Hogarth is the Global Content Production Company. Part of WPP, Hogarth partners with one in every two of the world’s top 100 brands including Coca-Cola, Ford, Rolex, Nestlé, Mondelez and Dyson. With a breadth of experience across an extensive range of sectors, Hogarth offers the unrivaled ability to deliver relevant, engaging, and measurable content across all channels and media - both established and emerging. The number of channels at our fingertips; the need for speed; and the drive for mass personalisation, all mean that brands need different solutions. Our global team of over 7,500 craft and technology experts brings together creative, production and innovation to help clients navigate this exciting and ever-changing world of today’s content experience.
WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. Working at WPP means being part of a global network of more than 100,000 talented people dedicated to doing extraordinary work for our clients. We operate in over 100 countries, with corporate headquarters in New York, London and Singapore. WPP is a world leader in marketing services, with deep AI, data and technology capabilities, global presence and unrivalled creative talent. Our clients include many of the biggest companies and advertisers in the world, including approximately 300 of the Fortune Global 500. Our people are the key to our success. We're committed to fostering a culture of creativity, belonging and continuous learning, attracting and developing the brightest talent, and providing exciting career opportunities that help our people grow.
The Role
The Studio Operations Manager is responsible for the smooth and effective management of the day-to-day resource and operational requirements for the Studio creative team in North America.
Balancing commercial objectives, talent needs and creative workflow, you’ll support and champion processes to deliver best practices without losing sight of the creative output. Not fazed by the changing requirements of projects, you are able to adapt and deliver effective solutions while working closely with team members such as Business Directors, Project Managers & Creatives to cast the right talent needs for project teams, solve resourcing requests and implement and execute best-practice ways of working across the Studio creative team.
This is a role that engages with all operations teams and a team of design, copywriting and production talent. It requires the ability to develop strong and trusting relationships at every level, understand skill sets and casting and work within fast moving project timelines.
You’ll need solid experience as a Resource/Talent Manager and/or Creative Ops Manager in a creative agency or similar in-house environment.
Key responsibilities:
- Leads resourcing for the entire NA Studio creative team, working closely with the Client Engagement/Project Management team to ensure seamless communication
- Acts as first point of contact for all creative resource requirements, including assessing current work allocation and finding the right people with the right skills to do the job
- Maintains knowledge of current and upcoming projects across the Studio, building strong relationships with Client Engagement, PM, Operations and Delivery teams
- Understands and maintains a knowledge database of creative team skillsets and career ambitions to be able to properly assign resources and retain top talent
- Plays a key role in the project intake process, assessing timing requests against feasibility and capacity
- Coordinates the creative process and shepherds creative work against project timelines
- Frames timelines and steps needed to deliver creative work and communicates accordingly with Client Engagement/Project Management teams
- Communicates action items, timelines and next steps on a per-project basis to ensure accountability across all creative team members
- Estimates time and effort needed to fulfill the creative process on a per-project basis, in collaboration with the Project Management team
- Fosters and supports connectivity and collaboration with all Studio teams during all stages of the creative process
- Leads implementation, management and training related to resourcing tool adoption and utilization
- Works with project management functions to ensure internal resourcing platforms are maintained
- Leads weekly resourcing meetings with relevant departments and department heads, to ensure talent is properly utilized; provides a holistic view across all creative deadlines and works to resolve any conflicts or balance workloads
- Partners with Operations Lead to organize and review monthly utilization reports and share insights and action plan with leadership
- Alerts capability leads of any potential concerns or issues in meeting key client deliverables due to resourcing and makes recommendations to resolve
- Proactively highlights available creative talent that is under-utilized and seeking out projects for them to work on
- When internal options have been exhausted, identifies needs for freelance talent, creates the business case to hire and works with TA to secure the proper temporary support
- Works with the Talent Acquisition & HR teams to on-board department new creative hires and freelancers
- Partner with Finance on invoicing, payments to vendors, and freelance staff payroll
- Champions new vendor and client set up in internal systems as well as trainings for finance systems and support as needed
- Actively works to maintain a balance between agency goals and team’s ability to do their best work, all while being a profitable organization
- Proactively strategizes department staffing needs, identifying peaks/valleys, core competency gaps/redundancies based on client forecasts and trends.
- Work with Project Management & Implementation Lead to author and implement tools
- Use resourcing software to allocate and manage briefs, championing our workflow process, and training colleagues on its use
- Ensure utilization and timesheets are recorded correctly and are up to date
About You:
- A passion for working with people
- An ability to understand peoples’ skills and needs and treat them with respect
- A collaborative approach to work with excellent communication and negotiation skills
- The ability to work in fast-moving environment with an agile mindset with a positive attitude
- Strong relationship building skills
- Understands the different skills and experience needed for different types of creative work within an integrated marketing team (Media / Social / Creative / Production)
- Superb organization and time management skills
- Proactive and confident in prioritizing competing demands in a fast-paced environment
- Business acumen to understand how creative workflow and process management affects the bottom line
- Firm grasp of agency environment / processes and a love of creating order in the chaos
- Excellent interpersonal communication skills with the ability to motivate and influence across all levels of seniority
Key Skills:
- Working knowledge of a creative studio in an agency (or in-house) setting
- 5+ years of resource management / creative operations experience in the advertising/marketing industry
- Strong knowledge of integrated creative resource skill sets
- Proven expertise and ability to drive accurate resource planning, utilization & forecasting
- Ability to build strong, strategic partnerships - preferably up to leadership leve
- Proficient in using resource planning and project management tools (familiarity with Tempo for Jira is a plus), MS Office
Hands on
No egos here. Just a shared drive to roll up our sleeves and make great things happen. Every project--big or small, gets our full energy because we believe in doing things right. Every single time. It's how we deliver real results without cutting corners.
Honesty
We are real and authentic – with each other and in our work. Honest, direct communication builds the trust we need to collaborate, grow, and make meaningful things together. It’s not always easy but it’s always worth it.
Heart & Soul
We bring heart to everything we make. Passion, pride and relentless drive push us beyond “good enough” ––because we care deeply about our craft, and we’re always chasing better. We love what we do, and it shows.
Happy Family
Creating a space where everyone feels valued--even when opinions differ, makes this a supportive and inclusive environment for our people. We embrace our differences, celebrate our wins together, and never lose our sense of humor.
Hungry
Curiosity keeps us hungry. We question, experiment, and always seek out what's next. We never settle, and we never stop learning.
WPP is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.
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