Ops Lead

Conscious Minds; Portland (OR); Hybrid; USD 145,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Life Insurance

Unlimited PTO

Family Leave

Training & Development

Work From Home/Hybrid Days

Job summary

Conscious Minds, a people-first creative agency with offices in Pasadena and Portland, is seeking an Operations Lead. You will provide strategic operational leadership for your Pod, driving efficiency, profitability, and accountability across multiple accounts.

You will lead Producers, oversee freelancer resourcing, and ensure clear expectations and delivery across projects. The role reports to Pod Principals and involves managing budgets, schedules, and cross-functional collaboration to keep

Qualifications

• Strategic operational leadership for your assigned Pod, driving efficiency and profitability.
• Experience budgeting and scheduling for creative and strategy services.
• Oversee freelancer resourcing and engagements with CM Labels.

Responsibilities

• Ingest client briefs with Pod Principals and develop operational strategies.
• Prepare budgets and schedules for creative/strategy services to ensure profitability.
• Oversee freelancer resourcing and CM Label engagements for seamless execution.
• Draft statements of work and secure client approvals; maintain finance communications.
• Lead Producers, deliver status updates, and ensure projects stay within scope.

Skills

Operational leadership

Account management

Budgeting

Resource planning

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Conscious Minds is an independent creative agency that helps brands establish a more human connection between brands and their audiences. We have offices in Pasadena, CA, and Portland, OR, and offer a remote-first work environment to our employees. Our clients include Apple, Mars Petcare, Meta, Nike, Oakley, Starbucks, Uber Eats, Vans, Yahoo, and Zillow.

We're a people-first work culture, big on community, trust, transparency, and respect for one another. We operate as an integrated team from Strategy through Production, and everything in between.

We are currently looking for a full-time Operations Lead.

ABOUT THIS ROLE

As Operations Lead, your core responsibility is to provide strategic operational leadership for your assigned Pod, driving optimal efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability across multiple accounts. You will support Pod Principals with account management and lead the Producers under your supervision, setting clear expectations, fostering accountability, and ensuring consistent delivery on the Pod goals.

The Operations Lead reports directly to the Pod Principals.

Project Ingestion

• Partner with Pod Principals to ingest Client briefs and lead the development of operational strategies.
• Lead the preparation of budgets and schedules for creative and strategy services, ensuring financial profitability and optimal resource allocation across all pod projects.
• Oversee the freelancer resourcing process in partnership with Recruitment and manage engagements with CM Labels to ensure seamless project execution.
• Partner with Principals to draft statements of work, secure client approvals on scope, and maintain continuous communication with the finance team to ensure alignment and transparency throughout a project lifecycle.

Projects In Progress

• Partner with Pod Principals on account management and communication support to ensure alignment with Clients on milestones and expectations.
• Provide operational leadership and management of Producers under supervision to ensure projects remain within scope (budget, schedule, and deliverables).
• Ensure seamless collaboration and alignment between your assigned Pod and CM Labels.
• Deliver regular project status updates to Pod Principals and CM Leadership including burn reports, ensuring reporting accuracy and proactive issue resolutions.

Project Wrap

• Provide clear expectations and accountability to Producers during the project wrap process.
• Digital wraps should be submitted to Finance, Pod Principals and CM Leadership no later than 2 weeks after completion of a project.
• Ensure accuracy of project performance is accurately indicated in Parallax for Pod performance purposes.
• Cross reference all expenditures & invoices submitted against overarching PO Log. Add final costs to Parallax (biweekly for ongoing projects or retainers).

Day to Day Leadership

• Manage and lead the Producers under your supervision, setting clear expectations, fostering accountability, and ensuring consistent delivery on the Pod goals.
• Provide consistent and constructive feedback to Producers and lead semi-annual performance reviews of Producers under your leadership.
• Review internal and external status documents ahead of status calls. Be aware of any project roadblocks or outstanding issues that need to be discussed with Pod Principals.
• Identify areas of operational optimization and opportunities within the Pod. Present new technologies or tools that would support workflow and efficiency.

WHO YOU ARE

You are equal parts operator and people strategy-someone who not only executes but thinks ahead. You read between the lines, spot patterns, and understand what clients need before they ask. You bring calm to complexity, structure to ambiguity, and momentum to every project you touch.

We have worked hard to build a reputation as one of the most personal, hands-on, and creative companies in this industry. We are extremely high touch with our partners, team members, and creatives to ensure clarity, community, and output exceed expectations.

Above all, we want versatile people with unique and diverse points of view who add meaningful value to the DNA of Conscious Minds and the brands we work with. We look forward to the opportunity of having you on the squad, growing the influence and profile of our team.

BENEFITS

• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Unlimited Paid Time Off (in addition to Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
• Training & Development
• Work From Home/Hybrid Days

The anticipated annual compensation range for this position is $145,000.00-$175,000.00 in addition to our standard employee benefits package (medical/dental/vision/life insurance, 401k matching, Flexible PTO, and various other benefits and perks) Consistent with applicable law, compensation is determined based on a wide range of factors, including relevant experience, knowledge, skills, job duties, and geographic location. We reserve the right to modify this pay range at any time.