Operations Director

Growthcurve | Global Integrated Creative Agency; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private medical insurance

Gym access and wellness classes

WFH every Monday

Access to premium AI tools & models

Apple hardware

High-spec office with amenities

Premium coffee and snacks

Learning budgets and masterclasses

Direct access to founders and C-levels

Clear progression path

Job summary

Growthcurve is hiring an Operations Director to own how the agency runs—our people, capacity and operating rhythm across London and Europe. You’ll report to the CEO and shape the processes that keep the studio moving as we scale.

This is a hands-on role writing contracts, fixing processes, and building systems so the agency doesn’t depend on any single person. You’ll drive HR, hiring, compliance and the tech stack daily.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in operations across agency or professional services.
• HR ownership including contracts, onboarding, right to work checks, absence, pensions and employee relations in the UK.
• Understanding agency economics: utilisation, resourcing and margins.
• Systems builder who documents processes so they run without you in the room.
• Comfort with numbers, spreadsheets, and common agency tools.
• Daily use of AI tools to improve operations in a fast-growing agency.

Responsibilities

• Run the operating rhythm: management meetings, monthly Business Review, weekly team notes.
• Own capacity and utilisation, maintain a 70–85% billable band, fill gaps with hires or freelance cover.
• Contract extra capacity: freelancers, outside studios and suppliers with clear contracts and rate cards.
• Oversee HR end to end: contracts, onboarding, right to work checks, absence, pensions and benefits.
• Run probation and performance reviews, and the annual pay & progression round with career ladders.
• Lead hiring with department leads: headcount against plan, job specs, AI-assisted applicant pipeline, offers and onboarding.
• Own compliance: SOC 2 programme in Vanta, data protection and employee handbook.
• Own the operations stack (Jira, Slack, Google Workspace, Breathe HR, Deel, Vanta, LastPass).
• Build automation and AI into operations; prune workflows nobody owns.
• Partner with Head of Finance on headcount cost, utilisation and margins per account.
• Support setup of operations for the US business as it grows.

Skills

Operations leadership

HR management

Agency economics

Systems thinking

Numbers & spreadsheets

AI tools daily

Education

CIPD Level 5 or above

Tools

SOC 2 experience

ISO 27001 experience

Job description

LOCATION: London (Central), 4 Days In Office (Tuesday - Friday), 1 Day WFH (Monday)

CONTRACT: Full-time, permanent

WEBSITE: https://growthcurve.co

Ad agencies are dead. We're what comes next.

Growthcurve is the growth marketing agency founders, CMOs and investors call when they need to scale fast. Strategy, media and creative under one roof, with an in-house studio and AI built into how we work. We've supported companies spending over $100M a month on paid ads, for brands like Coinbase, AliExpress, Midnite and Finom.

We're hiring an Operations Director to own how Growthcurve runs: our people, our capacity and the operating rhythm behind a fast-growing agency.

THE ROLE

You'll report to our CEO and sit on the management team. You own operations and people across the agency: our London office, a studio team spread across Europe and Argentina, and the freelancers and outside studios we bring in when the work calls for it. Our Head of Finance owns the numbers. You own that the agency runs, and keeps running well as it scales.

This is a hands‑on role. You'll write the contract, fix the process and run the review round yourself, while building the systems that mean the agency doesn't depend on any one person to keep it moving.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Run the operating rhythm: management meetings, the monthly Business Review and the weekly notes every team writes, and retire any ritual that stops earning its place
• Own capacity and utilisation, holding the agency to a 70 to 85% billable band, and turn resourcing gaps into hires or freelance cover fast
• Contract the extra capacity the studio calls for: freelancers, outside studios and suppliers, on clear contracts and rate cards
• Own HR end to end: contracts, onboarding, right to work checks, absence, pension and benefits, policies and employee relations
• Run probation and performance reviews every quarter, and the annual pay and progression round with the career ladders behind it
• Run hiring with department leads: headcount against plan, job specs, our AI‑assisted applicant pipeline, offers and onboarding
• Own compliance: our SOC 2 programme in Vanta, data protection and the employee handbook
• Own the operations stack (Jira, Slack, Google Workspace, Breathe HR, Deel, Vanta, LastPass) and bring in timesheets so capacity is measured, not estimated
• Every month, take one of our processes, compare it with how a larger agency runs it, and decide to keep, change or kill it
• Build automation and AI into how the agency runs, and prune the workflows nobody owns
• Partner with our Head of Finance on headcount cost, utilisation and margin per account
• Help set up operations for our US business as it grows

WHO YOU ARE

• 8+ years in operations, including at least 3 running operations or people for an agency, consultancy or other professional services business
• You've owned HR for a growing company: contracts, reviews, employee relations and UK employment law
• You understand agency economics: utilisation, resourcing, scope and why margin moves
• A systems builder who documents things so they run without you in the room
• Comfortable with numbers and spreadsheets, and fluent in the tools a modern agency runs on
• Calm, direct and trusted: you can have the difficult conversation and keep the team's confidence
• You use AI tools every day and want to build an agency that runs on them

BONUS POINTS

• CIPD Level 5 or above
• SOC 2 or ISO 27001 experience
• You've set up operations for a second office or a US entity
• You've rolled out a resourcing or timesheet tool from scratch

OUR CULTURE

• Bias for Action: We launch, learn and iterate. Waiting for "perfect" is not our culture
• Relentlessly Data‑Driven: Every decision is grounded in data. We measure everything
• Global by Default: We think globally and operate at the cutting edge of every market
• AI‑First: We are building the first truly AI‑first growth agency
• Excellence Only: Our clients are the world's most ambitious companies. Our output matches.

BENEFITS

• Private medical insurance
• Access to a gym and wellness classes
• WFH every Monday
• Access to the latest premium AI tools & models
• Brand new Apple equipment
• High spec office, with hotel grade amenities (kitchens, showers, bicycle parking, cafe)
• Free premium coffee, tea and a fully stocked snack cupboard and drinks fridge
• Access to masterclasses, industry events, and learning budgets
• Direct access to founders, C-levels, and hypergrowth operators
• Clear progression path and opportunities to lead new initiatives