Associate Project Director

Critical Mass is seeking a highly organized, dynamic, and experienced Associate Project Director to drive the flawless execution and compliant delivery of our integrated 3D CGAI Product & Technology Program. This is a specialized role that blends project management with production business management and requires an understanding of production business affairs. The ideal candidate also understands operations management and will work hand in hand with the Group Program Director to support project staffing, resourcing and reporting, project lifecycle management, legal and vendor compliance.

The ideal candidate excels at managing production complexity, developing and implementing risk mitigating strategies at both a client and project level, and organizing/mapping talent to create cross-functional teams that achieve high-quality results.

You Will:

Project Management:

• Work with the Group Program Director and Head of Innovation to support the overarching structure and health of the client program portfolio

• Work closely with Group Program Director and other leads to manage resource allocation, workload capacity, and prioritization of creative and production teams

• Administer and maintain project management (e.g., Asana, Workfront) and financial systems (e.g., procurement, billing) relevant to advertising production

• Develop, document, and champion best practices and Standard Operating Procedures for the end-to-end creative production process, ensuring efficiency, quality, and scalability

• Lead the back-end planning, execution, monitoring, and closing of multiple concurrent projects in partnership with the client-facing product leads

Production Business Management:

• Review creative concepts and final assets for potential legal risks, including clearance and licensing requirements for third-party materials (e.g., music, stock footage, artwork, intellectual property)

• Facilitate the onboarding of new production vendors, agencies, and freelancers, ensuring all contracts, NDAs, and financial paperwork are accurately processed

• Serve as the primary contact for all talent and usage matters, including union and non-union talent (ACTRA, SAG-AFTRA, AFM, etc.)

• Estimate, track, and manage talent session and usage fees

• Draft and process talent contracts, releases, and agreements

• Oversee residual and holding fee payments, ensuring timely compliance

• Draft, negotiate, and finalize Statements of Work (SOWs), Master Service Agreements (MSAs), and vendor contracts in partnership with Legal and Finance teams

• Maintain and track all rights, usage periods, and expiration dates for talent, music, stock, and licensed assets, initiating renewals as required

What We Offer:

• Global maternity and parental leave

• Competitive benefits packages

• Vacation, Flex days, and sick days

• Access to online services for families and new parents

• Summer Fridays (off at 3:00 PM local time every Friday)

• 12 Affinity Groups

• Internal learning and development programs

• Enterprise-wide employee discounts

Our new hires & employees are the future of our organization, and we want to set you up for long-term success. In an effort to do so, we expect our team to work in the Calgary office for a minimum of 3 days a week.

Critical Mass is an equal opportunity employer.

The Critical Mass Talent Acquisition team will only communicate from email addresses that use the URLs criticalmass.com, omc.com and us.greenhouse-mail.io. We will not use apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or Google Hangouts for communicating with you. We will never ask you to send us money, technology, or anything else to work for our company. If you believe you are the victim of a scam, please review your local government consumer protections guidance and reach out to them directly.

If U.S. based: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams#avoid
If Canada based: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/finance/consumer-affairs.html
If U.K. based: https://www.gov.uk/consumer-protection-rights
If Costa Rica based: https://www.consumo.go.cr/educacion_consumidor/consejos_practicos.aspx