Creative Services Manager

Mitch Dowd; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Brandlab, a division of Mitchdowd, is seeking a Creative Services Manager in Melbourne, Australia, to bring structure and clarity to our creative processes while ensuring brand accuracy across a diverse portfolio.

You will coordinate end-to-end creative workflows, maintain brand guidelines, and collaborate with designers and external partners to deliver high-quality work on time.

Qualifications

• Experience in creative services, studio coordination, project management, brand management or a similar role.
• Strong organisational and workflow management skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Experience working with brand guidelines, licensed properties, brand compliance or creative approval processes.
• Excellent communication skills and the confidence to brief creative teams and coordinate with external partners.
• Proficiency with project management tools and everyday business systems.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage the creative workflow from brief intake through to delivery and final approval.
• Coordinate priorities, timelines, resources and deadlines across multiple creative projects.
• Ensure briefs are clear, complete and actionable before work enters the creative process.
• Maintain visibility of project status, upcoming deadlines, outstanding feedback and approval requirements.
• Identify workflow bottlenecks, resolve coordination issues and proactively communicate risks or delays.
• Ensure creative work is properly reviewed and ready for submission at each approval stage.
• Own and maintain each licensed brand's current guidelines, approval rules, preferences and do's and don'ts.
• Keep brand playbooks and reference materials accurate, accessible and up to date.
• Build a strong working knowledge of each brand's identity, tone, visual standards and licensing requirements.
• Brief designers on relevant brand requirements and communicate changes as guidelines or partner expectations evolve.
• Ensure creative outputs are checked against applicable brand requirements before submission for approval.
• Maintain clear records of brand feedback, approvals, revisions and recurring requirements.
• Help minimise rework by identifying potential compliance issues early in the creative process.
• Act as the key coordination point between designers, the Divisional Manager, internal teams and external brand or licensing partners.
• Manage feedback and approval rounds, ensuring comments are clear, consolidated and actioned.
• Track approvals and follow up on outstanding decisions to keep projects on schedule.
• Ensure stakeholders understand timelines, responsibilities and next steps.
• Escalate risks, competing priorities and approval delays when required.
• Review and improve creative workflows, briefing processes and approval practices.
• Develop practical tools, templates and systems that support consistency and efficiency.
• Identify recurring issues and implement improvements to reduce rework and streamline delivery.
• Promote accountability, clear communication and a collaborative approach across the creative function.
• This is an opportunity to play a meaningful role in shaping how creative work gets delivered across a portfolio of licensed brands. You'll have the ownership to improve processes, build strong brand knowledge and help create an environment where creative teams can do their best work.

Job description

Brandlab, a division of Mitchdowd, brings brands to life through creative execution, product development and licensed brand partnerships. We work across a diverse portfolio of brands, translating brand identities and requirements into compelling, commercially relevant creative outcomes.

As our business and brand portfolio continue to evolve, we're looking for a highly organised, creatively minded Creative Services Manager to bring structure, consistency and clarity to our creative processes while ensuring every brand is represented accurately and appropriately.

The opportunity

The Creative Services Manager is the central point of coordination between Brandlab's creative team, internal stakeholders and licensed brand partners.

This role is responsible for managing creative workflows from brief through to final approval, maintaining current licensed brand requirements and ensuring designers have the information, guidance and resources they need to deliver work efficiently and to the required standard.

A key part of the role is taking ownership of brand knowledge — understanding the nuances of each licensed property, keeping brand playbooks current and making sure brand guidelines, approval rules and partner preferences are embedded in the creative process.

You'll combine strong organisational skills with a genuine understanding of creative work, balancing timelines, stakeholder expectations and brand compliance to keep projects moving and deliver work that's right first time.

Key responsibilities

Creative workflow & project coordination

Own and manage the creative workflow from brief intake through to delivery and final approval.

Coordinate priorities, timelines, resources and deadlines across multiple creative projects.

Ensure briefs are clear, complete and actionable before work enters the creative process.

Maintain visibility of project status, upcoming deadlines, outstanding feedback and approval requirements.

Identify workflow bottlenecks, resolve coordination issues and proactively communicate risks or delays.

Ensure creative work is properly reviewed and ready for submission at each approval stage.

Licensed brand stewardship

Own and maintain each licensed brand's current guidelines, approval rules, preferences and do's and don'ts.

Keep brand playbooks and reference materials accurate, accessible and up to date.

Build a strong working knowledge of each brand's identity, tone, visual standards and licensing requirements.

Brief designers on relevant brand requirements and communicate changes as guidelines or partner expectations evolve.

Ensure creative outputs are checked against applicable brand requirements before submission for approval.

Maintain clear records of brand feedback, approvals, revisions and recurring requirements.

Help minimise rework by identifying potential compliance issues early in the creative process.

Stakeholder & approval management

Act as the key coordination point between designers, the Divisional Manager, internal teams and external brand or licensing partners.

Manage feedback and approval rounds, ensuring comments are clear, consolidated and actioned.

Track approvals and follow up on outstanding decisions to keep projects on schedule.

Ensure stakeholders understand timelines, responsibilities and next steps.

Escalate risks, competing priorities and approval delays when required.

Review and improve creative workflows, briefing processes and approval practices.

Develop practical tools, templates and systems that support consistency and efficiency.

Identify recurring issues and implement improvements to reduce rework and streamline delivery.

Promote accountability, clear communication and a collaborative approach across the creative function.

About you

You're an organised, proactive and detail-oriented professional who understands that great creative work needs both creative thinking and strong operational foundations.

You're comfortable working with multiple brands, competing deadlines and a range of stakeholders. You can move between the detail of a brand guideline and the bigger picture of a project pipeline, ensuring the right work gets done, to the right standard, at the right time.

You will ideally bring:

Experience in creative services, studio coordination, project management, brand management or a similar role.

Strong organisational and workflow management skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.

Experience working with brand guidelines, licensed properties, brand compliance or creative approval processes.

Excellent communication skills and the confidence to brief creative teams and coordinate with external partners.

Exceptional attention to detail and a strong sense of ownership and accountability.

The ability to anticipate issues, solve problems and keep projects moving in a fast-paced environment.

A continuous improvement mindset and confidence in developing better ways of working.

Proficiency with project management tools and everyday business systems.

Experience in licensing, consumer products, apparel, retail or a creative agency or studio environment will be highly regarded.

What success looks like

Creative projects move through the workflow with clear briefs, priorities and accountability.

Licensed brand guidelines and requirements are current, understood and consistently applied.

Designers have the information they need to produce work that meets brand expectations.

Approval processes are organised, transparent and followed through.

Rework, avoidable errors and delays are reduced.

Internal teams and external partners have confidence in the quality and consistency of the creative process.

This is an opportunity to play a meaningful role in shaping how creative work gets delivered across a portfolio of licensed brands. You'll have the ownership to improve processes, build strong brand knowledge and help create an environment where creative teams can do their best work.

If you're someone who thrives on bringing order to complexity, enjoys working with brands and creative people, and takes pride in getting the details right, we'd love to hear from you.