At Code and Theory, we thrive at the intersection of creativity and technology. We empower brands by driving seamless execution, transformative solutions, and delivering exceptional client experiences. Through a culture of invention, our teams turn ideas into impact—creating innovative, memorable experiences for clients and their audiences.
Code and Theory is looking for a Program Delivery Lead to run the operating engine behind Project Ignite, our embedded-team partnership with Adobe that drives enterprise customer adoption of generative AI tools like Adobe Firefly and Adobe GenStudio.
The Program Lead owns the whole program rather than an individual client account. This role acts as the connective tissue across the whole Engagement Management team: as the primary point of contact for Adobe's FDE leadership on program-level matters, as the owner of internal operating rhythm and team health, and as the person who represents the program to Code and Theory and Stagwell executive leadership.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Set the internal operating rhythm and drive the decisions behind it, leading a weekly full-team sync and a recurring senior-leadership huddle where staffing, performance, and hiring calls get made
- Own the program's voice with the client and with internal leadership, delivering recurring executive readouts in multiple formats, backed by a regular written update and continuous progress tracking
- Serve as the primary point of contact for the client's program leadership on program-level matters, while individual Engagement Managers own their account relationships directly
- Read and adapt to changes in the client's own organization, adjusting the program's engagement model in step with how the partner organization evolves
- Run interference for the team, stepping in directly with the client when requests land unreasonably rather than passing pressure down to individual team members
- Partner with Legal, Finance, and internal leadership to negotiate and close contract renewals, including headcount, fee structure, KPI-based adjustments, and delivery-model scope
- Maintain working fluency in contract mechanics, including redlines, rate structures, and budget tracking, enough to catch issues early and drive documents to signature
- Track program KPIs against target and proactively work with the team to course-correct the moment forecasts show signs of drifting off track
- Partner closely with the recruiting team to shape hiring strategy, screening criteria, and final hiring decisions for the engagement team, leading through influence and credibility rather than a formal reporting relationship
- Act as the primary point of resolution when client leadership raises a performance concern about a team member, balancing the client relationship with fair, considered outcomes for your people
- Own the onboarding curriculum and keep it current as the team and tools evolve, and monitor team capacity and workload proactively
- Maintain the program's core artifacts and a growing library of reusable playbooks and tools, treating documentation and process as a deliverable in their own right
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
- Background in program/client delivery management, ideally within a staff-augmentation, matrix organization, consulting, or professional-services model
- Comfort owning a portfolio of engagements without running any single one directly
- Demonstrated executive stakeholder management: experience running recurring readouts or steerco-style meetings with senior client-side executives (VP/Director+) and briefing internal C-suite leadership
- Strong, tone-adaptive communication and comfort moving between Engagement Managers, client-side leadership, and internal executives
- Informal leadership that builds cohesion, and the ability to rally a team around shared goals and a common bar for quality, using trust and communication rather than positional authority
- A builder's instinct for process and documentation, comfortable creating and maintaining trackers, onboarding curricula, and playbooks rather than just executing against someone else's
- Ability to synthesize cross-functional information into clear, AI-augmented systems
- Ability to partner with Legal, Finance, and leadership to negotiate and close SOWs, plan and account for headcount, KPI-based fee adjustments, and delivery-model splits, and track budget burn against the SOW to flag variances early
- Ownership of program KPIs against target, with a track record of proactively working with a team to course-correct when forecasts show signs of drifting off track
- High tolerance for ambiguity and comfort navigating a partner organization that changes its own structure with little notice
NICE TO HAVE
- Experience scaling a distributed team
- A keen eye for identifying expansion opportunities across an account portfolio, spotting where a program can grow and translating that into a clear business case for leadership and the client
- Familiarity with generative AI tools in a creative or marketing context
- Background in agency operations, martech, or enterprise software adoption programs
- Experience partnering with a recruiting or talent team on a live, time-sensitive hiring pipeline
ABOUT US
Born in 2001, Code and Theory is a digital-first creative agency that sits at the center of creativity and technology. We pride ourselves on not only solving consumer and business problems, but also helping to establish new capabilities for our clients. With a global client roster of Fortune 100s and start-ups alike, we crave the hardest problems to solve. We have teams distributed across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. The Code and Theory global network of agencies is growing and includes Kettle, Instrument, Left Field Labs, Current, and TrueLogic.
