Sr. Manager, Creative Operations - Global HOKA

Deckers Brands; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 122,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Bonuses

Financial planning

Time off

Discounts & perks

Growth & development

Health & wellness

Job summary

Deckers Brands seeks a Senior Manager of Creative Operations for HOKA to lead the operational engine of the creative marketing function. You will shape capacity, workflows, governance, and tools to support a high-performing team across campaigns and channels.

You will manage the Creative PM sub-team, partner with Director of Global PM and Brand partners, and drive continuous improvement of processes while ensuring alignment with global standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or related field required.
• PMP certification is a plus.
• 7+ years in creative operations, project management, or marketing operations.
• Experience leading a creative operations team in a global brand environment.
• Strong ability to translate business strategy into actionable briefs and workflows.
• Proven track record managing internal studios and external agencies.

Responsibilities

• Define and operate Creative PM model, including capacity planning and workflows.
• Manage the Creative PM sub-team and mentor staff.
• Own headcount planning, onboarding, and governance as the team scales.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Brand to translate strategies into briefs and requirements.
• Maintain the source of truth for brand systems, assets, and processes.
• Deliver KPIs and reporting on operations and delivery health.

Skills

Brand experience

Project management

People management

Cross-functional collaboration

Agency management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Advertising, or related field

PMP certification

Tools

Asana

monday.com

Airtable

DAM systems

Job description

At Deckers Brands, Together, Every Step is a promise kept that every employee can bring their authentic self, is valued and supported, as a whole person, at work and beyond. Together, Every Step is how we continue to deliver exceptional business results, experience an amazing place to work, and have a positive impact on the communities and world around us.

Job Title: Senior Manager, Creative Operations - HOKA

Reports to: Director, Global Marketing Project Management - HOKA

Location: US (Remote) Interested applicants must reside in one of the following approved states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington

The Role As Senior Manager, Creative Operations, you’ll lead the operational infrastructure that powers HOKA’s creative marketing engine—defining how creative work is planned, briefed, tracked, and delivered across brand campaigns, content, and channel activations. You’ll evolve the Creative PM function by establishing capacity frameworks, streamlined campaign workflows, clear ways of working, and the tools and rituals that support a high-performing creative team. You’ll directly manage the Creative PM sub-team and serve as the operations bridge between the Director of Global PM, the Brand Creative Production team, and HOKA’s broader creative and brand partners.

We celebrate diversity--of your background, your experiences and your unique identity. We are committed to ensuring an inclusive and equitable workplace where all of our employees can Come as They Are. We believe that when we bring our different perspectives to work, we are truly Better Together.

Your Impact

• Own and evolve the Creative PM operating model—including capacity planning, workload management, prioritization frameworks, intake processes, creative resourcing models, workflow SOPs, and the tools and systems (e.g., Asana, monday.com, Airtable) that enable visibility, alignment, and effective delivery across the creative & marketing organization
• Build and maintain end-to-end campaign workflows ensuring timelines are grounded in reality, handoffs are clean, and all cross-functional partners have a shared understanding of process, roles, and what 'done' looks like
• Establish and optimize review and approval processes that reduce friction, create early creative alignment, and protect the team's ability to deliver quality work on schedule
• Directly manage the Creative Project Management sub-team—developing talent, maintaining strong team culture, and ensuring delivery excellence
• Mentor and develop the Creative PM team's project management capabilities, operational thinking, stakeholder management, and ability to influence cross-functional partners
• Partner with the Director, Global PM on headcount planning, onboarding, and the ongoing evolution of the Creative PM team's structure as the business scales
• Partner with Marketing and Brand teams to ensure campaign strategies and business goals translate into clear, actionable creative briefs that reflect team capacity, delivery requirements, and creative standards
• Serve as the operational bridge between regional and global creative workstreams, ensuring market-specific adaptations align with global brand standards and process
• Drive weekly and bi-weekly creative cadence meetings, ensuring the right people are aligned, blockers are surfaced early, and decisions are made at the right level
• Manage end-to-end creative freelancer and contractor operations—including talent sourcing coordination, interview processes, contract execution (direct and agency-supported), and budget tracking—to ensure timely onboarding, resource continuity, and spend within plan
• Deliver consistent and regular reporting on creative operations KPIs, resource utilization, workstream timelines, delivery health, and risks; proactively surfacing insights, recommendations, and options to support decision-making by the Director of Global PM and senior marketing leadership
• Manage day-to-day coordination with creative agency and vendor partners—ensuring process accountability, clear SOWs, and on-time delivery within agreed scope
• Maintain the creative operations 'source of truth'—ensuring that brand systems, design standards, and creative toolkits are operationalized consistently across all workstreams and asset outputs
• Build frameworks and playbooks that enable cross-functional teams to effectively engage with Creative while ensuring quality and craft standards are upheld across HOKA's full annual asset volume
• Own the operational governance and continuous improvement of creative systems—including digital asset management—to ensure creative assets, templates, and brand resources are organized, accessible, and effectively utilized across global and regional teams; driving adoption, maintaining consistency, and enabling a scalable global creative organization

