Creative Operations Manager

Your Impact

We're currently seeking a Creative Operations Manager to lead resourcing and delivery on a high-volume production account. This role is a hybrid of a Creative Resourcer and an Integrated Project Manager with an initial focus on taking ownership of creative capacity planning, resource allocation, and production traffic; bringing order to a high-volume, fast-moving workflow.

From there, this role will expand into broader Integrated Project Management responsibilities, owning end-to-end delivery across disciplines.

What You Will Be Doing:

Creative Resourcing & Traffic

• Own and stand up a formal resourcing process from the ground up, bringing structure to a high-volume, currently instinct-driven workflow.
• Analyze incoming creative requests and forecast resourcing needs against team capacity, staying ahead of upcoming projects rather than reacting to them.
• Build and maintain a resource allocation/staffing plan using Everest (GALE proprietary tool), Smartsheets, and Excel, aligned to production timelines and client deliverables.
• Coordinate the flow of work through the creative process (briefing, routing, reviews, approvals) ensuring on-time, quality output.
• Monitor workload across designers, writers, and producers, and rebalance assignments as priorities shift, including last-minute changes and reprioritizations.
• Maintain granular, real-time visibility into team availability, skillsets, and utilization (e.g., knowing who's a fast copywriter vs. a strong systems designer) to inform staffing decisions.
• Own and lead a weekly cross-functional resourcing meeting with creative leads, account leads, and PMs; arriving with proposed solutions rather than reacting to issues without a plan.
• Partner closely with the Director of Program Management and resourcing counterparts to flag capacity gaps and build the case for additional headcount when needed.
• Forecast and roadmap staffing needs on a regular basis (weekly, quarterly, annually)
• Serve as a go-to resource for creative directors and client partners fielding real-time staffing questions as new projects and shifting priorities arise.
• Establish and refine best practices/processes for resourcing and traffic management, with the goal of stabilizing the process within the first 30-60 days.

Integrated Project Management (Growing Focus Over Time)

• Manage project estimation, understanding objectives and scope, and collaborate across domains to develop an integrated approach.
• Create and own integrated project plans.
• Manage daily scrums, status reporting, and integrated project communications.
• Manage and help resolve project issues across multiple large, cross-disciplinary teams.
• Act as a motivating leader, setting goals, purpose, and direction for the team.
• Foster an open, communicative, and collaborative work environment, including global interoffice relationship building.
• Update clients on weekly project developments and manage client communications, expectations, negotiations, and feedback.

Who You Are:

• 6+ years of experience in creative operations, resource/traffic management, or project management within a creative or digital agency environment.
• Experience building or managing creative resourcing/staffing processes on high-volume production accounts.
• Genuinely energized by solving the resourcing puzzle. Last-minute shifts, competing priorities, and demanding stakeholders don't rattle you; you enjoy the game.
• Strong creative intuition, able to quickly learn and track who on the team is strong at what, and staff accordingly.
• Comfortable being pulled into ad hoc, real-time requests from creative directors and client partners and calmly triaging.
• Confident bringing structure and process to a fluid, fast-paced environment with tight timelines and competing priorities.
• Experience (or strong working knowledge of) managing digital marketing campaigns and integrated project delivery, with interest in growing into that responsibility over time.
• Experience leading or coordinating cross-disciplinary teams (creative, production, strategy, media).
• Strong organizational, multitasking, and communication skills.
• Proficiency with project/resource management tools; experience with Everest, Smartsheets, or similar platforms is a plus.
• Agile and digital execution experience is a bonus.
• Eager to learn new skills, platforms, and methodologies to adapt to the evolving agency landscape.
• Always self-reflecting on how to improve yourself and the team's processes.
• Comfortable leveraging AI tools and process enhancements to drive efficiency and save time, keeping the team agile and focused on high-value creative work.

Note: Hybrid work in office is an essential function of the job.