Director of Production Services & Growth Enablement

Direct Travel; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Direct Travel in Chicago is seeking a Director of Production Services to lead a team of Creative Group production staff and contractors, driving scalable infrastructure and strong cross-functional collaboration to boost department performance.

You will recruit, coach and retain top talent, build training programs, optimize processes and tooling, and partner with leadership and Business Development to deliver profitable, high‑quality client solutions.

Responsibilities

• Lead, maintain and grow a high-performing and cohesive team.
• In partnership with leadership, develop scalable foundation of systems, tools, processes and technology to further establish production as a core competency within the organization.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to optimize the performance of the production department focusing on driving efficiency, collaboration, consistency, profitability, and service excellence.
• Manage and coach team members for professional development; identify and enable educational opportunities aligned with individual career objectives.
• Attract, interview, hire, train, and retain the best team.
• Develop training curriculum to create consistency and to meet the success pathing and competency benchmark requirements for each role.
• Build and oversee a diverse bench of freelance talent, understanding their strengths and weaknesses, and aligning them with projects and organizational need.
• Measure, assess and regularly analyze overall team performance, initiating any actions needed to close gaps and addressing opportunities for improvement.
• Participate on the Organizational Leadership Council (OLC) to represent the production department internally.
• Create a culture of psychological safety by welcoming feedback, navigating difficult conversations and conflict when necessary.
• Develop and deliver timely and fair performance reviews to direct staff, ensuring employee development and goal optimization.
• Discipline and terminate, if needed, with the approval of the appropriate Senior Leadership Team member, and President.

Job description

Direct Travel in Chicago is seeking a Director of Production Services to lead a team of Creative Group production staff and contractors, driving scalable infrastructure and strong cross-functional collaboration to boost department performance.

You will recruit, coach and retain top talent, build training programs, optimize processes and tooling, and partner with leadership and Business Development to deliver profitable, high‑quality client solutions.