As our studio continues to scale and take on increasingly complex creative work, we’re seeking a Studio Operations Lead to play a critical role in how the studio plans, prioritizes, and delivers work.

The ideal candidate is both strategic and highly executional—someone who thrives in complexity, brings structure to ambiguity, and can confidently balance hands-on project management with broader operational ownership. They are an exceptional communicator, a natural problem solver, and a trusted partner to leadership, capable of making tough calls to protect quality, timelines, and team health.

Role Description:

The Studio Operations Lead owns the end-to-end delivery of the studio’s most complex, high-impact initiatives while also overseeing studio operations at scale. This role serves as the operational backbone of the studio, ensuring that projects are well-planned, properly resourced, and delivered on time and on budget.

Working closely with creative leadership, marketing partners, and external vendors, the Studio Operations Lead brings clarity to what is possible, when it can be delivered, and with what resources. This role is empowered to prioritize work, reset scope, flag risks, and say no when necessary to ensure sustainable, high-quality output.

Responsibilities

Project & Delivery Leadership

• Own end-to-end execution of the studio’s most complex, cross-functional projects from intake through final delivery.
• Develop detailed project plans, critical paths, timelines, and dependency maps for new initiatives and high-priority design and marketing work.
  
• Coordinate cross-functional teams to ensure alignment, accountability, and on-time delivery.
  
• Oversee photo and film productions from concept through completion, partnering with freelance producers to manage day-to-day production execution.
  
• Manage print production workflows, including vendor coordination, timelines, and delivery milestones.

Studio Operations & Capacity Management

• Design, implement, and maintain studio workflows, operating rhythms, and delivery standards.
• Build and manage time-tracking and capacity-planning systems to create clear visibility into studio bandwidth.
  
• Oversee resource allocation across all active projects, balancing speed, quality, and team wellbeing.
  
• Forecast capacity gaps and proactively propose resourcing, scheduling, or scope solutions.
  
• Act as the point of accountability for studio feasibility, clearly flagging risks, constraints, and tradeoffs.

Leadership & Decision-Making

• Serve as a strategic partner to leadership on studio planning, prioritization, and delivery decisions.
• Build and manage time-tracking and capacity-planning systems to create clear visibility into studio bandwidth.
  
• Make and communicate clear calls when work cannot be delivered as scoped or scheduled.
  
• Mentor and support a Marketing Project Manager, providing guidance on prioritization, execution, and professional development.
  
• Maintain transparent reporting on project health, timelines, resourcing, and risks.
  

Financial & Vendor Management

• Own portfolio-level budgeting, forecasting, and financial tracking across studio projects.
  
• Source, hire, and manage freelance creative and production talent to flex studio capacity as needed.
  
• Negotiate vendor contracts and manage relationships with external partners across productions.
  
• Track costs against budgets and ensure financial accountability throughout project lifecycles.
  

Requirements

• 5–8+ years of project management experience in design, marketing, or creative agency environments.
• Proven experience managing and mentoring junior project managers or coordinators.
  
• Strong understanding of creative production workflows, including photo, film, and print.
• Demonstrated ability to build critical paths and manage complex project dependencies.
  
• Experience with budgeting, forecasting, and vendor negotiation.
  
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to interface effectively with leadership, creatives, and production teams.
• Experience sourcing, hiring, and managing freelance creative and production talent.
  
• Proficiency with project management tools and resource-planning systems.
  
• Ability to balance strategic, big-picture thinking with hands-on execution.
  
• Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail in fast-paced, deadline-driven environments.