Senior Project Manager
Hi, I'mBlake Goble.
I turn creative and digital problems into shipped solutions — directing strategy, craft, and delivery across the teams who make the work real.
Where strategy meets craft
I lead the space between a brief and a launched product.
I'm Blake Goble, a Senior Project Manager at Gravitate Design, a web and digital agency in Vancouver, WA, with 4+ years leading web, creative, and digital marketing work from discovery through launch.
Promoted from Project Manager for portfolio ownership and process leadership, I own 20+ concurrent projects and have launched 75+ websites, turning ambiguous problems into clear plans: a compromised client site, a redesigned delivery workflow, or automation that makes a process run itself. Lately that includes AI workflows for client intake, reply drafts, QA, and maintenance.
The job is not moving tickets. I diagnose what the client actually needs, shape a solution the work can stand on, and direct design, engineering, DevOps, SEO, and content through scope, budget, and launch. That is the same seat a creative solutions director occupies: own the problem, shape the answer, and lead the people who make it real.
Before agency life, I spent a decade leading people — first in a film production office, then as a Starbucks store manager of a $1.6M business. Those years taught me that delivery fails when the human side is ignored. Off the clock: concerts, baseball, parks with family, and good craft beer.
How I lead the work
Senior project management, for me, is directing the solution — not administering a timeline. This is the practice I bring to every engagement.
Diagnose the problem
A brief is a starting point, not the solution. I press on goals, constraints, and what success has to look like before the work is scoped — so we are solving the right thing, not the loudest request.
Shape the solution
I sit between brand, UX, content, and engineering with enough craft literacy to challenge the work. The output is a clear point of view: what we are building, why it will work, and what we will not do.
Direct the rooms
Design, engineering, DevOps, SEO, and content only move as one when someone owns the thread. I run the sessions, the decisions, and the tradeoffs so specialists can do their best work without losing the plot.
Protect the outcome
Timelines, scope, and quality are the operating system — not the product. I surface risk early, hold the standard before launch, and keep the original intent intact when the project gets complicated.
The systems I direct work through
I don't just track the work. I speak the languages of the people doing it — strategy, creative, development, and the systems that keep a studio moving as one.
Workflow Management
The operating system for a 20+ project studio — scope, sequence, and accountability without drowning the work.
Automation & Development
The systems I build so the studio scales — ticketing, retainers, onboarding, and the prototypes that unblock a team.
Collaboration & Communication
The rooms where solutions get aligned — clients, specialists, and stakeholders seeing the same picture.
Marketing & Analytics
Proof the solution performed, not just shipped — so creative decisions can be defended with results.
Creative & Web
The craft I can speak fluently — and direct — from Figma through WordPress, WooCommerce, and Shopify.
Hosting & Security
The layer under launch — hosting, CDN, and the tooling that keeps compromised sites from staying that way.
Trained in the craft I now direct
A management-minded program in visual content across print, web, photo, video, and animation — built for people who have to direct craft, not just schedule it. The web concentration is why I can sit between design, development, and the client without losing the thread.
From leading teams to directing solutions
Brands & organizations I've worked with
Senior Project Manager · Gravitate Design
Apr 2022 — PresentVancouver, WA · Remote
Promoted from Project Manager in recognition of portfolio ownership and process leadership. I own 20+ concurrent website, hosting, and digital marketing engagements across B2B, SaaS, nonprofit, and retail, as the primary client contact from discovery through launch, retainers, and the recovery of stalled work. In 2026 I have been rebuilding how the agency operates with AI: I direct a team of AI agents that handle client intake, reply drafts, QA, PHP upgrades, and maintenance, and I have shipped in-house tools that replace paid software, including a client support portal synced to Asana, a self-hosted site management plugin replacing ManageWP, a website performance and security audit tool, a branded discovery workflow replacing Content Snare, and a Grav Blocks site migration tool. I also designed the agency's support ticketing and four-tier maintenance retainer, and I lead incident response, from WordPress security events and failed form deliveries to checkout-blocking bugs and compliance escalations.
Store Manager · Starbucks Coffee Company
2012 — 2022California & Washington
Nine years of progression from barista to store manager. Leading a $1.6M store, I hired, trained, and developed a team of 25 — driving sales, guest experience, and operational excellence. That is where I learned to lead people under pressure, hold a standard, and keep a complex operation moving without losing the culture the work depends on.
Office Manager · Tapestry Films
2010 — 2012Beverly Hills, CA
Ran a film production office where creative work only happens if operations hold. I managed vendors, communication, and the unglamorous logistics that let a production team stay in the work — an early lesson in supporting craft without getting in its way.