Creative Services Manager

McCANN New Zealand; Auckland; On-site; NZD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

McCann New Zealand is seeking a Creative Services Manager for a 12-month Fixed Term Contract to cover parental leave from 2027 onwards, in a fast-paced agency environment. You will support the Head of Creative Excellence & Resourcing with resource planning and capacity management, acting as a bridge between strategy, business management and creative teams.

Reporting to the Head of Creative Excellence & Resource, you’ll ensure the department has the right people in the right places at the

Qualifications

• 3+ years’ experience in a creative agency environment.
• Strong communication skills with capability to build trust and respect with the agency.
• Strong attention to detail and organisational skills.
• Able to build strong, collaborative relationships with senior stakeholders and able to have constructive conversations about priorities, capacity and trade-offs.
• An organiser who can work with systems and processes.
• Thrives in a fast-paced environment and is comfortable managing competing priorities.
• The ability to be diplomatic or firm when necessary.
• Strong sense of humour is essential.

Responsibilities

• Managing and coordinating the assignment of creative resource against the briefs.
• Proactively looks for efficiencies, overloaded teams and opportunities within the department and shares with senior leadership teams.
• Act as the conduit between the creative department and business management to support the evolving client requirements.
• Communicates and shares workflow status with all stakeholders to ensure transparency across departments.
• Utilises Float to visualise the creative pipeline and the resource needed to deliver the work.
• Identifies opportunities to improve creative ways of working, processes and resourcing, ensuring teams have the tools and support they need to do their best work.
• Acts as he eyes and ears of the creative department, identifying capacity, workflow and resourcing issues early and escalating where appropriate.

Skills

Communication

Attention to detail

Organisational skills

Stakeholder management

Diplomacy

Humour

Tools

Float

Job description

We’re looking for a Creative Services Manager to join our fast-paced agency environment at McCann.

Our award-winning creative team is looking for a Creative Services Manager to come onboard for a 12-month Fixed Term Contract to cover parental leave from 2027 onwards.

The role

The Creative Services Manager will support the Head of Creative Excellence & Resourcing in creative resourcing and capacity planning, that acts as the conduit between strategy, business management, and creative - managing resource allocation and long-term resource planning. Your role is to ensure the creative department functions as the agency’s nucleus where key stakeholders can get a snapshot of creative resource and workflow at any time to understand where briefs are sitting in the pipeline.

The role shifts from the traditional traffic manager/ gate keeper model to a broader creative resourcing solution, you’ll help enable the creative teams to have the time and space to do their best work. This means having a clear understanding of how an agency works and the different needs that different types of briefs require.

Reporting to the Head of Creative Excellence & Resource, you’ll work closely with Creative, Strategy, Business Management and Account leadership to ensure the department has the right people, in the right places, at the right time.

Key Responsibilities:

• Managing and coordinating the assignment of creative resource against the briefs.
• Proactively looks for efficiencies, overloaded teams and opportunities within the department and shares with senior leadership teams.
• Act as the conduit between the creative department and business management to support the evolving client requirements.
• Communicates and shares workflow status with all stakeholders to ensure transparency across departments.
• Utilises Float to visualise the creative pipeline and the resource needed to deliver the work.
• Identifies opportunities to improve creative ways of working, processes and resourcing, ensuring teams have the tools and support they need to do their best work.
• Acts as he eyes and ears of the creative department, identifying capacity, workflow and resourcing issues early and escalating where appropriate.

What will you bring?

• 3+ years’ experience working in a creative agency environment, with a strong understanding of how different disciplines and types of briefs require different creative resources.
• Strong communication skills with capability to build trust and respect with the agency.
• Strong attention to detail and organisational skills.
• Able to build strong, collaborative relationships with senior stakeholders and able to have constructive conversations about priorities, capacity and trade-offs.
• An organiser who can work with systems and processes.
• Thrives in a fast-paced environment and is comfortable managing competing priorities.
• The ability to be diplomatic or firm when necessary.
• Strong sense of humour is essential.

McCann NZ – Who we are….

2026 marks a defining moment in our industry. Three of Aotearoa’s most iconic agencies, FCB, Clemenger and DDB, are coming together as McCann NZ, uniting decades of award-winning creativity, cultural influence, and globally recognized work.

More than that, it’s coming together of exceptional people, the talent, and the heart behind some of New Zealand’s most celebrated brands.

This is a rare opportunity to be part of what comes next, building on a strong legacy and setting a new standard for creativity in New Zealand.

You’ll collaborate with some of the best minds in the business, with real opportunity to accelerate your career and produce standout work, while enjoying a supportive, high-energy environment. Our Grey Lynn office is home to a talented, down-to-earth team, backed by a range of perks and the support you need to succeed.

We’re a diverse, electric bunch with no typical employee, just people valued for what they bring.