Operations Manager

Walkup Studio; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

A creative agency in New York is seeking an Operations Manager to improve operational systems, manage finance and vendor relations, and lead project workflows. The ideal candidate will have 2-4 years of experience in operations or project management within a marketing or creative agency. Responsibilities include establishing effective processes, overseeing invoicing, and ensuring compliance with legal agreements. Strong financial literacy and experience with project management tools like Asana and Google Workspace are essential for success.

Qualifications

• 2-4 years in operations/project management at a marketing, social, or creative agency.
• Proven track record running complex content/talent programs with measurable results.
• Fluency in SOWs and scopes, and strong financial literacy.

Responsibilities

• Build agency operating systems and translate strategy into plans.
• Manage finance operations, invoicing, and vendor payments.
• Evaluate and implement tooling for project management.
• Partner with founders on forecasting, margins, and monthly close hygiene.
• Improve quoting/templates; track burn vs budget; flag risk and drive change orders.
• Oversee invoicing cadence, collections, and vendor payments; standardize POs and cost controls.
• Evaluate and implement tooling for project management, asset routing, approvals, and reporting; drive adoption and SOPs.
• Standardize briefing, content calendars, QA, and delivery workflows across platforms.

Skills

Operations/project management

Financial literacy

Stakeholder management

Data-driven mindset

Asana/Notion/Monday

Google Workspace

Slack

Tools

Asana

Google Workspace

QuickBooks

Google Workspace

Slack

QuickBooks

Job description

Role Overview

Walkup Studio is hiring a Operations Manager to architect, run, and continuously improve the systems that power our work—strategy, content production, talent/influencer programs, and client service. You’ll be the operational heartbeat across resourcing, finance ops, legal/contract workflows, and delivery—ensuring our teams ship excellent work on time, and on scope.

What You’ll Do

Operational Leadership

• Build agency operating systems: planning cycles, weekly business rhythm, dashboards, and post-mortems.
• Translate strategy into resourced, calendarized plans; pressure-test scopes, timings, and budgets before we commit.
• Run capacity management and staffing across strategy, creative, production, community, and paid support.

Finance & Commercials

• Partner with Founders on forecasting, margin targets, and monthly close hygiene (accruals, WIP, COGS, revenue pacing).
• Improve quoting/scoping templates; track burn vs. budget; flag risk early and drive change orders.
• Oversee invoicing cadence, collections follow-up, and vendor payments; standardize POs and cost controls.

Process & Tooling

• Evaluate and implement tooling for project management, asset routing, approvals, and reporting; drive adoption and SOPs.
• Standardize briefing, content calendars, QA, and delivery workflows across platforms (IG/TikTok/YouTube/Pinterest, etc.).
• Continuously optimize: identify bottlenecks, measure cycle times, and roll out process improvements.

Legal, Talent & Compliance

• Operationalize SOWs/MSAs, NDAs, and talent/influencer agreements; maintain version control and clause libraries.
• Ensure usage rights, licensing windows, whitelisting/boosting permissions, and FTC disclosure compliance.
• Manage vendor onboarding (COIs/W-9s), risk checks, and insurance requirements for productions and events.

Client & Team Operations

• Establish a consistent client operating cadence (QBRs, status, reporting) and coach teams on accountability.
• Build a vendor/talent bench; negotiate rates and SLAs.
• Hire, mentor, and performance-manage Operations/PM staff; nurture a culture of clarity, speed, and ownership.

What You’ll Bring

• 2-4 years in operations/project management at a marketing, social, or creative agency (multi-client environment).
• Proven track record running complex content/talent programs and production calendars with measurable results.
• Strong financial literacy: revenue recognition, margin management, forecasting, and cost controls.
• Fluency in SOWs, scopes, change orders, and usage/rights mechanics (organic, paid, whitelisting, renewals).
• Data-driven and systems-minded with excellent written comms and stakeholder management.
• Tech expertise (or equivalents): Asana/Notion/Monday, Google Workspace, Slack, QuickBooks (or similar), e‑signature, DAM.

Nice to Have

• Experience with influencer EMV/measurement, social listening, and analytics dashboards.
• Production experience and event coverage workflows.