Project Management Lead (Contract) at Sia, New York, NY

Project Management Lead (Contract) at Sia in New York, NY. Contract. $80 to $100 an hour. Apply with swipeandhired.

Ready Set Rocket (A Sia Company), partners with ambitious brands to solve complex business challenges through integrated marketing, digital experience, customer strategy, creative, media, data and technology. We are building on significant momentum and investing in the next stage of our growth. Our clients look to us for strategic partnership that connects business objectives with measurable outcomes across the full customer journey.

Role Overview
We are seeking an experienced contract Project Management Lead to own the full lifecycle of client engagements across annual reports, proxy statements, ESG/ sustainability reports, brand identity, and website projects. This person will serve as the primary day-to-day client contact and internal driver, managing scope, schedule, budget, and cross-functional teams from SOW through final delivery.
This is a hands-on delivery role. The right candidate is equally comfortable running a weekly client huddle with senior executives, building a production schedule against a hard print deadline, and tracking hours and margin on a project in progress.

• Type: Contract, with potential to extend based on performance and pipeline.
• Duration: December 2026 through End of April 2027.
• Apx Hours: 20 hrs per week (during 9-6pm business hours)
• Rate: $80 to $100 an hour
• Location: New York preferred, hybrid. Remote considered for exceptional candidates.

Engagement Types

• Annual reports, including print and digital production, printer coordination, and ADA-remediated PDF delivery.

• Proxy statements and related regulated shareholder communications on fixed filing timelines.

• ESG and sustainability reports, including framework-aligned content development and benchmarking.

• Brand identity engagements covering positioning, logo and visual identity systems, brand guidelines, and messaging.

• Website projects, including requirements planning and coordination with development partners.

Core Responsibilities
Client Relationship Management

• Serve as the primary point of contact for senior client stakeholders, including C-suite and investor relations, legal, communications, and marketing leadership.

• Run weekly client check-ins and daily touchpoints during production phases.

• Facilitate brand workshops and working sessions with client leadership.

• Keep conversations at the decision level, protecting the creative team from unnecessary production detail while advocating for the work.

• Maintain organized project records, including meeting recordings, transcripts, and approvals.

Project Management

• Draft scopes of work, project schedules, and production plans, then manage delivery against them.

• Own section-by-section content development cycles, review rounds, and approval workflows.

• Coordinate external vendors including printers, typesetters, proofreaders, accessibility and ADA remediation partners, and media agencies.

• Maintain accurate project status in the agency project management system, including correct project stages and required data fields, so that reporting on hours and financials remains reliable.

• Publish clear daily and weekly status updates that make roles, responsibilities, and next steps unambiguous for the full team.

Financial Management

• Manage project budgets to a 2:1 profitability standard, tracking margin throughout the engagement rather than at close.

• Enter and reconcile contractor and freelance hours accurately.

• Price and write extension SOWs and change orders as scope evolves.

• Keep revenue forecasts and project financial reporting current ahead of weekly internal reviews.

• Flag budget risk early and bring options, not just problems.

Resource Allocation

• Own resource planning and scheduled hours for design, strategy, production, and freelance talent across assigned projects.

• Coordinate shared resources with other engagement leads to avoid overallocation.

• Reassign work and onboard replacement talent without disrupting client timelines or deliverable quality.

Strategic Contribution

• Build project assumptions and plans from provided estimates, adapting them to fit the required commercial range even when the engagement differs from past precedent.

• Sequence work so that upstream approvals are secured before downstream production begins, minimizing rework.

• Identify organic growth opportunities within existing accounts and surface them early.

• Bring formalized process improvements, not just issue identification.

• Seven or more years of project or account management experience in an agency, design studio, or corporate communications environment.

• Demonstrated ownership of annual report or proxy production, including familiarity with fixed filing and print deadlines.

• Experience managing brand identity engagements from discovery through guidelines delivery.

• Proven budget ownership on projects of $250K or greater, with a track record of delivering at or under budget.

• Experience managing freelance and vendor talent, including rate negotiation and hours reconciliation.

• Strong written and verbal communication, with the confidence to push back on clients constructively and make decisions on behalf of the team to maintain momentum.

• Comfort working across strategy, creative, design, production, and finance functions simultaneously.

Preferred Qualifications

• Working fluency with AI tools, particularly Claude, for project tracking, deliverable management, meeting preparation, and drafting. AI adoption is a strategic priority for our Creative business unit, and we expect this role to use these tools actively.

• Experience with Kantata or comparable professional services automation platforms.

• Familiarity with sustainability reporting topics and report structures.

• Experience coordinating website builds with external development partners.

• Background in advertising or campaign production, including video and digital media.

• Accessibility and ADA remediation experience for digital documents.

Success Profile
The candidates who succeed in this role are meticulous about detail without becoming bottlenecks. They are friendly but firm with demanding or indecisive clients. They run agenda-driven meetings that end on time with clear next steps. They keep the extended team informed proactively rather than reactively. They treat project financial hygiene as part of the job, not an administrative afterthought. They make the client experience smooth and help the client enjoy the process.

Workplace

Sia values in-person collaboration. When serving clients, consultants may be required to work onsite at a client location based on engagement needs. Between client engagements, consultants are expected to work from a Sia office or approved coworking location at least three days per week. Candidates should reside within a reasonable commuting distance of a Sia office or approved coworking location. Sia maintains offices and coworking arrangements across multiple U.S. markets, including New York City, Charlotte, Greater Seattle, San Francisco Greater Bay Area, Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Washington D.C.
Work Authorization
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of application and throughout their employment. This position is not eligible for employment visa sponsorship now or in the future.
Our Commitment
At Sia, we believe in fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture where our employees and partners are valued and thrive in a sense of belonging.