Seasonal Creative Operations Manager

Columbia Sportswear Company; United States; Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401k with company match

Medical, dental, vision

EAP services

Wellness benefits

Employee discounts

Generous time off

Job summary

Columbia Sportswear Company is seeking a Seasonal Creative Operations Manager to serve as the strategic backbone of our creative department, connecting people, processes, and priorities across multiple workstreams. You will translate big-picture marketing strategies into actionable, improved plans, managing scope, deliverables, and timelines with precision.

With 8+ years in creative operations and strong leadership, you will drive workback schedules, streamline workflows, and ensure accountable

Qualifications

• 8+ years in creative operations, program management, or production management.
• Leadership Across Complexity: guide multi-stakeholder projects from concept to consumer.
• Workback Mastery: build and manage complex schedules for omnichannel campaigns.
• Tool Proficiency: AirTable expertise for clarity and alignment.
• Exceptional Communicator: translate vision into actionable plans.
• Proactive Problem Solver: anticipate challenges and keep projects moving.

Responsibilities

• Translate Strategy into Execution: convert marketing strategies into creative deliverables with channel/regional alignment.
• Define & Align: set project scope, deliverables, team assignments, and success metrics.
• Synergize Creative Workstreams: streamline workflows across Agencies, Internal Design, Photo Studio, and eComm Creative.
• Optimize Creative Operations: manage seasonal project intake and prioritization for efficiency and quality.
• Own the Workback: create detailed milestones from kickoff to delivery with visibility.
• Drive Accountability: track progress, manage risks, and ensure dependencies are met.
• Facilitate Communication: keep stakeholders informed and empowered to decide and act.
• Continuously Improve: lead retrospectives to refine workflows and collaboration.

Skills

Creative operations

Program management

Leadership

Communication

Problem solving

Change management

AirTable

Tools

AirTable

Job description

This position is designated as a hybrid role based out of our headquarters near Portland, Oregon. The current expectation is for employees to work onsite four days per week, subject to change based on business needs. This in-office requirement may be adjusted at the discretion of the company.

ABOUT THE POSITION

The Marketing Operations Team believes that creativity thrives when structure supports it-not stifles it. Our mission is to empower our creative teams to do their best work by removing operational roadblocks, streamlining processes, and ensuring every project is delivered with excellence. We value clarity, collaboration, and craftsmanship, and we know that the right operational leadership can turn ambitious ideas into impactful realities. As our Seasonal Creative Operations Manager, you'll be the strategic backbone of our creative department-connecting people, processes, and priorities across multiple workstreams. You'll turn big picture marketing strategies into actionable, achievable plans—managing scope, deliverables, and timelines with precision. Your leadership will ensure that our designers, writers, and production teams can focus on what they do best: creating exceptional work that moves our Brand and our Business forward.

HOW YOU’LL MAKE A DIFFERENCE

• Translate Strategy into Execution: Oversee the conversion of marketing strategies and initiatives into creative deliverables, ensuring alignment with channel-specific and regional requirements.
• Define & Align: Partner with creative leadership to establish project scope, deliverables, team assignments, and success metrics for campaigns and brand Initiatives.
• Synergize Creative Workstreams: Streamline workflows and foster collaboration between our Agencies, Internal Design, Photo Studio, and eComm Creative to ensure seamless, integrated output.
• Optimize Creative Operations: Manage seasonal project intake and prioritization to maximize efficiency without compromising creative quality, leveraging our systems to support and enhance processes.
• Own the Workback: Build and maintain detailed workback schedules that map every milestone deliverable from kickoff to delivery, ensuring alignment and visibility across marketing, creative, and production teams.
• Drive Accountability: Track progress against timelines, proactively identifying risks and implementing solutions to keep projects on track—holding teams accountable to dependencies, decisions, and deadlines.
• Facilitate Communication: Ensure stakeholders are informed, aligned, and empowered to make timely decisions and action through clear, consistent communication.
• Continuously Improve: Lead post-project retrospectives to capture learnings, refine workflows, and elevate operational excellence across the creative organization.

YOU HAVE Extensive Experience:

• 8+ years in creative operations, program management, or production management, ideally with agency experience and a proven ability to navigate complex, fast-paced environments.
• Leadership Across Complexity: Skilled at guiding multi-stakeholder projects from concept to consumer.
• Workback Mastery: Deep and proven expertise in building and managing complex workback schedules for omnichannel and regional nuanced campaigns.
• Tool Proficiency: Mastery of project management platforms such as AirTable, with a talent for turning complexity into clarity.
• Exceptional Communicator: Able to translate creative vision into actionable plans, keeping diverse teams aligned and accountable.
• Proactive Problem Solver: Anticipates challenges before they arise and implements solutions that keep projects moving forward.
• Creative Champion: Passionate about supporting creative talent and enabling them to deliver their best work.
• Change Leader: Experienced in driving change management and evolved Ways of Working to improve transparency, efficiency and collaboration.

#LI-LC1

This job description is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of duties and responsibilities, but constitutes a general definition of the position's scope and function in the company.

Columbia Sportswear Company is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Columbia Sportswear is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities.

If you need reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please notify your recruiter.

At Columbia Sportswear Company, we're proud to offer regular full-time employees a benefits package that includes a variety of services and products to help make your life and work more rewarding.

Our benefit programs contribute to overall employee well-being by aligning those programs with the fundamental elements of well-being: physical, social/emotional, financial, career and community.

• Benefits that can protect your family's financial future and help you save money through our 401k plan plus a generous company match.
• Columbia offers medical, dental, vision, life Insurance, disability, flexible spending accounts, health savings account, and an assortment of voluntary benefit offerings (accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and legal services).
• In addition, Columbia offers EAP + which is free and confidential 24/7/365 counseling services.
• We have extensive wellness benefits, employee discounts and a generous time off program available.

If you need an accommodation/adjustment to successfully complete and submit your application, please reach out to [e-mail] with the Subject: Applicant Assistance Requested.

Founded in 1938, Columbia Sportswear Company is a global leader in designing, sourcing, marketing, and distributing outdoor and active lifestyle apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment.

Our four primary brands-Columbia, Mountain Hardwear, SOREL and prAna complement each other to address the diverse needs of active consumers and their products have gained an international reputation for their innovation, quality and performance.

Learn more about our family of brands here.