STARCH CREATIVE: Better Brand Experiences, Made Together.
Starch is a full-service experiential design agency and fabrication company based in Irvine, CA. We create culturally resonant experiences for the fans of the brands we love, led by a team of innovative thinkers, builders, strategists, designers, and producers united by a shared love for creating. From the big picture to the finest detail, we manage ideas from concept to completion.
We are hiring people who are motivated, self-driven, and collaborative, and who work just as well independently. We hope you’re inspired to learn more.
Project Manager
Location: Irvine, CA
Schedule: On-site, shop-based
Reports to: Nick DeRosa
Level: Mid-level
Status: Full Time Employee
What You Will Accomplish
As a Project Manager at Starch, you will be the throughline from creative concept through client execution and, at times, installation. This role blends account management and project management: you will own the client relationship and project mechanics while partnering closely with Starch Fabrication Project Managers, who remain responsible for shop-floor execution. You will keep creative ambition, client expectations, timelines, budgets, and downstream production realities aligned from kickoff through completion.
How You Will Be Successful
• Own project status and the client day to day communication: Manage scope, timeline, budget tracking, and day-to-day client communication from creative kickoff through execution.
• Manage clients and project execution: Own day-to-day client communication while managing project mechanics with the organization, accountability, and discipline of a strong project manager.
• Partner closely with Fab Project Managers: Stay connected through handoff, build, and execution so you can speak credibly with clients and support installation without taking over shop-floor ownership.
• Flag downstream impacts early: Identify design decisions that may affect cost, materials, crate count, lead time, or non-standard fabrication and work through them with the Fab PM.
• Keep Paymo current: Use Paymo as the single source of truth for project status, tasks, and hours, updating information as the work progresses rather than retroactively.
• Surface risk before it becomes a client issue: Flag budget drift, schedule slippage, and scope creep early to the account lead and Fab PM.
• Lead client-facing updates: In partnership with the Account Director, set expectations clearly and communicate timeline, budget, or scope changes directly without over-promising.
• Track scope and deliverables: Manage work against approved SOWs, stay in close contact with the Account Director and quickly flag anything trending outside the agreed scope.
• Support on-site execution: Travel as needed to support installs, events, activations, and tradeshows alongside Fab Project Managers.
Skills for Success
Experience:
8+ years of relevant experience, including agency experience managing creative work, client relationships, and projects through rounds of concept, revision, and execution.
Location:
Based in Irvine, CA and comfortable working on-site in a shop-based environment, with travel as needed for installs, events, activations, and tradeshows.
What you already know:
How to operate as both an account manager and project manager, manage timelines and budgets, communicate clearly with clients, and work within the production rhythm of events, activations, and tradeshows. You should have enough familiarity with materials, print, build methods, and fabrication
workflows to understand what is buildable and what may affect cost or lead time. Working knowledge of Paymo or similar project management tools and spreadsheet-based budget tracking is expected.
Experience we value:
Tradeshow booths and event installations, pop-up shops and branded environments, mobile tours and experiential activations, agency-side account or project management, exposure to wood, metal, graphics, and scenic fabrication workflows, logistics and freight coordination, and on-site production support.
What we will teach you:
Our internal systems, project workflows, and how Starch Creative and Starch Fabrication work together to move projects from creative concept through fabrication and execution.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Starch is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, religion or religious creed, age, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, pregnancy or related conditions, reproductive health decision-making, marital or familial status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Consistent with the California Fair Chance Act, we will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs and practices. If you need an accommodation during the application or interview process, please contact us at Hireme@starchcreative.com.
Our positions go quickly. Apply today: Hireme@starchcreative.com