What does a creative project manager do?
Creative Project Managers oversee specific projects in the company. They work in the creative industry, usually with artists. These artists include graphic designers, art directors, photographers, and the like. They ensure project completion and proper coordination between different teams. Due to the nature of the creative industry, they should adapt to changes and be flexible. Creative Project Managers are expected to have extensive experience working in the creative industry and with different artists in the industry. This experience would help them navigate and complete projects.
Creative project manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real creative project manager resumes:
- Manage a team of .Net and PHP developers.
- Manage creative team (editorial and design) copywriting, proofreading
- Manage creative team to develop packaging, hang tags and POS assets for all products.
- Manage migration of the defect/change request intake process from SharePoint to JIRA workflow management system.
- Manage multiple digital and rich media advertising campaign creative, teams & lifecycles including conception, production, QA and implementation.
- Manage leading fashion editorial photography studio, including set and lighting design.
- Provide training to clients and internal teams on Drupal CMS, risk management, digital analytics, digital strategy.
- Manage production of Powerpoint presentations; conduct photo research and editing; manage external vendors and freelancers.
- Create web and other HTML code content for the brand and for clients (i.e.
- Design and build DVD menus.
- Implement CSS throughout the site.
- Authore and encode DVD for final distribution.
- Update website and transition to a new Wordpress theme twice.
- Create graphic solutions for print , 3D environments and on-air animation.
- Adjust sketch with fabric which will be used to make clothes.
Creative project manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Creative Project Managers are proficient in Digital Marketing, Creative Projects, and Creative Services. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Organizational skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Creative Project Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Digital Marketing, 9%
Produced interactive and branded digital marketing projects from start to finish.
- Creative Projects, 8%
Managed creative projects by coordinating internal resources and interacting with clients.
- Creative Services, 5%
Hired and supervised an in-house creative services department providing worldwide support across departments and geographies.
- PowerPoint, 4%
Oversee production of corporate PowerPoint and Keynote presentations for staff meetings, annual executive meetings, executive speeches and external pitches.
- Client Facing, 4%
Conducted comprehensive analysis during client facing calls to understand clients advertising objectives.
- Project Management Software, 4%
Utilized various digital project management software (Approval Manager & Virtual Ticket)
Most creative project managers use their skills in "digital marketing," "creative projects," and "creative services" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential creative project manager responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a creative project manager to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization." Creative project managers often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "produced the wireframes and data architecture of a single source sharepoint portal housing exelon's diversity and inclusion courseware and communications. "
Organizational skills. Many creative project manager duties rely on organizational skills. "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members.," so a creative project manager will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways creative project manager responsibilities rely on organizational skills: "cultivate and sustainworking relationships with employees at various organizational levels within and outside of providence, includingleaders and external vendors/contractors. "
Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of creative project managers is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday creative project manager duties, as "managers must be able to communicate effectively with a broad-based team made up of other managers or staff members during the advertising, promotions, and marketing process." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "coached clients on content development and functionality requirements, as well as how to integrate website into overall marketing communications strategy. "
Creativity. For certain creative project manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "creativity." The day-to-day duties of a creative project manager rely on this skill, as "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what creative project managers do: "manage and follow up on editorial, art, design, legal and brand approvals for all creative requests. "
The three companies that hire the most creative project managers are:
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Compare different creative project managers
Creative project manager vs. Product development manager
A product development manager spearheads the development of new products within a company. Most of the time, their responsibilities revolve around conducting marketing research and analysis to determine consumers' needs, coordinating with the product development team to come up with new ideas, proposing business plans to the executives, and creating prototypes. A product development manager must also present a cost analysis, produce progress reports, and address inquiries and concerns. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the staff, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, creative project manager responsibilities require skills like "digital marketing," "creative projects," "creative services," and "powerpoint." Meanwhile a typical product development manager has skills in areas such as "lifecycle management," "product management," "r," and "customer service." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Product development managers earn the highest salaries when working in the retail industry, with an average yearly salary of $107,708. On the other hand, creative project managers are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $86,105.product development managers tend to reach higher levels of education than creative project managers. In fact, product development managers are 6.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.7% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Creative project manager vs. Web manager
Web Managers are responsible for managing websites for organizations. Their duties include managing website upgrades, testing for website performance, implement a strategy to increase web traffic and subscribers, troubleshooting website issues, and responding to security breaches. They create content audits as well as ensuring the website has brand strategy alignment. A Web Manager ensures website compliance with all regulations and keeps abreast of the best practice of the industry. They must possess good problem-solving skills and knowledge in search engine optimization.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that creative project manager responsibilities requires skills like "creative projects," "creative services," "client facing," and "project management software." But a web manager might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "wordpress," "html css," "google analytics," and "web content."
In general, web managers achieve similar levels of education than creative project managers. They're 2.7% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Creative project manager vs. Product marketing manager
A product marketing manager is responsible for managing the company's goods and services, promoting brand awareness, developing effective marketing campaigns to attract existing and potential clients, generating more revenues, and achieving its profitability goals. Product marketing managers must have excellent knowledge of the marketing industry, as well as broad ideas on the current industry trends to meet clients' demands and identify business opportunities. A product marketing manager should be highly communicative and display excellent leadership skills to work with other departments and respond to clients' inquiries and concerns timely and efficiently.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, creative project managers are more likely to have skills like "creative projects," "creative services," "powerpoint," and "project management software." But a product marketing manager is more likely to have skills like "product management," "b2b marketing," "market trends," and "go-to-market strategy."
Product marketing managers earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $121,046. Comparatively, creative project managers have the highest earning potential in the technology industry, with an average salary of $86,105.When it comes to education, product marketing managers tend to earn higher degree levels compared to creative project managers. In fact, they're 11.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Creative project manager vs. Senior product marketing manager
A senior product marketing manager develops marketing projects and programs for new products, aiming to attract consumers and increase the brand value, which will translate into sales. They primarily have administrative duties such as making decisions, establishing schedules and guidelines, setting budgets and goals, delegating responsibilities among teams, and monitoring their progress, solving issues and concerns when any arise. They also lead the efforts to conduct market research and analyses, create marketing materials, and streamlining project requirements, all while implementing standards and regulations.
Types of creative project manager
Updated January 8, 2025
