occasional travel may be involved to support retail or cross-functional initiatives.

Why This Role Matters

This role plays a key part in enabling creative excellence across brands. By bringing structure, clarity, and a collaborative approach, you'll help teams deliver strong work while supporting the pace and priorities of the business.