Studio Head - Agency Operations

BrandStory Digital; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 3,500,000 - 5,500,000; Full time

Job summary

BrandStory Group in Bengaluru, India, is seeking a Studio Head – Agency Operations to take full ownership of day-to-day studio performance, across Creative, Design, Content, Technology and Production.

Reporting to the CEO, you will drive operational discipline, lead heads of departments, optimise resources and ensure on-time delivery within budgets, building a high-performing, commercially accountable studio.

Qualifications

• 10–15 years of experience in a digital marketing, creative, advertising or integrated agency.
• Senior studio management or agency operations exposure.
• Strong leadership and enterprise delivery mindset.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end studio operations and oversee all delivery functions.
• Lead department heads and drive performance and accountability.
• Plan production, delivery schedules and quality assurance.
• Optimize resource utilisation and studio profitability.
• Report to CEO and ensure delivery excellence.

Job description

Job Description: Studio Head – Agency Operations

Company: BrandStory Group

Experience: 10–15 Years

Reporting To: Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

About BrandStory

BrandStory is an integrated digital marketing, creative and technology agency delivering solutions across Digital Marketing, Branding, Creative, Performance Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Content, Public Relations, Video Production and Technology.

With a multidisciplinary team and a diverse portfolio of clients, BrandStory operates at the intersection of strategy, creativity, technology and execution.

We are looking for an experienced Studio Head who can take complete ownership of the agency's day-to-day operations and build a high-performing, efficient and commercially accountable studio.

Role Overview

The Studio Head will be responsible for independently running the agency's operations, overseeing people, departments, production, delivery, resource utilisation, quality and operational profitability.

Reporting directly to the CEO, this is a senior leadership position that requires strong operational ownership, people management, commercial understanding and decision-making capabilities.

The role demands someone who can lead multidisciplinary teams, establish operational discipline, optimise resources, resolve challenges and ensure consistent delivery excellence across all agency functions.

The core mandate is to run the studio independently, ensuring the right people, processes and systems deliver the right outcomes—on time, at the expected quality and within approved budgets.

Key Responsibilities

1. End-to-End Studio Operations

• Take complete ownership of the agency's day-to-day studio operations.
• Oversee the functioning of Creative, Design, Social Media, SEO, Performance Marketing, Content, Technology, Production, PR and other delivery functions.
• Ensure seamless coordination between departments, functional heads and Client Servicing teams.
• Establish clear operational priorities, production schedules and delivery commitments.
• Drive daily execution, workflow management and operational discipline.
• Independently resolve operational bottlenecks, competing priorities, resource challenges and internal escalations.
• Ensure the studio operates efficiently without continuous intervention from the CEO.
• Maintain operational readiness to support existing accounts, new projects and business growth.

2. People Leadership & Performance Management

• Lead department heads, team leads and cross-functional delivery teams.
• Establish clear reporting structures, ownership, responsibilities and accountability.
• Drive performance management, productivity reviews and corrective action plans.
• Work with HR on hiring requirements, talent development, retention and succession planning.
• Identify skill gaps, performance issues and organisational inefficiencies.
• Build a high-performance culture centred on ownership, collaboration, quality and speed.
• Manage internal conflicts and ensure effective coordination between departments.
• Develop capable team leaders who can independently manage their respective functions.

3. Production Planning & Delivery Management

• Own end-to-end delivery performance across client retainers, campaigns and projects.
• Ensure projects are planned, allocated, executed, reviewed and delivered within agreed timelines.
• Establish centralised production planning and project tracking.
• Ensure clear briefs, milestones, responsibilities and deadlines across all projects.
• Review critical delivery schedules and proactively manage delays or operational risks.
• Establish effective quality assurance and internal approval processes.
• Minimise avoidable revisions, production errors and missed commitments.
• Coordinate with Client Servicing teams to ensure delivery plans align with client expectations.

