Project Manager

About AV Communications

AV Communications (AVC) is a Toronto-based multicultural marketing agency on a mission to create a more inclusive future through marketing. We help brands connect authentically with Canada's diverse communities through insight-driven strategy, creative, media and digital. AVC has been recognized as one of Canada's Top Growing Companies by The Globe and Mail's Report on Business for four consecutive years.

Role Summary

Project Manager

We are looking for an experienced Project Manager to help lead the day-to-day delivery of integrated marketing and agency projects from briefing through completion.

This role is responsible for keeping projects organized, teams aligned, timelines realistic, and deliverables moving forward. The Project Manager will work closely with Account Management, Creative, Strategy, Production, Media, vendors, and other internal and external partners to ensure work is delivered efficiently, accurately, and on time.

Strong, hands-on experience with Asana or similar PM tool is required. We are looking for someone who can do more than update tasks—they should be comfortable building and maintaining project plans, creating workflows, managing dependencies, identifying risks, and using Asana as a central source of truth for the team.

Key Responsibilities

Project Planning & Delivery

• Own projects from initial brief through final delivery.
• Translate scopes, briefs, and client requirements into clear project plans, timelines, milestones, and deliverables.
• Establish project schedules and ensure responsibilities, dependencies, and deadlines are clearly understood.
• Coordinate work across Account Management, Creative, Strategy, Production, Media and external partners.
• Track progress throughout the project lifecycle and proactively address delays, blockers, or competing priorities.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously while maintaining visibility into priorities and deadlines.
• Lead or support project status meetings and clearly communicate actions, owners, and next steps.
• Ensure appropriate review, approval, quality-control, and delivery processes are followed.

Asana & Workflow Management

The Project Manager will be expected to actively manage project workflow in Asana, including:

• Building projects, timelines, tasks, subtasks, milestones, and dependencies.
• Assigning clear ownership and due dates.
• Developing and maintaining project templates and repeatable workflows.
• Managing project intake and ensuring new work is properly scoped and entered into the system.
• Monitoring workload, priorities, deadlines, and potential bottlenecks.
• Maintaining accurate project status and ensuring Asana reflects the true state of the work.
• Identifying overdue tasks and following up proactively with project owners.
• Using dashboards, reporting, custom fields, rules, forms, portfolios, or other Asana functionality to improve project visibility where appropriate.
• Helping establish consistent project-management practices across the team.

The successful candidate should be able to look at an existing Asana environment, identify where workflow or discipline could be improved, and recommend practical solutions.

Scope, Budget & Resource Management

• Work with Account Management and team leads to understand project scope, timing, budget, and resource requirements.
• Identify potential scope changes and flag them before they create delivery or profitability issues.
• Track project hours, external costs, estimates, purchase requirements, or other financial information as required.
• Support resource planning by identifying upcoming workload and potential capacity constraints.
• Help ensure projects are being delivered within agreed scope, timing, and budget.

Communication & Problem Solving

• Act as a central point of coordination across project teams.
• Communicate project status clearly and proactively.
• Anticipate issues rather than waiting for deadlines to be missed.
• Escalate risks with appropriate context and recommended solutions.
• Navigate competing priorities and help teams determine what needs to happen first.
• Maintain strong working relationships while also holding team members accountable to agreed commitments.
• Remain calm, organized, and solutions-focused when timelines or priorities change.

Qualifications & Experience

Required

• Previous Project Management experience in an agency, marketing, creative, communications, production, or similarly fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated experience managing multiple concurrent projects with multiple stakeholders.
• Strong hands-on experience using Asana or similar tool for project management.
• Experience creating and managing detailed project plans, timelines, dependencies, and workflows.
• Strong understanding of project lifecycle, resource planning, prioritization, and risk management.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to identify issues early and drive projects toward resolution.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively with Account Management, Creative, Strategy, Production, vendors, and senior stakeholders.
• Confidence holding others accountable while maintaining collaborative working relationships.

Nice to Have

• Experience within an advertising, experiential, shopper marketing, digital, integrated marketing, or creative agency.
• Experience managing production-oriented projects involving external vendors or downstream partners.
• Experience reviewing estimates, budgets, hours, or project profitability.
• Experience improving project-management processes or implementing new workflows.
• Familiarity with additional agency tools related to resource planning, financial management, or time tracking.

What Success Looks Like

Within the first 6–12 months, the successful Project Manager will:

• Establish strong visibility across active projects and upcoming deadlines.
• Maintain accurate and reliable project plans in Asana.
• Reduce last-minute surprises by identifying risks and dependencies earlier.
• Improve accountability for tasks, deadlines, and deliverables.
• Help teams prioritize effectively when multiple projects compete for attention.
• Improve consistency in how projects are initiated, planned, tracked, and closed.
• Build trust with Account, Creative, Production, Media and leadership teams as someone who keeps work moving and solves problems.
• Contribute to stronger operational discipline without creating unnecessary process or administration.

What We Are Looking For

We are looking for someone who is proactive rather than reactive.

A strong Project Manager in this role will not simply ask, “Is this done yet?” They will understand what needs to happen, what is dependent on what, where the risks are, and what actions are required to keep the project moving.

They should be comfortable bringing structure to ambiguity, challenging unrealistic timelines when necessary, and creating enough process to help the team operate effectively without slowing the work down.