Creative Operations & Resource Management Lead, Marcom LA

Apple Inc.; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 217,000 - 327,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Apple Benefits

Employee stock purchase plan

Relocation eligibility

Job summary

Apple Inc. is seeking a Creative Operations & Resource Management Lead in LA to own a forecast-driven operating system for talent and creative operations.

You will partner with functional leads to allocate resources, filter and develop talent, and ensure the right capabilities are ready before work arrives. You will drive staffing across full-time and freelance teams, oversee onboarding/offboarding, and maintain playbooks for three creative pods—design, copy, and art direction—while forecasting

Qualifications

• 15+ years relevant experience in a resource or project management role within a creative agency or marketing communications organization.
• Strong understanding of digital and creative campaign workflows, including key roles in design, conceptual advertising, and digital production.
• Experience with budget allocation and proficiency in modern project management and workspace tools.
• Demonstrated ability to build and manage a rolling capacity/demand forecast, not just respond to open requests.

Responsibilities

• Build strong relationships across creative, production, design, brand, strategy, operations leadership, and vendor partners.
• Align strategies with Marcom and Services resource managers and maintain a big-picture view of workforce.
• Lead weekly stakeholder check-ins to optimize talent utilization, assign projects efficiently, and address resource gaps.
• Manage contract, vendor, and full-time staffing, overseeing agency relationships, resource burn, and contract lifecycles.
• Balance workloads across full-time and freelance teams with aligned project needs.
• Oversee onboarding/offboarding for all personnel (FTE, vendors, freelancers) in partnership with Associate Resource Managers.
• Maintain a rolling forecast of creative capability, skill, and capacity needs across three pods.
• Forecast hiring and freelance needs for quarterly planning, considering roadmaps and seasonality.
• Collaborate with staffing vendors to source, review, and screen new talent for creative needs.
• Shift contractor sourcing to forward-facing recruiting aligned to future needs.
• Up-level existing talent with skill-building and inspiration programming.
• Quality-gate talent-to-assignment matches before review by leadership to reduce workload.
• Organize and run creative reviews by project priority and coordinate talent fit assessments.
• Establish and maintain shared operating playbooks across all three pods.
• Run retrospectives to feed learnings back into the forecast.
• Mediate resource-sharing challenges and conduct risk assessments.
• Improve resource management processes with modern planning tools and AI-driven insights.

Skills

Resource management

Project management

Creative workflows

Forecasting capacity/demand

Budget allocation

Airtable

AI-driven resourcing tools

Tools

Airtable

AI-driven resourcing tools

Job description

Creative Operations & Resource Management Lead, Marcom LA

Marcom LA is Apple’s Global Marketing Communications group creating and overseeing the world-class marketing and advertising driving Apple’s rapidly‑growing Services sector including Apple Music, App Store, Apple Pay, iCloud, Creator Studio, Apple Arcade, Apple Sports, Apple News, Apple Books, Apple Podcasts, Apple Maps, and more. Whether we’re launching the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, introducing Messi to MLS, sharing the next generation of games in the App Store, or celebrating the seamless joy of using Apple Pay, Marcom LA’s mission is to build brand love for Apple every day. We do that with inspiring creative, a culture‑first mindset, and the belief our Services make our incredible Apple devices even better.

We are looking for a Creative Operations & Resource Management Lead to join our Operations team. In this role, you will own a single, forecast‑driven operating system for talent and creative operations, partnering with functional leads to assign sufficient and suitable resources to projects, while also filtering, developing, and up‑leveling talent so the right creative capabilities are ready before the work arrives.

Description

The Creative Operations & Resource Management Lead for Marcom LA is the cornerstone that empowers our talent to do their best work across our services brands. By deeply understanding the creative journey, you know how to strategically forecast needs and build the right teams — and by holding a strong point of view on creative quality, you filter and prepare that talent before it ever reaches creative leadership. In our fast‑paced environment, your clear communication, diplomatic leadership, and seamless planning will create the space where great ideas can come to life. This role reads the pipeline from Brand and Project Management, translates it into a forecast of creative capability needs, and closes the loop by developing, sourcing, and casting talent against that forecast, then reviewing quality before handoff to creative leadership.