4. Resource Utilisation & Capacity Management

• Own resource planning, allocation and utilisation across the studio.
• Monitor team bandwidth, workloads, productivity and available capacity.
• Ensure optimal deployment of talent across client accounts and projects.
• Identify underutilisation, resource overload and staffing inefficiencies.
• Balance workloads across teams to improve efficiency and delivery predictability.
• Plan hiring, freelance support and outsourcing requirements based on business demand.
• Align studio capacity with the agency's revenue pipeline and growth plans.
• Drive continuous improvement in productivity and output per resource.

5. Studio Profitability & Commercial Efficiency

• Take responsibility for the studio's operational profitability and cost efficiency.
• Monitor manpower costs, resource utilisation, delivery budgets and operating expenses.
• Ensure project execution remains aligned with approved budgets, retainers and scopes of work.
• Identify and control scope creep, unbilled efforts, excessive revisions and resource leakage.
• Work closely with Finance, Business and Account Management teams to protect delivery margins.
• Track estimated versus actual effort and costs across major projects.
• Evaluate opportunities for outsourcing, automation and operational cost optimisation.
• Improve studio profitability without compromising delivery quality or team effectiveness.
• Provide the CEO with regular visibility into operational costs, utilisation and profitability.

6. Process Excellence, Systems & Automation

• Develop, implement and continuously improve studio-wide standard operating procedures.
• Establish structured processes for briefs, task allocation, production, reviews, approvals and delivery.
• Ensure effective adoption of project management, resource planning and reporting systems.
• Build operational dashboards providing real-time visibility into projects, resources and deadlines.
• Identify opportunities to implement AI, automation and productivity-enhancing technologies.
• Eliminate unnecessary handoffs, duplicated work and inefficient coordination.
• Establish escalation mechanisms and accountability frameworks.
• Build scalable processes that support agency growth while maintaining operational efficiency.

7. Quality Control & Client Delivery Excellence

• Ensure all client-facing deliverables meet the agency's standards for quality, accuracy and professionalism.
• Work with functional heads to maintain creative, technical and execution standards.
• Coordinate with Account Management teams to ensure client commitments are consistently fulfilled.
• Manage critical delivery escalations and implement timely corrective actions.
• Monitor revision cycles, client feedback and recurring quality concerns.
• Reduce preventable client escalations and delivery‑related dissatisfaction.
• Ensure operational excellence contributes to improved client satisfaction and retention.

8. Cross-Functional Leadership & Business Alignment

• Act as the central operational leader connecting all studio departments.
• Work with Business Development and Client Servicing teams to assess delivery capacity for new accounts.
• Ensure a structured transition from sales commitments to project execution.
• Evaluate resource requirements, implementation timelines and operational feasibility for new projects.
• Coordinate with Finance and HR on manpower planning, budgets and organisational requirements.
• Support the CEO in translating business growth objectives into operational plans.
• Ensure departmental priorities remain aligned with overall business objectives.

9. CEO Reporting & Operational Governance

• Report directly to the CEO on studio performance, delivery, people, productivity and operational profitability.
• Establish and manage daily, weekly and monthly operational review mechanisms.
• Conduct structured reviews with department heads and functional leaders.
• Provide regular reporting on:
• Project delivery status and upcoming commitments.
• Resource utilisation and capacity availability.
• Department-wise productivity and performance.
• Studio costs, effort overruns and profitability.
• Quality concerns, revisions and client escalations.
• Staffing requirements and capability gaps.
• Operational risks and corrective actions.
• Take independent operational decisions within defined authority levels.
• Escalate only strategic, financial or business-critical matters requiring CEO intervention.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Studio Operations: Ensure smooth, efficient and independent day-to-day functioning of the studio with minimal CEO intervention.
• On-Time Delivery: Achieve 95%+ adherence to committed project and campaign delivery timelines.
• Resource Utilisation: Maintain 75–85% productive utilisation across teams, adjusted by role and function.
• Studio Profitability: Maintain delivery costs and project margins within approved budgets and profitability targets.
• Team Productivity: Drive measurable improvements in individual, departmental and overall studio productivity.
• Quality Control: Reduce avoidable revisions, production errors and delivery-related quality issues.
• People Management: Ensure strong team accountability, performance management, talent retention and leadership development.
• Project Visibility: Maintain 100% visibility into active projects, workloads, ownership, timelines and delivery status.
• Process Compliance: Ensure consistent adoption of standardised workflows, SOPs and operational systems.
• Client Escalations: Minimise preventable client escalations arising from delivery delays, quality concerns or coordination gaps.
• Cost Optimisation: Improve operational efficiency through effective resource allocation, outsourcing, automation and cost management.
• Operational Scalability: Support business and revenue growth without proportionate increases in manpower and operating costs.
• CEO Dependency: Independently resolve routine operational challenges and elevate only strategic or business‑critical decisions.

