{"id":848300,"url":"https://alion.io/job/somethingspecialstudios-design-operations-manager","title":"Design Operations Manager","company":{"id":686952,"name":"Something Special Studios","domain":"somethingspecialstudios.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/somethingspecialstudios","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"C","score":58,"open_postings":10,"ghost_share":0.7,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-10-24T06:02:35Z"}},"role":"Design","role_family":"Design","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["New York, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":90000,"max":120000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":120000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Smartsheet","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-07-16T17:16:08Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-03","last_verified_at":"2026-10-25T01:10:45Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":100,"trust":{"level":"ghost","repost_count":0,"flags":["stale","company_stale"],"days_open":99},"description":"The Design Operations Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operational management of our Spatial Design and Visual Design teams.\nThe role is a key partner to the Spatial Design and Graphic Design department heads and will work closely with Creative Directors, Design Directors, Client Services, Production, Finance and Resourcing to ensure designers are effectively allocated, projects are planned appropriately, and studio operations run smoothly.\nThis person acts as the operational backbone of the design department-balancing workload, improving processes, supporting project delivery, and helping teams produce exceptional creative work.\nResponsibilities\nResource Planning \nOwn day-to-day resourcing across the Spatial and Graphic Design teams.\nBalance workloads, allocate designers, and identify future staffing needs.\nPartner with leadership on freelance support, hiring, and team capacity planning.\nAttend weekly resourcing and Operations meetings \nDesign Operations \nManage operational workflows across both design disciplines.\nMaintain visibility across active design work.\nEnsure project information, timelines and deliverables are clearly communicated\nIdentify delivery risks early and propose solutions.\nCoordinate internal reviews, milestones and approvals.\nEstablish and continuously improve studio processes and ways of working.\nProject Delivery & Cross-Functional Collaboration\nPartner with Client Services, Production, and Creative leadership to translate project scopes into resource plans and delivery timelines.\nEnsure strong communication across teams and support projects from kickoff through completion.\nEscalate resource, timeline, or operational challenges and help identify solutions.\nDrive continuous improvement initiatives across design verticals.\nStudio & Team Support \nSupport onboarding, training, and knowledge sharing across the design team.\nMonitor team utilization and operational performance, using insights to improve how the studio works.\nFoster an environment where designers can focus less on operations and more on producing exceptional creative work.\nQualifications \n5-8+ years of experience in design operations, creative operations, project management or studio management.\nExperience working within a creative agency, design consultancy, architecture practice or experiential agency.\nStrong understanding of both graphic and spatial design workflows.\nExcellent resource planning and scheduling skills.\nExceptional organizational and communication abilities.\nExperience managing multiple concurrent projects.\nComfortable balancing competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.\nStrong problem-solving mindset.\nProficiency with project management and resource planning tools (Harvest, Smartsheet, Float or similar).\nExperience working with cross-functional creative teams.\nTeam management experience is a plus.\nSalary Range\n$90,000 - $120,000 annually. Salary for the prospective employee is determined by a combination of factors that include qualifications, applicable skills, relevant experience and other budgetary considerations such as location/geography.\nBenefits Include\nComprehensive health coverage - Medical, dental and vision insurance, plus HSA and FSA options.\n\n401(k) with company contribution - 3% Safe Harbor contribution after six months of service, whether or not you contribute yourself.\n\nCompany-paid life insurance - Basic Life and AD&D coverage included, with the option to purchase additional coverage.\n\nGenerous paid time off - 15 days PTO in addition to Holiday Closures\n\nSummer Fridays - Up to four Fridays off between Memorial Day and Labor Day, subject to workload.\n\nFlexible sick leave\n\nHybrid working - 4 Days in Office / 1 Remote\n\nGenerous Employee Referral bonuses\n\nYearly profit sharing program\n\nEmployee & Company Performance-based bonus","description_format":"text","description_chars":3824,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Hybrid work","Life insurance","Vision insurance"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Design & Creative","Creative Agencies"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-13T02:11:27Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"Filed H-1B visas in the last two years","filings_12m":0,"filings_prev_12m":1,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":null,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-15T11:24:14+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":7,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.26,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":99,"expected_fill_days":28,"reasons":["conf:3","stale_co","ghost","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-24T06:02:35Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":120000,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/somethingspecialstudios-design-operations-manager","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/somethingspecialstudios-design-operations-manager.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-25T02:19:54Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":3525,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-26T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":686952},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=686952"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fsomethingspecialstudios-design-operations-manager"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fsomethingspecialstudios-design-operations-manager"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fsomethingspecialstudios-design-operations-manager"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/somethingspecialstudios-design-operations-manager\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fsomethingspecialstudios-design-operations-manager"}]}