Striving never to be pigeonholed, we work across every major category: from tech to CPG, financial services to travel & hospitality, government and education to media and publishing. We value the collaboration with our client partners, including but not limited to Adidas, Amazon, Con Edison, Diageo, EY, J.P. Morgan Chase, Lenovo, Marriott, Mars, Microsoft, Thomson Reuters, and TikTok.
The Code and Theory network is comprised of nearly 2,000 people with 50% engineers and 50% creative talent. We're always on the lookout for smart, driven, and forward-thinking people to join our team.
The compensation range for this role is $150,000 – $200,000 and spans multiple levels. We're open to hiring at the level that best matches the right candidate's experience. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, budget, and location.
Skills Required
- Background in program or client delivery management, ideally in staff augmentation, matrix organizations, consulting, or professional services
- Experience owning a portfolio of engagements without directly running a single engagement
- Executive stakeholder management experience, including client executive readouts and internal C-suite briefings
- Strong, tone-adaptive communication across delivery teams, client leadership, and internal executives
- Ability to build team cohesion and lead through influence without formal authority
- Experience creating and maintaining trackers, onboarding curricula, process documentation, and playbooks
- Ability to synthesize cross-functional information into clear, AI-augmented systems
- Ability to partner with Legal, Finance, and leadership on SOWs, headcount, fee adjustments, delivery-model splits, and budget tracking
- Experience owning program KPIs and proactively course-correcting when forecasts drift
- High tolerance for ambiguity and comfort navigating organizational change
- Experience scaling a distributed team
- Ability to identify expansion opportunities and develop business cases
- Familiarity with generative AI tools in a creative or marketing context
- Background in agency operations, martech, or enterprise software adoption programs
- Experience partnering with recruiting or talent teams on time-sensitive hiring pipelines
Code and Theory Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Code and Theory and has not been reviewed or approved by Code and Theory.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time-off policies include an “unlimited”/flexible PTO approach with paid holidays/sick time and seasonal early-close Fridays, offering notable flexibility. These options provide additional downtime beyond standard accrual models.
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Healthcare Strength — Core medical, dental, and vision coverage is part of the standard package, with employer-verified health plan information cited as current. Life and disability insurance further reinforce foundational coverage.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with employer match is included in the package, supporting long-term savings. Candidates are encouraged to confirm the match formula during the offer stage.
Code and Theory Insights
What We Do
Code and Theory is a strategically driven, digital-first creative agency that lives at the intersection of creativity and technology. We solve consumer and business problems across the entire customer journey that flex to meet the ever-changing needs of consumer expectations. We put the user, their behaviors and needs, at the center of everything we do — from our proprietary research methodologies, to product development processes, to how we create brand, channel and messaging strategies. Our goal is simple: to solve our clients business problems. We bring big ideas to life by looking holistically at brand ecosystems where digital plays a prominent role in driving the consumer from first-touch through to conversion to relationship deepening over time. We identify gaps in the consumer journey and opportunities in culture that require products, services or communications to fill. We work across categories, ranging as far and wide as health care (Pfizer, Sanofi, Reach MD, Bioreference Laboratories) to financial services (JP Morgan Chase, Prudential, Morgan Stanley, First Data) to cpg (Mars, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson) to technology companies (Facebook, Xerox, Samsung, Comcast) to culture brands (adidas, H&M). And because our DNA is in publishing — we’ve embedded in over 135 newsrooms in the past decade — we bring unique expertise in understanding how content is created, distributed and optimized, including our work with CNN, NBC News, NBC Sports, and Bustle Digital Group. At Code and Theory, we strive to only be limited by our own ambition and creativity. We believe in pushing our creativity beyond the easy and obvious answers in order to deliver the solutions that are right for our clients, their businesses, and their consumers.
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