Creative Operations & Traffic Specialist [AQ-25789]

Aquent; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Aquent partners with a fast-paced in-house creative team to deliver high-impact digital experiences. You will serve as the operational backbone, overseeing 60–80 active projects across design, content, development, and UX – ensuring on-time delivery and efficient handoffs.

Ideal candidates bring 3–5 years in traffic or creative operations, deep Asana know-how, and a proactive, collaborative communication style to maintain production velocity during peak campaigns.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of experience as a traffic manager, creative project manager, or operations specialist in a fast-paced environment.
• Hands-on Asana skills: templates, dependencies, and clean workspaces from day one.
• Assertive and diplomatic communication to hold teams and stakeholders accountable.
• Strong understanding of traditional creative production cycles vs. product design/UX workflows.],
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Responsibilities

• Own End-to-End Traffic Management for a high-volume creative stack (design, content, dev, UX).
• Triage requests, assess capacity, and route work using established Asana processes.
• Identify bottlenecks, follow up with cross-functional teams, and manage timelines/scope changes.
• Maintain real-time project health on boards and dashboards for leadership.
• Provide coverage to run day-to-day traffic operations during peak periods.

Skills

Traffic management

Asana

Communication

Creative workflows

Tools

Figma

Slack

Jira

Job description

Aquent has partnered with a dynamic, fast-paced in-house creative agency to find an exceptional operational talent. In this role, you will partner with Aquent to bring your expertise to a forward-thinking organization that values innovation, collaboration, and high-quality creative output. As a vital member of this team, you will have a direct impact on streamlining workflows, protecting creative bandwidth, and ensuring the seamless delivery of high-impact digital experiences.

The Opportunity

Are you a highly organized, action-oriented operations professional who thrives in a fast-paced environment? We are looking for an energetic specialist to step into an established digital workspace and serve as the operational backbone of an in-house creative team. Working closely with agency leadership, you will take the reins on 60 to 80 active projects, ensuring deliverables move seamlessly across creative and product design workflows. Your ability to manage high-volume traffic and keep production on track will directly influence the success of upcoming peak seasonal campaigns and elevate the team’s overall efficiency.

Key Responsibilities

• Own End-to-End Traffic Management: Actively oversee a high volume of active tasks spanning creative design, content, development, and UX capabilities.
• Triage & Capacity Routing: Field incoming reactive requests, assess team capacity, and assign work using established processes and templates in Asana.
• Hold the Line on Deliverables: Proactively identify project bottlenecks, follow up with cross-functional teams, and confidently manage timelines and scope changes.
• Maintain Operational Visibility: Keep project management boards and status dashboards pristine so leadership has a real-time view of project health.
• Provide Trusted Coverage: Ramp up quickly to run day-to-day traffic operations autonomously, ensuring seamless continuity during upcoming peak periods.

What You’ll Bring (Required)

• Proven Experience: 3–5 years of solid background as a traffic manager, creative project manager, or creative operations specialist in a fast-paced agency, agile environment, or in-house corporate studio.
• Asana Expertise: Deep, hands-on experience navigating templates, managing task dependencies, and keeping workspaces clean and organized is required from day one.
• Assertive & Diplomatic Communication: Comfort holding team members and external stakeholders accountable, asking the right questions to get projects unstuck, and protecting creative bandwidth with confidence and tact.
• Fluency in Creative Rhythms: A strong understanding of the differences between traditional creative production cycles and product design/UX workflows, and how they hand off to one another.

Preferred Skills & Technical Familiarity

• Comfortable collaborating in digital environments utilizing Figma, Slack, Jira, and digital proofing platforms.