Project Management Lead (Maternity Cover) in London

Purpose: Brewing the world’s most loved beers and building brands consumers love, AB InBev is where ownership, ambition, and action thrive. Our portfolio of iconic brands includes global classics like Stella Artois, Budweiser, and Corona, and well-known favourites such as Camden Hells, Beck’s, and Leffe. We empower you to dream big, lead change, and create a long-lasting legacy. We value relentless problem-solvers who take accountability, embrace challenges, and turn bold goals into results through resilience and hard work.

About draftLine: draftLine is our award-winning in-house agency. Creatives, strategists, producers, and marketers gathered from all over Europe revolutionising the way we do marketing in our company. We believe that brands that ignore people get ignored by people, that’s why our mission is to build brands with people at the heart. As insiders, we collaborate with every discipline within ABI, as well as external partners, to deliver communication plans that connect and drive growth for our brands. Based out of our central London office, with its own production studio and rooftop bar, we will work hand in hand with global and local marketing teams to develop top-notch creative work.

The Role: We are looking for an experienced and ambitious Project Management Lead with Group Account Director experience within a creative agency. At draftLine, we challenge the agency status quo, so you should have a future-thinking mindset and be able to think outside the box. You’ll have experience working with high-performing teams on multiple global brands across multiple markets, being able to work in close partnership with the creative, strategic, production and media teams, as well as the brand teams and external partners/agencies. The role will report directly into our Head of Operations; you will be expected to take charge and self-sufficiently support your team as they deliver projects. This role definitely suits a self-starter who is comfortable juggling multiple work streams, is keen to learn, and can comfortably talk about, defend and sell creative ideas. You will be responsible for leading, developing and inspiring your team of talented Senior Project Managers & Project Managers, supporting them to run their projects and being the first point of escalation and issue resolution. With high levels of responsibility and regular access to senior Directors within ABI, this position will provide an excellent opportunity to learn and create some of the best work in the business.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Coach, lead and inspire a team of Senior and Project Managers to excellence.
• Build and own relationships with key/senior stakeholders such as EU/Global Marketing Directors and act as the marketing director escalation point.
• Seamless integration with Operation leads (Traffic & Finance) and department heads in draftLine to assure smooth processes led by the PM team (finance, full marketing funnel, media integration etc.).
• Actively monitor and track draftLine Targets & Operations team North Stars, opening gaps and influencing achievement.
• Constant improvement and analysis of WOW, analysing areas for improvement and working closely with the broader dL departments where applicable.
• Work together with Marketing teams on brands 1-year plan and lead the dL SOW delivery for your brand scope, translating scope into workload planning for draftLine alongside finance & traffic leads.
• Supervise tracking of overarching budgets and finances with the PM team and their brands, such as retainers, forecasts and reconciliations with the support of the Finance Manager - Ensuring brand teams are always notified of any overspend/issues in a timely manner.
• Lead high profile & complex projects/campaigns where necessary.

Who We're Looking For:

• Experience managing and coaching high performing teams.
• Relationship management experience with ability to interact and influence efficiently across various stakeholders in different geographies, at all organisational levels.
• Being able to push back; we’re all employees working together.
• Organised, meticulous about keeping promises and meeting deadlines, with excellent attention to detail.
• Able to identify and be comfortable with ambiguity and on a changing environment.
• Creative flair and a confidence to contribute actively to strategic and creative discussions and reviews, demonstrating good, balanced judgement throughout.
• Strong commercial acumen & financial/budget management.
• Able to identify continuous improvement opportunities through evidence-backed decisions.
• Strong communicator with impeccable standard of written, spoken and presentation English.

Benefits & Perks:

• 7-month fixed term contract with the possibility to extend based on performance and business needs.
• Benefits for you and your family to help your physical and mental health.
• Competitive parental leave and pension double contributions.
• 25 days holidays per year + bank holidays.
• Employee benefits to help your physical and mental health and overall well-being.
• 2 volunteer days a year to support your local community.
• Global Bonus.
• Private Medical Care.
• 26 weeks paid leave for primary caregiver.

Why build your career with us: We recruit for mindset, ambition, cultural fit, and growth opportunities. UNIQUE CULTURE: We are proud to be part of something bigger than ourselves and are passionate about building upon our company’s long legacy. We believe in collaboration and candour, which results in a dynamic culture with open communication. BRANDS EVERYONE LOVES: We are part of the collective, global history of beer. We are the proud makers of more than 500 iconic brands, from beloved international classics to local favourites. GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES: Our people grow at the pace of their talent. We empower our people to learn, expand their perspectives, and unlock career growth. In an environment where commitment to excellence pays off, our people are able to deepen their impact and create a long-lasting legacy.