Responsibilities Include:

• Resourcing & Staffing- Build strong relationships across creative, production, design, brand, strategy, operations leadership, and vendor partners.
• Partner with Marcom and Services resource managers to align strategies, share best practices, and maintain a big‑picture view of our workforce.
• Lead weekly stakeholder check‑ins to optimize talent utilization, assign projects efficiently, and address resource gaps.
• Manage contract, vendor, and full‑time staffing, proactively overseeing agency relationships, resource burn, and contract lifecycles.
• Align individual skills and career goals with project needs, carefully balancing workloads across full‑time and freelance teams.
• Oversee smooth onboarding and offboarding for all personnel (FTE, vendors, freelancers) in partnership with Associate Resource Managers.
• Forecasting & Intake- Maintain a forward‑looking read of the Brand and Project Management pipeline, translating volume and complexity into a rolling forecast of creative capability, skill, and capacity needs across all three creative pods (design, copy, art direction).
• Forecast hiring and freelance needs for quarterly and fiscal year planning, factoring in project roadmaps and seasonality.
• Sourcing & Talent Development- Collaborate with staffing vendors and internal teams to source, review, and screen new talent, ensuring sourcing partners understand our unique needs and secure top talent across creative, production, design, brand, and strategy.
• Shift contractor and IC sourcing from reactive backfill to forward‑facing recruiting aligned to future creative needs, building a sourcing pipeline matched to the studio’s evolving creative sensibilities.
• Own up‑leveling of existing talent as creative needs evolve — shaping skill‑building and inspiration programming proactively, tied to where the pipeline is headed rather than after gaps emerge.
• Creative Quality & Orchestration- Quality‑gate every talent‑to‑assignment match before it reaches creative leadership for review, reducing Group Creative Director (GCD) workload by pre‑filtering casting recommendations with a strong, consistent point of view on creative taste and quality standards.
• Organize and run creative reviews by project priority, and coordinate with GCDs on talent fit assessments.
• Establish and maintain shared operating playbooks across all three creative pods, connecting briefing, office hours, reviews, and intake into one coherent system rather than disconnected rituals.
• Run structured retrospectives that feed learnings back into the forecast, tightening casting accuracy cycle over cycle.
• Operational Excellence- Mediate resource‑sharing challenges with functional and operations leads, conducting necessary risk and opportunity assessments.
• Continuously improve resource management processes and workflows using modern planning tools (i.e. Airtable) and AI‑driven insights.

Minimum Qualifications

• 15+ years relevant experience in a resource or project management role within a creative agency or marketing communications organization.
• Strong understanding of digital and creative campaign workflows, including key roles in design, conceptual advertising, and digital production.
• Experience with budget allocation and proficiency in modern project management and workspace tools.
• Demonstrated ability to build and manage a rolling capacity/demand forecast, not just respond to open requests.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience using and driving adoption of project resourcing systems.
• Advanced Airtable skills; experience with AI‑driven resourcing tools.
• Experience sourcing talent at the convergence of creative craft and the effective application of technology.
• Ability to assess and forecast longterm creative needs based upon industry wide trends and the evolving technology landscape.
• Strategic and detail‑oriented, able to balance daily operations with big‑picture team efficiency.
• Adaptable and proactive, thriving in dynamic environments while anticipating future needs and roadblocks.
• Ability to analyze complex briefs, identify risks, and strategically match the right talent to the right project.
• Exceptional organizational, diplomatic communication, and people management skills.
• Strong point of view on creative quality and taste, with the judgment to filter and pre‑vet talent recommendations for creative leadership.
• Track record of building shared processes or playbooks across previously siloed teams or pods.

At Apple, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. This provides the opportunity to progress as you grow and develop within a role. The base pay range for this role is between $217,300 and $326,600, and your base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location.

Apple employees also have the opportunity to become an Apple shareholder through participation in Apple’s discretionary employee stock programs. Apple employees are eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit awards, and can purchase Apple stock at a discount if voluntarily participating in Apple’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You’ll also receive benefits including: Comprehensive medical and dental coverage, retirement benefits, a range of discounted products and free services, and for formal education related to advancing your career at Apple, reimbursement for certain educational expenses — including tuition. Additionally, this role might be eligible for discretionary bonuses or commission payments as well as relocation. Learn more about Apple Benefits

Note: Apple benefit, compensation and employee stock programs are subject to eligibility requirements and other terms of the applicable plan or program.

Apple is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We seek to promote equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. Learn more about your EEO rights as an applicant

At Apple, we believe accessibility is a fundamental human right. You’ll find that idea reflected in everything here — in our culture, our benefits and our digital tools. By welcoming as many perspectives as possible, we help you build a career where you feel like you belong.

Learn about accessibility in Apple’s workplace

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Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.