Operations Manager

Walkup Studio; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Walkup Studio is seeking an Operations Manager to architect and run the systems that power our work across strategy, content production, talent programs, and client service. You’ll act as the operational heartbeat, ensuring teams ship excellent work on time and within scope.

You’ll lead process design, capacity planning, and financial controls, partner with founders on forecasting and margins, and build scalable workflows for multi‑client campaigns while mentoring the operations team.

Qualifications

• 2–4 years in operations or project management at a marketing/creative agency.
• Proven track record running complex content/talent programs and production calendars.
• Strong financial literacy: revenue recognition, margin management, forecasting, and cost controls.
• Experience with SOWs, scopes, change orders, and usage/rights mechanics.
• Data-driven and systems-minded with clear written communication.
• Familiarity with agency tooling and vendor management.

Responsibilities

• 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.
• Forecast margins, track burn, and manage invoicing and vendor payments; standardize POs and cost controls.
• Evaluate tooling, drive adoption, and standardize workflows across platforms.
• Operationalize SOWs/NDAs and manage compliance and risk.
• 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 staff; foster clarity, speed, and ownership.

Skills

Operations management

Project management

Stakeholder management

Financial literacy

Data-driven decision making

Written communication

Tools

Asana

Notion

Monday.com

Google Workspace

Slack

QuickBooks

e-signature

DAM

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.