Head of Creative Operations - London

International Catalyst Services, LLC; London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative firm is seeking a Head of Creative Operations to lead its global creative studio in London. This pivotal role blends operational leadership with a vibrant creative culture, ensuring that processes run smoothly and teams are empowered to excel. You will optimize workflows, manage cross-functional teams, and foster collaboration between creative and business functions. If you thrive in a dynamic environment and are passionate about both creativity and operations, this is the perfect opportunity to make a significant impact.

Benefits

Flexible Working Hours

Professional Development Opportunities

Collaborative Work Environment

Health and Wellness Programs

Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives

Qualifications

• Experience in leading operations in a creative or agency environment.
• Ability to manage cross-functional teams across regions.
• Strong understanding of creative workflows across multiple channels.

Responsibilities

• Oversee project managers and ensure smooth operational processes.
• Develop and maintain management reporting to track performance.
• Manage and mentor a high-performing operations team.

Skills

Leadership in Creative Operations

Project Management

Process Development

Collaboration Skills

Communication Skills

Creative Workflow Management

Education

Bachelor's Degree in a Relevant Field

Tools

Project Management Tools

Resource Planning Tools

Workflow Automation Tools

Job description

Oliver Wyman is a global leader in management consulting. With offices in more than 70 cities across 30 countries, Oliver Wyman combines deep industry knowledge with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, and organization transformation. The firm has more than 7,000 professionals around the world who work with clients to optimize their business, improve their operations and risk profile, and accelerate their organizational performance to seize the most attractive opportunities. Oliver Wyman is a business of Marsh McLennan [NYSE: MMC].

For more information, visit www.oliverwyman.com. Follow Oliver Wyman on Twitter @OliverWyman.

About the Role:

We’re looking for a Head of Creative Operations to join our global in-house creative studio in London.

This leadership role oversees our project managers, account managers, traffic managers, and coordinators—ensuring our processes run smoothly, our people are set up for success, and our creative teams can focus on doing their best work.

You’ll be responsible for optimizing the way work flows through the studio, from intake to delivery. You’ll bring structure without adding bureaucracy, and you’ll champion clarity, transparency, and service mindset across every stage of the project lifecycle. This role offers a blend of operational leadership and creative culture, suited for someone who is equally passionate about both.

Oliver Wyman embraces a hybrid working policy, expecting the successful applicant to work a minimum of 3 days a week in our London office.

The weekly contracted hours for this role are 40 hours per week

What the role involves:

Creative Operations Leadership

• Owning and evolving the operational framework that supports the entire creative department, with a focus on clarity, efficiency, and scalability

• Leading a cross-functional team of project managers, account managers, traffic leads, and coordinators across global time zones

• Developing and maintaining management information reporting to track performance and operational metrics, using insights to drive strategic decisions.

• Defining and enforcing service levels, turnaround standards, and escalation pathways

Process Development

• Auditing and refining existing workflows to reduce friction and improve efficiency and outcomes

• Fostering a continuous improvement mindset by encouraging feedback and regularly reviewing processes for enhancement.

• Developing and maintaining documentation, templates, and operational playbooks

• Partnering with creative and technical leads to ensure handovers are smooth and expectations are clear

Project Oversight

• Ensuring that projects are set up for success through accurate scoping, resource planning, risk evaluation and timeline management

• Monitoring project health across the department and intervene where needed to unblock issues

• Supporting key projects with senior-level coordination, especially those with multiple stakeholders or high visibility

Team Management

• Managing, mentoring, and growing a high-performing operations team that thrives in a fast-paced, creative environment
• Facilitating regular coaching, feedback, and structured development plans for team members
• Promoting collaboration and alignment between operations and creative leads

Collaboration & Culture

• Acting as the bridge between creative, business, and technical teams—ensuring mutual understanding and smooth collaboration

• Championing a client-centric mindset rooted in partnership, transparency, and clear communication

• Fostering a positive, solutions-oriented team culture focused on progress over perfection

You’ll Thrive in This Role If You Are:

• A system-thinker who’s energized by streamlining complexity and designing for scale

• A natural collaborator who can build strong relationships across creative, business, and tech functions

• Experienced in managing creative workflows and cross-functional teams across regions

• Comfortable switching between big-picture planning and hands-on troubleshooting

• Fluent in the language of both creativity and operations—and know how to balance them

Your key skills will be…:

• Proven experience of leading operations in a creative, marketing, or agency environment

• A strong understanding of creative workflows across multiple channels including design, editorial, and media

• Experience of managing globally distributed teams and tools (e.g., project management, resource planning, workflow automation)

• The ability to drive process and implement continuous improvement without adding friction, and bring clarity to ambiguity

• Excellent organizational and communication skills, with a calm and solutions-driven mindset

• You’ll have familiarity with current trends in creative technology, including AI applications in creative processes.

Why Join Oliver Wyman?

• Work as One: Collaborate with diverse, cross-functional teams to create impactful learning solutions that drive our business forward.

• Striving for Breakthroughs: Be part of a culture that encourages innovation and creativity, where your ideas can lead to transformative learning experiences.

• Be Brave: Challenge the status quo and push the boundaries of traditional learning methods. Your boldness in exploring new technologies and methodologies will be valued.

• Lead with Heart: We prioritize a supportive and inclusive environment, fostering personal and professional growth for all our team members.

• Own Our Impact: Your work will directly influence the development of our colleagues, shaping the future of our organization.

Oliver Wyman, a business of Marsh McLennan (NYSE: MMC), is a management consulting firm combining deep industry knowledge with specialized expertise to help clients optimize their business, improve operations and accelerate performance. Marsh McLennan is a global leader in risk, strategy and people, advising clients in 130 countries across four businesses: Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer and Oliver Wyman. With annual revenue of $24 billion and more than 90,000 colleagues, Marsh McLennan helps build the confidence to thrive through the power of perspective. For more information, visit oliverwyman.com, or follow on LinkedIn and X.

Marsh McLennan is committed to embracing a diverse, inclusive and flexible work environment. We aim to attract and retain the best people and embrace diversity of age background, civil partnership status, disability, ethnic origin, family duties, gender orientation or expression, gender reassignment, marital status, nationality, parental status, personal or social status, political affiliation, race, religion and beliefs, sex/gender, sexual orientation or expression, skin color, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments in accordance with applicable law to any candidate with a disability to allow them to fully participate in the recruitment process. If you have a disability that may require reasonable adjustments, please contact us at [e-mail].

Marsh McLennan is committed to hybrid work, which includes the flexibility of working remotely and the collaboration, connections and professional development benefits of working together in the office. All Marsh McLennan colleagues are expected to be in their local office or working onsite with clients at least three days per week. Office-based teams will identify at least one “anchor day” per week on which their full team will be together in person.