Who You Are

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Advertising, or related field
• PMP certification a plus
• 7+ years in creative operations, project management, or marketing operations within a consumer brand (footwear/apparel/sportswear preferred)
• Strong brand experience operating effectively in complex, matrixed, global organizations
• Experience building and scaling creative operations systems—including infrastructure, workflows, governance models, and tools to enable team growth and operational maturity
• 3+ years of direct people management experience leading a project management or creative operations team
• Proven track record managing internal creative studios and external agency/vendor partnerships within a global brand environment
• Background in campaign development, content creation, or brand marketing ops strongly preferred
• Demonstrated ability to translate business strategy into actionable creative briefs, operational plans, and executable workflows
• Experience defining operational KPIs, establishing reporting cadences, and using insights to drive decision-making and continuous improvement
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to influence, educate, and gain alignment across cross‑functional stakeholders
• Ability to lead through influence without authority—building trust through credibility, clarity, and calm problem‑solving
• Creative empathy and understanding of the rhythm, culture, and ways of working within creative teams
• Strong team leadership skills, inspiring learning, collaboration, and operational excellence among team members
• Strong understanding of creative development, campaign workflows, design processes, and production lifecycles
• Ability to translate strategic objectives into clear creative briefs, project plans, and execution frameworks
• Strong data and reporting discipline, with the ability to define KPIs, establish reporting rhythms, and communicate insights to leadership
• Ability to exercise independent judgment, prioritize competing needs, and make thoughtful operational decisions
• Strong attention to detail, adaptability, and ability to manage ambiguity throughout the project lifecycle
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast‑paced, global environment
• Proficiency with project management tools including Asana, monday.com, and Airtable (required); experience with DAM systems preferred
• Ability to travel domestically

What We'll Give You – Competitive Pay and Bonuses

• Competitive Pay and Bonuses - We’ve created a variety of competitive compensation programs to foster career development, reward success and to show our employees just how much they’re valued.
• Financial Planning and wellbeing - No matter what financial goals our employees have set, we want to help them get there. Our plans provide powerful ways to protect income, pay for expenses and invest in the future.
• Time away from work - Sometimes we need time away to be with family, focus on our health or just simply recharge. Our plans support our employees’ needs to get out, get healthy and come back stronger than ever.
• Extras, discounts and perks - Being a valued member of the Deckers Brands team means more than just a paycheck. From generous discounts to community-based programs, we offer a variety of cool extras.
• Growth and Development - Deckers Brands was built on the idea of pursuing passion. That’s why we offer extensive opportunities and support for personal and professional development.
• Health and Wellness - There’s nothing basic about our comprehensive health and wellness programs and offerings. While at work and at play, we aim to support a healthy lifestyle.

$122,300.00 - $165,000.00 The salary range posted reflects the estimated minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for this role in: Goleta, California (Remote) Individual pay will be determined by location and additional factors, including job related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary for your preferred location during the hiring process.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Diversity and inclusion are key to our success. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and our employees are people with different strengths, experiences and backgrounds who share a passion for our brands.

We welcome qualified applicants regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, military or veteran status, mental or physical disability, medical condition and all the other beautiful parts of your identity.

More than Just a Footwear Company

From our corporate offices to our global retail stores, there’s a curious, independent spirit that’s distinctively Deckers Brands. We’re about giving people the freedom to pursue their passions. And we’re committed to helping them succeed; to become their best selves.

That’s why we’re about more than work, the 9 to 5 or daily grind. We’re about opportunity - opportunity to create, to grow and to have an impact. As we work to become better at everything we do, how we better the world matters, too. Our products and brands are loved, no doubt about it. But the difference we make in people’s lives begins with our people, right here at Deckers Brands. We’re adventurous, spirited, unafraid of new challenges and willing to take chances. We are always ready to rally around a cause.

Put simply, we want all of our people to thrive - to reach their full potential and have fun while doing it. Because in the end, Deckers thrives when our people thrive.