Project Manager, Global

Karla Otto is a globally recognized public relations and communications agency, founded in 1982, with offices in 15 key cities across the UK, EMEA, US, and Asia. With a strong presence in fashion capitals such as Milan, London, Paris, and New York, the agency has built a reputation for representing some of the most prestigious names in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle.

In 2017, Karla Otto merged with K2 to form THE INDEPENDENTS, a global marketing, design, and communications group. This collective brings together industry leaders who share a commitment to innovation, excellence, and thoughtful collaboration across the luxury and lifestyle sectors.

At Karla Otto, our team of expert strategists, designers, planners and publicists are dedicated to delivering exceptional results and establishing long-term partnerships with our clients. We are passionate about the world of fashion, beauty, and luxury, with everyone bringing their unique expertise and insights to the table. We are driven by a shared commitment to excellence and a deep understanding of the ever-evolving industry landscape.

The Project Manager is responsible for coordinating and executing multi-faceted client projects and 360 retainer services across global offices. This role requires exceptional organization, communication, and problem-solving skills to drive alignment between internal teams, external partners, and clients.

The successful candidate will bring typically 5–7 years’ experience in a similar project management role, with a proven track record across strategy, event delivery and content production, ideally within fashion, lifestyle, music or art.

Key Responsibilities

Project Management & Coordination

• Oversee multi-stream teams executing 360 strategies for global clients across Karla Otto offices.

• Coordinate cross-office teams (from entry-level to VP) to ensure timely, high-quality deliverables.

• Lead client and internal meetings; set agendas, guide discussions, and ensure clear outcomes and fulfilment of action items.

• Develop and maintain project plans, timelines, budgets, and workback schedules.

Client & Internal Communication

• Act as the main point of contact for clients, consolidating communications across local markets.

• Build trust with both clients and internal global teams through clear and consistent updates.

• Disseminate key updates and ensure alignment across regions and departments.

• Maintain clear team structure documentation and update as needed.

Process & Workflow Management

• Establish and implement efficient workflows, roles/responsibilities, and reporting structures.

• Streamline internal communication and create cohesive messaging for clients.

• Coordinate scheduling and availability checks across time zones and teams.

Documentation & Reporting

• Prepare project briefs, kick-off documents, scopes of work (SOWs) and budgets with input from internal teams.

• Share regular reporting templates and consolidate global updates into client-facing reports.

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Finance & Legal Coordination

Invoicing & Budget Oversight

• Work with finance to manage client billing, job codes, and invoice tracking.

• Act as liaison between finance and client for any invoicing or payment-related matters.

• Support creation of rate cards and project budgets (excluding third-party vendor payments).

• Make sure budgets for projects are tracked and do not exceed limitations.

Contracts & Legal

• Partner with the legal team to set up project agreements and oversee contract execution.

• Facilitate internal approvals and ensure all documents are routed properly for sign-off.

• Manage agreements between KO and clients (not including influencer/media/vendor contracts).

• Manage agreements between KO and third-party partners.

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Event & Production Support

• Build detailed timelines and coordinate deliverables in the lead-up to events.

• Act as the key liaison between clients, KO teams, and external vendors.

• Support contract negotiation and execution for event-related third-party partners.

• Provide on-site project support and real-time troubleshooting.

• Ensure budget is tracked and managed accordingly.

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New Business Development

• Lead project management for new business RFPs and pitches.

• Translate RFPs into actionable briefs, workback schedules, and team coordination plans.

• Organize internal communication channels, meetings, and deliverables for pitch processes.

• Post-win, assist in setting up contracts, rates, scopes, and vendor forms.

Skills & Qualifications

• At least 5-7 years working in a similar role with experience across strategy, production, content production etc,

• Strong project management and organizational skills.

• Excellent interpersonal and client relationship management.

• Comfortable working across global time zones and coordinating diverse teams.

• Confident to manage upwards both internally and externally.

• Ability to handle sensitive information with discretion.

• Experienced in managing timelines, budgets, and cross-functional deliverables.

• Impeccable attention to detail.

• Positive can-do attitude who is a good motivator

• Problem solver

• Comfortable in a fast-paced, agency environment

• Excellent communicator

• Strong taste level, prior experience across fashion, lifestyle, music, art etc.

• Strong communicator, visually, written word, verbally

• Black book of contacts / collaborators for project execution

At Karla Otto, we are always looking for personalities with positive charisma who are enthusiastic, self-motivated, and have a keen sense of aesthetics.