New Business Project Manager

Agency :

Havas London

Job Description :

A bit about us
Havas London has the potential to be a bit dangerous. We are on a transformation journey to help clients make their brand Impossible to Ignore by bringing together 'Big Creative' height and scale with a ‘Culture Maker’ obsession and agility. We are an agency on a mission to create the best work with the best people, and New Business sits at the heart of unlocking this opportunity.
This is an organisation where builders thrive and spectators fade. There are no top-down edicts and no one telling you what you can or can’t do. It is up to us to make what we want of it. We have great clients, Durex, Asahi, JBL, Birds Eye, Anchor, Yazoo, new Government roster but we have an opportunity to get more. This is a role for someone with eyes bigger than their belly and a lot of tenacity.

The Role

As Project Manager for New Business, you will be responsible for shaping, owning, and delivering the entire pitch process managing high profile pitches end to end, from driving RFI’s through to final pitch. You’ll partner closely with Creative, Strategy, Client Services and Production to ensure every pitch is seamless, creatively outstanding and operationally watertight.

This is a pivotal, high visibility role requiring exceptional organisation, confident ownership, and the ability to bring clarity, energy and momentum to fast paced, high stakes pitches.

Key Responsibilities

Process Leadership & Development

• Help define, build and implement a robust, repeatable pitch process for the agency, ensuring clarity of roles, workflows, approvals and timings.
• Continually evolve the process based on learnings, industry best practices and the needs of the business.
• Champion ways of working that empower collaboration, creative excellence and operational efficiency.

Pitch Project Management

• Lead RFIs, driving the process on all outbound new business plans.
• Lead pitches from initiation to final presentation, ensuring a structured approach, clear timelines and high-quality delivery.
• Develop full pitch plans, schedules, team structures, communication frameworks and status reporting.
• Identify risks early and create mitigation strategies to keep pitches on track, on budget and at the highest standard.
• Ensure all creative concepts are feasible, achievable and supported by the right production approach.

Cross-Functional Leadership and relationship building across Havas London and the wider village

• Manage and motivate multidisciplinary teams, acting as the central point of coordination.
• Foster strong relationships with Creative, Strategy, Account Management and Production partners.
• Inspire teams with clarity, enthusiasm and calm leadership especially under pressure.
• Create a supportive, collaborative atmosphere that brings out the best in everyone involved.
• Understand how the Havas Village works and develop relationships with key partners to streamline the cross-agency pitch process.

Stakeholder Management

• Work closely with senior leadership to understand pitch objectives, audiences and strategic direction.
• Provide clear, articulate progress updates and ensure alignment throughout the process.
• Confidently manage internal stakeholders, shaping expectations and guiding decision making.

Commercial & Operational Excellence

• Build and manage pitch budgets, timings and resource plans.
• Guide teams on the most effective delivery approach based on brief, timeline and ambition, and knowing when to bring in areas of expertise to advise.
• Ensure pitch materials meet brand, quality and production standards.
• Document pitch learnings and performance to support continuous improvement.

What you’ll bring

• 5+ years’ experience in Project Management within creative, advertising or integrated agency environments.
• Proven track record managing complex, fast turnaround creative projects or new business pitches.
• Strong understanding of creative development processes and production workflows.
• Exceptional communication, organisation and problem-solving skills, that inspire trust, collaboration, and ambition in others.
• Confident, proactive and calm under pressure, able to lead teams through ambiguity.
• Highly collaborative with strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build trust quickly.
• Commercial acumen balanced with creative curiosity.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a passion for creativity, innovation and operational excellence.
• Energy, resilience, and a natural ability to build relationships inside and outside the agency.
• A belief in our philosophy of care hard and a passion for helping clients see creativity as their biggest competitive advantage.
• A passion for emerging technologies, tools and creative innovation.

#LI-AC2

Contract Type :

Permanent

Here at Havas across the group we pride ourselves on being committed to offering equal opportunities to all potential employees and have zero tolerance for discrimination. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants irrespective of age, sex, race, ethnicity, disability and other factors that have no bearing on an individual’s ability to perform their job.