Project Director / General Manager

About the Role

This position combines studio leadership, project direction, and commercial accountability for Entro’s New York office. It is a hands-on, billable leadership role where you will guide projects directly while also overseeing the studio’s profitability, client growth, staffing, and day-to-day operations.

The role calls for an entrepreneurial mindset backed by strong operational rigor. You will influence studio culture, safeguard delivery standards and quality, pursue the right opportunities, strengthen client partnerships, and contribute to the company’s broader success. A significant part of the job involves working closely through project managers, creative managers, coordinators, and the wider creative team.

Core Responsibilities

The position is organized around four main areas of ownership:

• Lead the New York studio’s financial performance, including revenue, margin, budgeting, forecasting, and resource planning.
• Maintain project profitability at or above a 20% margin, with regular forecasting to protect targets and address any shortfall early.
• Support billing and collections so that timely invoicing is maintained and at least 80% of accounts receivable remain under 90 days outstanding.
• Manage contract updates and scope changes that affect schedules, deliverables, and budgets.
• Work with other studios on pursuits, staffing, and strategic direction to support company-wide goals.
• Drive strong operational performance through utilization management, delivery oversight, and efficient studio governance.
• Improve workflows, team structure, and delivery processes to increase scalability and effectiveness.
• Identify project risks early and take action to reduce disruption, exposure, and liability.
• Make sound independent decisions in the daily management of the New York office.
• Oversee project budgets, schedules, and the consistency of deliverables across assignments.
• Grow business through client retention, upselling, expanded services, and new opportunities in target sectors.
• Build durable client relationships and maintain regular contact with current and former clients to support repeat business.
• Represent the studio in the market through outreach, networking, travel, and relationship-building.
• Support proposals and business-generation efforts in partnership with the marketing team.
• Recruit, guide, mentor, and develop a high-performing team while promoting accountability and collaboration.
• Handle people management for the studio, including performance reviews and professional development planning.
• Help shape long-term strategy, align studio practices with company vision, and encourage innovation and continuous improvement.

What You Bring

• Background in studio leadership, operations, or business management, ideally within design, architecture, or other creative industries.
• Experience running a studio or office P&L and delivering revenue and margin performance against targets.
• At least 6 years of experience as a Design Director or Project Director on large, complex built-environment projects, preferably including wayfinding and branded environments, exhibit work, or retail design from concept through post-construction.
• A portfolio showing successful projects completed within the last 5 years in a Design/Project Manager or Project Director capacity.
• Proven ability to build and sustain senior-level client relationships.
• Strong leadership, mentoring, communication, and team-development skills.
• Strategic judgment combined with day-to-day operational discipline, plus solid problem-solving and conflict-resolution ability.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including reports, briefing notes, presentations, and client communication.
• A habit of continuous learning and staying up to date with industry trends, tools, and best practices.
• PMP certification is considered an advantage.

Compensation

The listed salary range is 140,000 to 160,000.

Equal Opportunity

Entro states that it is an equal-opportunity employer and values diversity and inclusion across its workforce.