Agency Operations Lead: Resource Planning & Insights

Studionorth; North Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

StudioNorth in North Chicago is seeking an Agency Operations Manager to optimize agency operations, resourcing, and People Ops. You will partner with leaders to forecast demand, manage capacity, and ensure data quality across Workamajig. You’ll translate data into insights, build workflows, and drive improvements while coordinating with external partners.

This hybrid role combines business operations, finance touchpoints, and HR processes in a fast-moving agency environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in agency operations, resource management, business operations, or related discipline with exposure to financial and People Ops.
• Agency or professional-services experience strongly preferred.
• Strong understanding of resource management, utilization, capacity planning, staffing, and agency financial operations.
• Experience translating pipeline, forecasts, and active work into staffing and capacity decisions.
• Strong systems orientation and ability to turn complex processes into clear workflows.
• Comfort working with operational and financial data and turning it into insights and recommendations.
• Excellent organizational and project management skills with strong attention to detail and follow-through.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to create accountability across teams.
• Confidence identifying problems, recommending solutions, and driving work forward.
• Ability to balance big-picture thinking with hands-on execution in a fast-moving environment.
• Sound judgment and discretion with confidential information.
• Workamajig experience strongly preferred.
• Strong technology aptitude and curiosity about AI, automation, and smarter ways of working.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day resource planning across employees and freelancers, maintaining visibility into capacity, utilization, and upcoming demand.
• Partner with Pod Leaders and department leaders to anticipate staffing needs and recommend solutions.
• Translate forecasts, pipeline, and active work into forward-looking staffing and capacity plans.
• Maintain accurate resource, utilization, and project data in Workamajig and drive data quality.
• Turn agency data into actionable operating insights and present recommendations to leadership.
• Build and improve workflows, SOPs, dashboards, and systems for consistency and accountability.
• Identify operational bottlenecks and proactively drive solutions.
• Own follow-through on agency priorities, ensuring deadlines are met and risks surfaced early.
• Manage the operational mechanics of recruiting, onboarding, offboarding, employee records, benefits, and other People Ops processes.
• Maintain clear processes and ensure actions and documentation are completed on time.
• Manage software access, licensing, and employee systems administration with external IT partners.
• Work with external HR, benefits, payroll, legal, and other specialists as needed.
• Maintain strong agency financial and operational discipline within Workamajig.
• Partner with Accounting on month-end close, client reconciliations, and forecasting.
• Connect financial performance, forecasts, staffing, capacity, and account health to identify trends and opportunities.

Skills

Agency operations

Resource management

Data analysis

Forecasting

Workflow design

Project management

People Ops

Communication

Strategic thinking

Tech-savviness

Tools

Workamajig

Job description

StudioNorth in North Chicago is seeking an Agency Operations Manager to optimize agency operations, resourcing, and People Ops. You will partner with leaders to forecast demand, manage capacity, and ensure data quality across Workamajig. You’ll translate data into insights, build workflows, and drive improvements while coordinating with external partners.

This hybrid role combines business operations, finance touchpoints, and HR processes in a fast-moving agency environment.