Creative Operations Manager

LENGTH: 9 months, with potential for continuation

• Trusted operator - someone who can own stakeholder and creative-team conversations independently and be relied on implicitly
• Proven ability to build and run operational systems (tooling, process, single source of truth)
• Strong communication and negotiation skills across creative and business

The Creative Operations Manager is the operational backbone of our creative team. They own how work moves through the team - from intake, to resourcing, to delivery - and are the primary, trusted point of contact for all non-creative questions from stakeholders (timelines, budgets, status). Their core mandate is to reduce friction: standing up and owning the tools and processes, identifying and flagging issues, and staying on top of opportunities to level up our systems and structures.

Just as important as the system is the judgment behind them. This person is trusted to independently handle the conversations that keep projects healthy - negotiating notes, budget changes, and timeline shifts with both stakeholders and the creative team. A successful lead is also trusted to know when to escape.

Great candidates get excited by the challenge of operationalizing a growing creative practice, but win on the soft skills: they are diplomatic, unflappable, and trusted implicitly to represent the team and handle the hard conversations.

While this is an operations-first role, our creative team is small and extra hands are always appreciated, especially on shoot days. There will be plenty of opportunity to gain hands-on experience on sets and assist with producing for candidates seeking that.

• Serve as the primary point of contact for all non-creative stakeholder questions - timelines, budgets, and status - maintaining clear, consistent communication that keeps projects on-time, on-budget, and on-brand
• Own and continuously improve the team’s operational stack: identify, implement, and manage the tools that serve as a single source of truth and can handle communication, updates, and project tracking
• Independently negotiate notes, budget changes, and timeline shifts with both stakeholders and the creative team, escalating to the Creative Director when a conversation stalls or becomes creative-direction territory
• Track and report on overall budgets, keeping spend visible and on-plan
• Intake incoming projects, assess scope, and flight work across a team
• Coordinate schedules and resourcing, keeping a clear view of team bandwidth, interests, and skills to make efficient staffing decisions by project
• Keep an eye on the horizon for upcoming work and proactively plan capacity against it
• Facilitate team meetings and keep all project trackers current
• Provide hands-on production support as needed — occasionally showing up to set to help producers, run audio, or handle talent
• Act as a flexible swingman across production when the team needs an extra trusted set of hands (this is a bonus, not a formal producer or on-set role)

• Proven ability to build, implement, and manage operational systems, processes, and workflows that improve team efficiency, visibility, and scalability
• Strong project and program management skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives, priorities, deadlines, and stakeholder
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills and the ability to serve as a trusted advisor and primary point of contact for non-creative project discussions
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to navigate challenging conversations regarding timelines, budgets, priorities, scope changes, and project constraints
• Demonstrated ability to bridge creative and business priorities while maintaining positive working relationships and driving successful outcomes
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to establish structure and clarity in fast-paced, ambiguous environments
• Proven ability to independently assess situations, exercise sound judgment, and determine when escalation is necessary
• Experience managing resource allocation, capacity planning, team…