Candidate Requirements

Professional Experience

• 10–15 years of experience in a digital marketing, creative, advertising or integrated marketing agency.
• Minimum 5 years in a senior studio management, agency operations, delivery leadership or comparable role.
• Proven experience managing large, multidisciplinary agency teams, preferably within organisations of 75–150+ employees.
• Demonstrated ability to independently run daily agency operations across multiple departments.
• Strong understanding of creative production, digital marketing, campaign management, technology and integrated service delivery.
• Experience managing multiple client accounts, retainers, projects and production pipelines simultaneously.
• Hands‑on experience in resource planning, operational budgeting, cost optimisation and delivery profitability.
• Experience implementing process improvements, productivity systems and operational transformation.
• Familiarity with project management platforms, workflow automation and AI-enabled productivity tools.
• Operational Ownership: Ability to take complete responsibility for studio performance and independently manage daily operations.
• People Leadership: Strong capability to lead department heads, manage multidisciplinary teams and drive accountability.
• Commercial Acumen: Understanding of agency economics, resource utilisation, delivery costs, project margins and profitability.
• Execution Excellence: Ability to translate business commitments into structured execution plans and measurable outcomes.
• Decision‑Making: Confidence to independently resolve operational challenges, resource conflicts and delivery priorities.
• Process Orientation: Ability to establish scalable systems and operating discipline without introducing unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Problem‑Solving: Proactive identification of bottlenecks and implementation of sustainable corrective measures.
• Technology Orientation: Ability to leverage automation, AI and workflow platforms to improve efficiency.
• Communication: Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage effectively…

First 30 Days – Operational Assessment & Ownership

• Understand the agency's structure, teams, workflows and delivery commitments.
• Assess resource utilisation, team capabilities and existing operational challenges.
• Establish clear daily operational governance and reporting mechanisms.
• Identify delivery bottlenecks, process gaps and immediate improvement opportunities.
• Assume ownership of routine studio decisions and execution management.

Days 31–60 – Operational Discipline & Performance Control

• Implement structured production planning and resource allocation.
• Standardise key workflows, reporting systems and escalation mechanisms.
• Establish department-wise productivity, quality and delivery metrics.
• Improve coordination between departments and Client Servicing teams.
• Introduce regular utilisation, delivery and profitability reviews.
• Address recurring operational inefficiencies and performance issues.

Days 61–90 – Performance Improvement & Scalability

• Demonstrate measurable improvements in delivery predictability and efficiency.
• Optimize resource utilisation and workload distribution.
• Establish stronger quality assurance and operational accountability.
• Improve visibility into studio costs, productivity and profitability.
• Reduce CEO dependency for day‑to‑day studio management.
• Present a six‑month roadmap for operational optimisation, productivity improvement and scalability.

What We Are Looking For

We are looking for a hands‑on, decisive and commercially aware studio leader who can take charge of a fast‑moving agency environment.

The ideal candidate should be comfortable managing people, making operational decisions, resolving challenges and driving results across multiple functions.

The candidate must understand that running a successful agency studio requires more than project tracking or task coordination. It requires ownership of people, performance, productivity, profitability and delivery excellence.

This is not a conventional Project Manager, Traffic Manager or Administrative Operations role.

It is a senior leadership position with direct accountability to the CEO for the operational performance of the agency.

Success in this role means building and running a studio that delivers consistently, operates profitably, scales efficiently and functions independently—allowing the CEO to focus on business growth, strategic relationships…