Program Director in Toronto

Program Directors at Havas CX have two primary objectives: define the vision and structure of client programs and oversee their execution by our team of project managers, and continuously improve and refine the delivery practice. As a Program Director, you may be involved in overseeing multiple projects across various brands or clients to ensure the overall project health in their portfolio (financials, resources, risks, relationships), or overseeing one large portfolio-sized account.

The Program Director serves as "Lead" on large client accounts and is accountable for the delivery management team's organization, operational efficiencies, and health within their assigned accounts. Within that role, the Program Director may be responsible for supervising one or more project managers and/or senior project managers. Program Directors will interface heavily with senior creative, technical, and executive management within the client to assure that the solution is understood and addresses the customer's business requirements. They will also ensure that the challenges and requirements are understood by the team and will participate in the solution developed by the team.

The Program Director will be responsible for delivering accurate financial management of the accounts/brands to which they are assigned and for delivering improved account margins. In addition to the project responsibilities, Program Directors will also participate in the business development process and will be a key member of the business development team where appropriate. They will proactively manage risk to ensure project success.

Responsibilities

• Planning
• Has a deep understanding of the client’s business needs, expectations, and requirements.
• Leads the project team in determining the approach, deliverables, schedule, and tools to deliver multiple project streams within established constraints.
• Works with the client team as well as members of the assigned project team to estimate costs and timing for tasks such as project strategy, functional design, visual design, technology requirements, etc., utilizing established estimating processes and tools.
• Ensures the feasibility of project delivery given scope, time, and budget constraints.
• Execution
• Coordinates activities of the project management team and has overall responsibility for quality output.
• Performs timely review and approval of invoices and timesheets.
• Leads the creation and delivery of SOWs and CRs.
• Ensures that the Program meets and exceeds the company’s internal project delivery standards.
• Ensures that the project management team is handling core functions of the PM role, such as scheduling and facilitating project-related team meetings (i.e. kick-offs, status, internal/client reviews, etc.), communicating action steps to the team, and delivering weekly status reports to the project team, the client, and management.
• Helps update processes and standards for project documentation and ensures that the project management team is developing, maintaining, reviewing, and/or disseminating all project documentation.
• Is a contributor to the content and presentation of key client deliverables as required to ensure relevancy, strategy, quality, and timeliness.
• Monitoring – Scheduling, Financials and Risk Management
• Ensures adherence to processes for scope management and change control.
• Oversees the project management team to ensure that projects in the assigned accounts are completed according to schedule and within budget.
• Responsible for accuracy and overall financial health throughout the project lifecycle including estimates, revenue forecasts, invoicing, payables, receivables, etc.
• Responsible for delivering work with sold margins.
• Responsible for identifying and driving solutions to project risk challenges at the account and project levels.
• Is also responsible for developing and adhering to processes for project and account financial management.
• Is the point of contact for all team and client escalations.
• Client Communication
• Establishes relationships with key client team members and owns all client communications.
• Champions a client-focused culture to deepen client relationships and leverage broader company relationships, systems, and knowledge.
• Team Management
• Works closely with direct reports to ensure they understand expectations of their performance and helps them identify commitments; providing direction and feedback via regular meetings and as needed.
• Champions a high-performance environment and contributes to an inclusive work environment.
• Builds team expertise by mentoring junior team members and offering training in relevant methodologies, techniques, frameworks, etc.
• Works with the Discipline lead, Solution Leads, Practice Leads, and other team members to develop and/or promote best practices for the discipline.

Qualifications

• 10+ years’ experience managing multiple large, complex, and cross-functional interactive projects, preferably in an agency environment.
• Solid understanding of agile best practices is required.
• Experience managing pharma brands is a plus.
• Certification in an agile methodology is a bonus.
• Excellent understanding and performance of project delivery best practices including budget, scope, and time management.
• Expert knowledge of one or more of the following: software development life cycles, web/mobile technologies, web/mobile development processes and the delivery of solutions with creative and engineering components, digital strategy projects.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.
• Experience in working closely with Creative and UX teams.
• Preferably have a background or understanding of IT.
• Expert understanding of project management methodology including the ability to identify and resolve issues, manage risk, develop detailed work plans and specifications, perform resource allocations and run team meetings.
• Ability to work on multiple projects and manage multiple project managers and/or senior project managers at one time.
• Demonstrated ability to motivate staff/project/account team, inspire teamwork and take a leadership role.
• Ability to solve complex account-wide problems with keen instincts and organizational experience.
• Must be able to simultaneously focus on the big picture, details, and driving results.
• 3-5 years of people management experience.

About Havas CX Canada

Havas CX is a global network of digital agencies dedicated to creating meaningful experiences across the customer journey. With deep capabilities in business transformation, experience design, CRM, and technology, we partner with leading brands to deliver exceptional digital products and services across B2B and B2C markets. We are deeply committed to investing in the professional development of our team members, providing ample opportunities to expand skills, take on diverse challenges, and contribute to high-impact projects. Our passion for what we do drives us. Joining our team means being part of a culture and organization that prioritizes growth, innovation, and the pursuit of excellence.

Additional Information

This role represents an active vacancy at Havas. You will be joining a collaborative, growth-oriented environment where ideas are encouraged and career development is supported. The base salary range for this position is CAD $130,000 to $165,000, with final compensation determined based on factors such as work location, skills, experience, and background.