Storyline: Who We Are
We create research-driven narratives that transform. Harnessing unparalleled creativity and uncompromising precision, we provide storytelling research, insights, and strategy for the most influential and ascendant companies in tech, entertainment, non-profit, and public policy. From messaging architectures to brand platforms, policy to product, our team of strategy, messaging, design, and research experts hone communications insights to craft stories that help our clients confidently tell their own. At the heart of our organization is our mission to be an indispensable strategic partner with diverse, innovative, and global capabilities.
We’re seeking a Director of Project Operations to join us in continuously raising the bar to do just that.
The Opportunity & Role
As Director of Project Operations, you are the senior operational leader responsible for a portfolio of high-visibility, high-priority research and strategy engagements. You orchestrate multi-workstream programs across qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method market research, ensuring projects are scoped correctly, resourced intelligently, and delivered with excellence. You are a confident, calm, and authoritative presence for clients and internal teams alike, setting direction, resolving issues quickly, and inspiring a “we can get it done” culture.
This role is built for operators who have led client-facing delivery inside a market research firm, creative agency, or communications consultancy, serving large multinational brands across multiple workstreams and geographies.
You’ll report to senior operations leadership and partner closely with Client Leads, Narrative & Insights, Design, and Research Ops to deliver seamless execution at scale.
What You’ll Do
- Portfolio Leadership: Lead a portfolio of complex, concurrent projects across qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method programs, maintaining clear scope, timeline, budget, risks, and decision logs.
- Client Leadership: Serve as executive point of contact for key clients, modeling proactive communication, crisp expectation-setting, scope management, and constructive pushback when timelines or quality are at risk.
- Scoping & Translation: Own project intake and scoping, translating ambiguous briefs into actionable plans, milestone schedules, staffing models, and budget structures.
- Resource Orchestration: Drive resource management across teams and vendors, optimizing utilization, balancing capacity, and forecasting needs; coordinate cross-project dependencies and staffing swaps.
- Operating Model & Standards: Standardize PM excellence: define and enforce operating rhythms, RACI, status reporting, change control, risk registers, issue escalation paths, and QA gates for deliverables.
- Vendor & Fieldwork Oversight: Oversee vendor-side execution for research operations, including recruiting, fieldwork, survey programming, data processing, and compliance with data quality standards.
- Global Study Operations: Partner with Research Ops and Client Leads to design operational plans for multi-country, multi-language studies, including sampling, localization, logistics, and incentive workflows.
- Tooling & Automation: Implement and continuously improve the PM tool stack and automations across Notion, Google Workspace, timeline tools, and documentation hubs.
- AI-Enabled Efficiency: Apply AI tools to streamline project workflows: requirements capture, scope drafts, timelines, status summaries, risk analyses, meeting notes, QA checklists, and template-driven documentation, while maintaining human-in-the-loop review.
- Team Leadership & Development: Lead PM team development: coach, set goals, deliver feedback, establish ladders and competencies, and cultivate a culture of ownership, clarity, and anticipation.
- Executive Quality Control: Conduct executive-ready reviews of plans, communication, and deliverables; ensure every client touchpoint conveys operational excellence and builds trust.
- Financial Stewardship: Track financials at the project and portfolio level, including burn, margin, and change orders; partner with leadership on pricing, resourcing, and pipeline planning.
What You’ll Need
- B.A. and/or M.A. in a field with strong research or business emphasis.
- 7+ years of vendor-side project and program management in market research, insights, or adjacent consulting environments, including multi-country and multi-method engagements.
- Demonstrated success managing multiple clients and complex concurrent projects, with impeccable organization and communication.
- Deep familiarity with project management tools and systems (e.g., Asana, Notion, Airtable, Smartsheet, Gantt/timeline tools); mastery of status, RAID, RACI, and change control.
- Strong experience in resource management, portfolio planning, and cross-project prioritization; confident leading staffing forums and utilization reviews.
- Proven leadership of PM teams, including hiring, mentoring, performance management, and career pathing.
- Experience implementing AI-enabled workflows to speed documentation, improve consistency, and reduce administrative load while maintaining quality controls.
- Executive presence with the ability to command the room, deliver crisp next steps, and make timely tradeoffs that protect outcomes and relationships.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills; strong judgment and problem-solving in fast-moving environments.
- Ability to work outside of traditional business hours to support global clients and projects when necessary.
Our Benefits
We offer a competitive benefits package. Storyline Strategies is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. EOE/AA/M/F/V/D/SO.
In order to comply with equal pay and salary transparency laws in various locations, we believe the target range of base compensation in all locations within the United States for this role is $110,000 – $130,000 USD. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and location.
Location
US-based, remote position with work-from-home flexibility 4–5 days per week. Candidates must be based in the Washington, DC or New York, NY metropolitan areas and be available to meet in person for one full work week per month in a co-working office for strategic and collaborative work.
How to Apply
Please submit a resume and cover letter to careers@storylinestrategies.com in addition to applying via LinkedIn.
The Storyline Team
We’re trailblazers. We believe “good enough” is neither good nor enough. We’re energized by new challenges, and motivated by the pursuit of innovative ideas that produce results.
We’re invested in what we do. The work is endlessly stimulating. The clients are among the world’s most influential brands and decision-makers. And the team is continuously inspiring. There’s no better motivation to bring your best to everything you do.
We’re driven by a passion for storytelling. Nothing excites us more than uncovering a game-changing insight, crafting an effective solution, and creating an unforgettable narrative.
