Account and Project Manager

The Account & Project Manager is the person our clients trust to tell them the truth and the person our team trusts to protect their time. You'll be the day-to-day contact for our smaller clients and own the delivery of the work across our marketing, web, and campaign accounts, from the first scoping conversation through launch and beyond.

This isn't a status-update job. We've built (and will continue to) AI-assisted workflows that handle much of the routine: status summaries, time-tracking reminders, scheduling, and meeting notes. That frees you to focus on the parts that require judgment: scoping work accurately, setting and resetting client expectations, deciding who works on what, and calling out risk before it becomes a problem.

The best person for this role is comfortable saying "yes, and here's what it changes" (and sometimes "no") with warmth and clarity.

• Serve as the day-to-day contact for our smaller client accounts, building relationships based on candor and follow-through; on larger accounts, support the account lead with delivery and communication
• Run kickoffs, status meetings, and presentations, translating client goals into clear direction for the team and presenting work back with context
• Manage expectations proactively: when scope, timeline, or budget shifts, you raise it first, with options
• Spot opportunities to expand the work we do together and partner with the CEO on renewals and proposals

• Own project scopes, estimates, and change orders, making sure what we promise matches what we've priced
• Lead delivery from kickoff through launch for websites, campaigns, brand, and content projects, keeping work on time, on budget, and on strategy
• Shape the right process for each project rather than forcing one template onto everything
• Run retrospectives and turn lessons learned into better estimates and smoother projects

• Balance capacity across designers, developers, strategists, and outside partners;decide priorities and sequence work
• Protect the team's focus by shielding them from scope creep and last-minute fire drills
• Coordinate freelancers and vendors so their work meets Happy Medium standards

• Approve client invoicing and make sure billing tracks with project progress and contracts
• Track project budgets, margin, and utilization, and bring insights to leadership
• Own and improve our project management tools and automations, and decide what to automate next

• Required
• 4+ years managing client projects at an agency, studio, or in-house marketing or creative team
• Experience as the primary day-to-day contact for multiple client accounts at the same time
• Experience writing or managing project scopes, estimates, or change orders
• Experience managing projects in a PM tool
• Able to work from our Des Moines office on a regular hybrid schedule
• Experience tracking project budgets, margin, or team utilization

• Clear, direct communicator in writing and in the room
• Calm under pressure; you name the problem and bring a plan
• Curious about how work gets done and always looking for a better way

• Within 30 days, you own day-to-day communication for your client portfolio
• Within 90 days, every active project has a current scope, budget, and timeline, and changes are documented through change orders
• Within 6 months, clients describe working with us as easy and predictable, and the team says priorities are clear
• The CEO spends less time on day-to-day delivery and more time on growth

Pay: $55,000.00 per year

• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave