Design Operations Manager

Somethingspecialstudios; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Somethingspecialstudios seeks a Design Operations Manager to lead day-to-day operations for Spatial and Visual Design teams in New York. You will partner with department heads and Directors to allocate staff, plan projects, and ensure studio efficiency.

You will oversee workflows, communications, and delivery risk management, while driving continuous process improvements and staff development to enable exceptional creative work.

Qualifications

• 5–8+ years of experience in design operations, creative operations, project management or studio management.
• Experience in a creative agency, design consultancy, architecture practice or experiential agency.
• Strong understanding of both graphic and spatial design workflows.
• Excellent resource planning and scheduling skills.
• Exceptional organizational and communication abilities.
• Experience managing multiple concurrent projects.
• Comfortable balancing competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong problem‑solving mindset.
• Proficiency with project management and resource planning tools (Harvest, Smartsheet, Float or similar).
• Experience working with cross-functional creative teams.
• Team management experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own day-to-day resourcing across the Spatial and Graphic Design teams.
• Balance workloads, allocate designers, and identify future staffing needs.
• Partner with leadership on freelance support, hiring, and team capacity planning.
• Attend weekly resourcing and Operations meetings
• Manage operational workflows across both design disciplines.
• Maintain visibility across active design work.
• Ensure project information, timelines and deliverables are clearly communicated
• Identify delivery risks early and propose solutions.
• Coordinate internal reviews, milestones and approvals.
• Establish and continuously improve studio processes and ways of working.
• Partner with Client Services, Production, and Creative leadership to translate project scopes into resource plans and delivery timelines.
• Ensure strong communication across teams and support projects from kickoff through completion.
• Escalate resource, timeline, or operational challenges and help identify solutions.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives across design verticals.
• Support onboarding, training, and knowledge sharing across the design team.
• Monitor team utilization and operational performance, using insights to improve how the studio works.
• Foster an environment where designers can focus less on operations and more on producing exceptional creative work.

Skills

Design operations experience

Resource planning

Scheduling

Cross-functional collaboration

Team management

Communication

Problem solving

Tools

Harvest

Smartsheet

Float

Job description

The Design Operations Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operational management of our Spatial Design and Visual Design teams.

The role is a key partner to the Spatial Design and Graphic Design department heads and will work closely with Creative Directors, Design Directors, Client Services, Production, Finance and Resourcing to ensure designers are effectively allocated, projects are planned appropriately, and studio operations run smoothly.

This person acts as the operational backbone of the design department—balancing workload, improving processes, supporting project delivery, and helping teams produce exceptional creative work.

Responsibilities

Resource Planning

• Own day-to-day resourcing across the Spatial and Graphic Design teams.
• Balance workloads, allocate designers, and identify future staffing needs.
• Partner with leadership on freelance support, hiring, and team capacity planning.
• Attend weekly resourcing and Operations meetings

Design Operations

• Manage operational workflows across both design disciplines.
• Maintain visibility across active design work.
• Ensure project information, timelines and deliverables are clearly communicated
• Identify delivery risks early and propose solutions.
• Coordinate internal reviews, milestones and approvals.
• Establish and continuously improve studio processes and ways of working.

Project Delivery & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Client Services, Production, and Creative leadership to translate project scopes into resource plans and delivery timelines.
• Ensure strong communication across teams and support projects from kickoff through completion.
• Escalate resource, timeline, or operational challenges and help identify solutions.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives across design verticals.

Studio & Team Support

• Support onboarding, training, and knowledge sharing across the design team.
• Monitor team utilization and operational performance, using insights to improve how the studio works.
• Foster an environment where designers can focus less on operations and more on producing exceptional creative work.

Qualifications

• 5–8+ years of experience in design operations, creative operations, project management or studio management.
• Experience working within a creative agency, design consultancy, architecture practice or experiential agency.
• Strong understanding of both graphic and spatial design workflows.
• Excellent resource planning and scheduling skills.
• Exceptional organizational and communication abilities.
• Experience managing multiple concurrent projects.
• Comfortable balancing competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong problem-solving mindset.
• Proficiency with project management and resource planning tools (Harvest, Smartsheet, Float or similar).
• Experience working with cross-functional creative teams.
• Team management experience is a plus.

Salary Range: $90,000 - $120,000 annually. Salary for the prospective employee is determined by a combination of factors that include qualifications, applicable skills, relevant experience and other budgetary considerations such as location/geography.