Design Associate Project Manager

PepsiCo • New York, NY

20h

About The Position

The Brand and Customer Experience Design Team is seeking an Associate Design Project Manager to play a pivotal role in overseeing the workflow and progression of our design initiatives. In this dynamic position, you will manage the cadence and flow of projects by coordinating schedules, assigning tasks to team members, and ensuring alignment on next steps with all stakeholders. You will actively communicate project needs, monitor progress, and track time spent on various assignments, while also managing budgets and advocating for additional resources when necessary.
Your responsibilities will include hiring and coordinating freelancers, negotiating proposals, and overseeing production from planning through execution to ensure high-quality outcomes. A key aspect of this role is building and nurturing strong relationships with our network of partners and vendors, acting as a collaborative bridge between marketing and design. The ideal candidate will demonstrate exceptional communication and organizational skills, thriving in a fast-paced environment while ensuring the successful delivery of our bold design visions. Join us in inspiring the future and making a significant impact through design!
Overview: We are seeking an Associate Design Project Manager to support our Experience Design team in driving innovative, high-impact projects. The ideal candidate will have experience managing creative and design projects, ensuring they stay on scope, timeline, and budget while fostering collaboration across teams. This role requires a strategic mindset, strong communication skills, and the ability to manage multiple stakeholders, including designers, freelancers, marketing teams, and vendors.
At PepsiCo design, we have a saying: “We’re crazy enough to think we can inspire the future.” This is what drives us, in everything we imagine, develop and execute.
Design is a strategic global function for PepsiCo that drives business value by leading innovation, creating experiences, and brand engagements. We are one of the first major food & beverage companies to integrate multiple design disciplines—brand design, design thinking, industrial design, design strategy, front-end innovation—into a single group.
Our goal is clear: to connect PepsiCo’s food & beverage portfolios, with today’s hyper-connected, networked users and consumers hungry for meaningful, authentic, and relevant brand experiences across multiple touchpoints and regions of the world.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Design Management, or a related field (5-8 years of relevant experience) or equivalent experience required.
• Strong proficiency in project management software (Asana, Monday.com, Airtable, or similar) and Microsoft Office.
• Experience at an agency or in-house design team is required.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and execute projects through their full lifecycle.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, agile environment, with a start-up mindset and comfort in navigating ambiguity.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to engage with internal and external stakeholders.
• Proven ability to multitask and manage competing priorities effectively.
• Collaborative team player with a proactive approach to problem-solving and decision-making.

Nice To Haves

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Develop and oversee both short- and long-term project plans, setting milestones and ensuring adherence to deadlines.
• Define project scope, objectives, and deliverables in collaboration with stakeholders.
• Predict resource needs and effectively allocate budgets, personnel, and tools.
• Track project costs and ensure budget adherence.
• Manage project schedules, workflows, and action plans for successful execution.
• Ensure seamless coordination between multiple designers, freelancers, and cross-functional teams.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for internal teams and external partners.
• Provide consistent updates and reports to stakeholders on project strategy, costs, adjustments, and progress.
• Align with marketing and design teams to ensure projects meet brand and business objectives.
• Manage vendor and supplier contracts, outlining expectations, scope, and timelines.
• Identify and drive self-initiated projects that provide business value to the Experience Design team.
• Foster collaboration with Design, R&D, and business teams to support design innovation and culture development.
• Maintain quality control throughout project execution, adjusting as needed to align with industry best practices and company standards.
• Utilize data-driven insights to measure project performance and identify areas for improvement.

Benefits

• Bonus based on performance and eligibility target payout is 10% of annual salary paid out annually.
• Paid time off subject to eligibility, including paid parental leave, vacation, sick, and bereavement.
• Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, Health, and Dependent Care Reimbursement Accounts, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Insurance (Accident, Group Legal, Life), Defined Contribution Retirement Plan.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level