Creative Operations Director

JR United Kingdom; Swindon; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading creative agency in Swindon seeks a Creative Operations Director to bring order to their projects. You will oversee operations, manage resources, and ensure projects run smoothly while driving a culture of accountability and creativity. This pivotal role combines strategic oversight with hands-on management within the dynamic gaming industry.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a senior creative operations role.
• Strong resource management skills and budget ownership experience.
• Deep understanding of creative production processes.

Responsibilities

• Define and implement systems and workflows.
• Lead on studio resource planning and capacity forecasting.
• Maintain project timelines, scopes, and budgets.

Skills

Resource management

Problem-solving

Communication

Tools

Trello

Slack

Google Drive

Job description

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Creative Operations Director, swindon, wiltshire

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Client:

Other Things

Location:

swindon, wiltshire, United Kingdom

Job Category:

Other

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EU work permit required:

Yes

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Job Views:

6

Posted:

26.06.2025

Expiry Date:

10.08.2025

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Job Description:

TL;DR

Love games? Love getting shit done even more? We’re looking for a Creative Operations Director to bring order to the chaos, keep projects profitable, and help shape the future of our agency. Must know their way around a budget, a schedule and a production pipeline. And not be afraid to get stuck in.

WHO ARE OTHER THINGS?

We’re a creative agency with a focus on the gaming and entertainment industries. We produce a lot of videos, websites, marketing and brand assets, and all the other creative bits in-between, for some of the world’s biggest gaming brands.

We’re called Other Things.

WHAT’S THE JOB?

We’re looking for someone to bring shape to the chaos and clarity to the creative. A Creative Operations Director who’s been around the block, knows how studios tick, and isn’t afraid to roll their sleeves up and get stuck in.

This is a senior, pivotal role in our growing agency. You’ll be responsible for making sure that all of our projects run like clockwork. On time. On budget. And without breaking anyone in the process.

You’ll own the operations function: Managing resource and capacity across a busy pipeline, creating and refining our systems and workflows, keeping budgets in check, and keeping the team moving. You’ll work directly with the leadership team, helping shape how we grow, and you’ll manage both upwards and downwards, setting expectations and unblocking wherever needed.

We're a small team, so while you’ll bring experience and strategic thinking, you’ll also get your hands dirty. We need someone who’s comfortable running the daily standup in the morning, updating the project timelines by lunchtime and wrangling a last-minute freelancer in the afternoon.

You’ll also be client-facing where needed, particularly around timelines, scopes and approvals. If you’ve got a little black book of reliable editors, devs or designers - even better.

And, if you’ve ever looked at a Trello board or production process and thought, “this could be better… and here’s how...”, then we’re already on the same page.

This is a rare opportunity to make a serious dent in how we work and to keep Other Things on the up.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own the day-to-day and long-term operational health of the studio.
• Define and implement systems, workflows, and tools that drive efficiency, clarity, and creative excellence.
• Lead on all studio resource planning, utilisation, and capacity forecasting.
• Build and optimise end-to-end delivery pipelines - from briefing and scoping to execution and wrap-up.

PROJECT & ACCOUNT OVERSIGHT

• Maintain a high-level view of all projects in the pipeline - ensuring scope, timelines, and budgets are met.
• Serve as a senior internal escalation point and project problem-solver.
• Collaborate closely with client stakeholders and creative directors to deliver best-in-class work.

CLIENT & STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT

• Serve as the senior delivery lead for selected clients.
• Support client pitches and proposal development - Providing cost estimates, writing statements of work, compiling proposal decks and contributing operational insight and confidence in delivery plans.
• Ensure client communication around delivery, timelines, and resourcing is consistent, professional, and transparent.
• Work with senior creative leads to ensure that client expectations align with creative ambition and team capacity.
• Onboarding of new clients.

TEAM & CULTURE

• Drive a culture of ownership, accountability, and positive collaboration.
• Help identify and attract top talent, both freelance and full-time.

COMMERCIAL & STRATEGIC INPUT

• Monitor and report on studio performance: project profitability, resourcing efficiency, and margin.
• Partner with the founders on business planning, pricing models, and growth strategy.
• Support pitches and client conversations with operational insights and delivery plans.

SOUNDS INTERESTING. HOW DO I GET THE GIG?

We want someone who knows what they’re doing. Someone who’s done this before, at a creative agency, production studio or similar, and who’s confident running the day-to-day production engine with minimal hand-holding.

You’ll need to be a strong communicator, a natural problem-solver, and someone who genuinely enjoys enabling brilliant work by making the space for it to happen. You’ll have a commercial head on your shoulders, a calm approach under pressure, and a relentless focus on delivery without compromising creativity.

We’re not looking for someone to maintain the status quo. We’re looking for someone to help push things forward, define what outstanding operations looks like, and then help us build it.

On the skills front, it’s going to look something like this…

REQUIRED:

• Proven experience in a senior creative operations / production / studio management role
• Deep understanding of creative production processes (design, video, digital)
• Strong resource management skills (balancing internal teams and freelancers)
• Ability to see problems and bottlenecks before they happen - part studio manager, part production Nostradamus
• Keen to be hands-on and involved in the day-to-day
• Budget ownership experience - confident setting and managing project budgets
• Experience improving or implementing production workflows and tools, making systems more efficient and scalable for internal teams, freelancers and clients
• Passion for video games, entertainment, creativity and geek culture in general

DESIRED:

• A little black book of trusted freelancers and suppliers
• Familiarity with Trello, Slack, Google Drive etc
• The ability to laugh at the absurdity of creative chaos and still keep things moving

WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?

Apart from some cold, hard cash? We have a bunch of awesome clients and we get to work on some fun stuff, and you’ll be working on that alongside us.

You’ll get to shape and lead the operations function of a rising creative force in games and entertainment.

What more do you want?

WHAT ELSE SHOULD I KNOW?

Location: Mostly remote with occasional meet-ups at our Leeds city centre office. If your location allows it, hybrid may be preferred, but essentially we're flexible for the right candidate.

Hours: 40 hours per week

Job Type: Permanent, full time

Pay: Competitive based on experience

HOW DO I APPLY?

Tell us a little bit about why you want to apply for the role and what you can offer, and send that along with your CV and any relevant work examples to: