Company Description
TED is on a mission to discover and spread ideas that spark imagination, embrace possibility, and catalyze impact. Our organization is devoted to curiosity, reason, wonder, and the pursuit of knowledge — without an agenda.
We seek:
Curious learners: Individuals seeking meaning, growth, and understanding in a complex world
Builders and creators: People developing ideas, culture, and communities that advance human progress
Connectors and conveners: Leaders, educators, and community builders who bring others together around ideas.
Through talks, media, convenings, learning experiences, and industry-leading storytelling, TED influences how millions around the world think, learn, and engage.
About TED Brand Creative:
The Brand Creative team is focused on how TED’s brand, content, and experiences create a global platform for exchanging ideas and growing community.
As Project Manager, you'll drive multiple, concurrent creative projects while collaborating with Brand Creative, internal teams, freelancers, and external partners and agencies. You'll be the main link between Brand Creative and the rest of TED, keeping design, illustration, and motion graphics work moving smoothly. You'll report to the Creative Director.
We’re looking for someone who has deep expertise in creative processes and a proven track record of leading high-impact projects within creative agencies, in-house studios, or similar settings. This individual is a proactive problem solver, a strong communicator, and thrives in a collaborative environment.
What you'll do
Partner with team leadership to shape project strategy and determine how work is prioritized and delivered
Manage multiple concurrent projects and workflows
Maintain a prioritized project schedule that accounts for team capacity
Lead regular status check-ins with your team and stakeholders
Turn ambiguous requirements into clear, actionable plans
Write creative briefs independently — covering stakeholders, audience, goals, timeline, and budget
Build agendas to run efficient meetings
Advocate for the team's perspective while setting realistic expectations
Build relationships with freelancers and vendors to scale up capacity quickly when needed
Plan ahead for busy periods and track change requests
Spot and defuse risks to timelines before they become problems
Run debriefs after major projects to identity wins, misses, and areas for improvement
3+ years managing end-to-end creative processes
Knowledge of the creative workflow, including graphic design, branding, digital photography, motion graphics, and illustration
Proactive and strategic problem-solving skills
A collaborative mindset — you take direction and feedback well
Flexibility. TED is a fast-paced environment, and we jump quickly from project to project. You can keep up and thrive off the energy of working on something new.
A track record of spotting challenges early and solving them
Strong time-management skills and the ability to juggle multiple large projects at once
Skilled, confident negotiation across contracts, timelines, budgets
Excellent listening and communication skills
Strong proficiency with Airtable, Google Suite, and Dropbox
Familiarity with Adobe Creative Cloud and Figma is a plus
TED Conferences LLC is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Skills Required
- 3+ years managing end-to-end creative processes
- Knowledge of creative workflows, including graphic design, branding, digital photography, motion graphics, and illustration
- Proactive and strategic problem-solving skills
- Collaborative mindset and ability to accept direction and feedback
- Flexibility in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment
- Track record of identifying and solving challenges early
- Strong time-management skills and ability to manage multiple large projects
- Negotiation skills across contracts, timelines, and budgets
- Excellent listening and communication skills
- Strong proficiency with Airtable, Google Suite, and Dropbox
- Familiarity with Adobe Creative Cloud and Figma
What We Do
TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world. TED is a global community, welcoming people from every discipline and culture who seek a deeper understanding of the world. We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world. On TED.com, we're building a clearinghouse of free knowledge from the world's most inspired thinkers — and a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other, both online and at TED and TEDx events around the world, all year long. In fact, everything we do — from our TED Talks videos to the projects sparked by the TED Prize, from the global TEDx community to the TED-Ed lesson series — is driven by this goal: How can we best spread great ideas?
