Freelance Project Manager

The TL;DR

Marketing teams spend a lot on ads and still can't say what's working. Propel fixes that. We build the data behind attribution, reporting and the signals that go back to ad platforms.

You'll run the client side of delivery, and be the reason our work lands on time and inside scope.

Why this role matters

Our work runs on fixed capacity. Retainers have a set monthly fee. Projects have a set number of hours. The capacity doesn't stretch, and our delivery team is small.

That makes every hour count. A call without a clear outcome, a request nobody scoped or a decision nobody chased comes straight out of what we can deliver. Your job is to make sure that doesn't happen.

What you'll do

Area	What it involves
Client calls	Run check-ins and monthly reviews, set agendas, send notes and next steps within 24h
Status updates	Send clients regular updates on progress, next steps and blockers
Delivery plan	Keep each client's plan current: priorities, target dates, what we're waiting on
Team priorities	Make sure the team works on what was agreed, not the latest request
Client dependencies	Track what clients owe us (access, decisions, sign-offs) and chase it
Capacity	Track effort against the agreed hours or monthly capacity, and flag early when something is running over
Scope	Log new requests and route them for estimating before anyone starts
Approvals	Get written sign-off before anything goes live or scope changes
Documentation	Keep Notion current, including the record of each client's connected sources and accounts

Who you are

• You've run client-facing projects, ideally in data, analytics or marketing tech
• You like process. You set up the systems that make projects predictable, and you stick to them.
• You're comfortable telling a client "let's scope that first"
• You can follow a data project (dbt, BigQuery, ad platforms) well enough to ask the right questions, without building it
• You communicate clearly with both engineers and marketers
• You're not embarrassed to follow up multiple times with internal or external stakeholders if necessary

Requirements

• Freelance, part-time. 8–12 hours a week to start, with room to grow. We're flexible on how you spread them.
• Working hours that overlap with our clients in the US and/or Europe
• Excellent English and communication, written and spoken
• Able to invoice as a freelancer

Why this is a good opportunity

• A recurring first contract. If you want to start freelancing, this gives you steady, ongoing work instead of chasing one-off projects.
• Interesting problems. Attribution, conversion APIs, privacy-safe data design and data layers for AI. This is where marketing measurement is heading.
• Room to grow. Hours increase (if you'd like) as we take on more retainers.
• Direct access. You work with the founders, with no layers in between.
• Fully remote. As long as you can join calls in clients' preferred time zones.

About Propel

Propel is a marketing measurement and data engineering consultancy. We're a small, senior team. Barbara Galiza leads strategy and client work. Timo Dechau leads data engineering.

How to apply

Email [email protected] with the subject line "Project Manager" and:

• Your LinkedIn profile
• Your hourly rate (EUR or USD)
• Your weekly availability, preferred working hours and time zone
• Your assignment: a link to a Notion doc and a 2-minute video

The assignment

We're busy, and we're hiring someone to take mental load off us. Deciding what's relevant and worth sharing is a big part of this job, and so is turning an unstructured request into something clear. That's why this brief is deliberately open.

The doc (Notion)

What operations or project management problems do you think Propel has right now, at our stage? How would you tackle them?

We're not looking for a list of ideas or best practices. We want to see how you think, how you prioritise and how you'd help us.

• Pick what matters most. Every yes is a no to something else, so tell us what you'd leave for later.
• Show your rationale. For each problem: why you think it exists, what you're assuming, and why it's worth tackling now.
• You won't have the full context, and that's fine. State your assumptions.
• If you've worked with data agencies or data products, bring in problems you've seen in the industry too.
• For context, check partnerwithpropel.com, Barbara's LinkedIn and Timo's LinkedIn.
• Use AI however you like. If you want, tell us how you used it.
• Write clearly and with confidence. We know a short doc takes more time. We won't think a longer doc is better.

The video (2 minutes)

Walk us through your doc, for example a Loom while you share your screen. We're looking at how you summarise and prioritise. One take is fine, no editing needed.

Email your application

We're reviewing applications as they come in, so sooner is better.