Senior Creative Services Manager

BARBOUR; Jarrow; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Staff discount

Staff shop

Healthcare plan

25 days holiday

Training opportunities

Free onsite parking

Subsidised canteen

Hybrid & flexible working

4pm finish on a Friday

Wellbeing support

Job summary

BARBOUR is seeking an experienced Senior Creative Services Manager to lead the photo studio and graphics teams at our South Shields head office. The role emphasizes balancing workload, refining workflows, and driving process improvements while maintaining high creativity.

Hybrid working, with 4 days in the office and 1 day at home, is offered. The position requires strong leadership, extensive operational expertise, and the ability to align output with the global brand strategy.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in creative operations or in-house studio management.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams across graphics, styling, photography, and production.
• Deep operational expertise in establishing workflows and managing production budgets.
• Proficient in Mac OS and Microsoft Office.
• Experience with Lets Flo or similar workflow tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the Photo studio and Graphics teams to high performance.
• Oversee photo studio disciplines (Styling, Photography, Production).
• Coordinate clear communication and handovers across teams.
• Support workload planning and resource allocation.
• Align output with global brand strategy.
• Manage end-to-end creative workflows from brief to delivery.
• Monitor timelines and proactively resolve bottlenecks.
• Maintain Lets Flo as data source for Range Plan.

Skills

Creative operations

Studio management

Leadership

Workflow management

Lets Flo

Mac OS

MS Office

Stakeholder management

Attention to detail

Creative process

Travel flexibility

Tools

Lets Flo

Job description

Position Overview:

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced and highly organised Senior Creative Services Managers to join our Global Marketing team here at our Head Office in South Shields on a temporary, maternity cover basis. This role will be key to overseeing photo studio disciplines alongside Graphics. The core focus will be to create an environment where creative teams can excel – balancing workload, refining workflows and driving continuous process improvement without compromising creativity. This is a key leadership role within our Creative function, connecting people, processes and priorities to ensure work moves seamlessly from initial brief through to final delivery.

*The role is based at head office in South Shields, and the expectation is 4 days in the office and 1 day of homeworking.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead and manage the Photo studio and Graphics teams, fostering a positive, collaborative, and high-performing working environment.
• Oversee photo studio disciplines (Styling, Photography, and Production) to ensure teams are coordinated, aligned, and well-supported.
• Facilitate clear communication, structured handovers, and shared ownership across multi-disciplinary creative teams.
• Support workload planning and resource allocation to balance team capacity against business priorities.
• Partner with Creative leadership and key stakeholders to align output with global brand strategy.
• Own end-to-end creative workflows across photo studio and Graphics, ensuring projects move efficiently from brief to delivery.
• Establish and embed robust processes, clear responsibilities, and defined ways of working.
• Ensure all briefs are clear, achievable, and fully resourced prior to kick-off.
• Monitor timelines, capacity, and project status, proactively resolving potential bottlenecks.
• Maintain the workflow tool Lets Flo as the true data source for Range Plan seasonal accuracy, partnering regularly with Trade and IT on system integrations and efficiencies.
• Continuously review creative processes to eliminate inefficiencies, duplication, and unnecessary steps.
• Use data, team feedback, and operational experience to introduce modern tools and smarter ways of working.
• Manage the budget across photo studio and Graphics, tracking spend and proposing cost-effective solutions.
• Positively lead operational change, ensuring new processes are fully adopted and embedded.
• Serve as the main connective tissue between Creative Services and Brand, Marketing, Ecommerce, Digital, and Product teams.
• Clearly communicate creative capacity, lead times, and production constraints to stakeholders.
• Proactively manage competing business priorities to find practical, practical solutions.

Skills and Experience:

• Proven experience in creative operations, in-house studio management, or creative services within a fast-paced environment.
• Strong leadership capability with experience managing multi-disciplinary teams across graphics, styling, photography, and production.
• Deep operational expertise in establishing workflows, managing production budgets, and overseeing resource planning.
• Highly proficient in Mac Operating Systems and Microsoft Office suite.
• Experience managing creative workflow systems (experience with tools like Lets Flo is advantageous).
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills with an ability to bring clarity to competing priorities.
• High attention to detail combined with a practical, solutions-focused mindset.
• Strong appreciation for the creative process—knowing how to balance structure with the space creative teams need to thrive.
• Flexibility to travel as required by the role.

Benefits:

• Discretionary Company bonus scheme
• Staff Discount
• Staff Shop
• Healthcare Cash Plan
• 25 days holiday as standard increasing with length of service plus bank holidays
• Access to training and development activities to support your career development
• Free onsite parking
• Subsidised canteen
• Operate hybrid & flexible working
• 4pm finish on a Friday
• Wellbeing support