Creative Operations Manager

Humankind Global Recruitment; Wes-Kaap; Hybrid; ZAR 700,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Humankind Global Recruitment is seeking an experienced Creative Operations Manager for Cape Town, in a hybrid role with three days in the office.

You will oversee the day‑to‑day operations of a busy creative studio, manage workflows and resource planning, and ensure projects run smoothly from brief to delivery across multiple brands.

You will lead teams, drive process improvements, and support collaboration across international teams as the agency grows.

Qualifications

• At least 5 years’ experience within a digital marketing agency or creative studio environment.
• Strong background in creative operations, team management and project delivery.
• Digital marketing agency experience is particularly important for this role.

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day operations of the creative studio, ensuring on-time delivery to required standards.
• Manage and develop a team of Operations Managers, Traffic Coordinators and Content Coordinators.
• Oversee creative workflows, priorities, resource allocation and capacity across multiple brands.
• Collaborate with internal teams and external stakeholders to ensure smooth project delivery.
• Identify bottlenecks and resolve issues before they impact delivery.
• Ensure projects are tracked with clear deadlines, workloads and progress.
• Oversee external vendors including onboarding, quality management and delivery.
• Review and improve processes to increase efficiency and support growth.
• Support campaign planning and ensure assets align with marketing requirements.
• Coordinate across international teams for consistent communication.

Skills

Creative operations

Team management

Project delivery

Resource planning

Stakeholder management

Job description

Creative Operations Manager

Cape Town / Hybrid – 3 days per week in the office

Digital Marketing Agency

We’re looking for an experienced Creative Operations Manager to join a growing international digital marketing agency, overseeing the day-to-day operations of a busy creative studio and ensuring projects run smoothly from initial brief through to delivery.

This is a hands‑on leadership role focused on managing creative workflows, resource planning, project delivery and ensuring teams are working efficiently across multiple brands.

With the business continuing to grow and its portfolio expanding from 15 to 30 brands, you’ll play a key role in supporting this growth, improving processes and ensuring the creative operation can meet increasing demands.

You’ll work closely with Creative Services, Marketing, Content, Brand Strategy and other internal teams, while managing relationships with external stakeholders and vendors.

What you’ll be doing

• Oversee the day-to-day operations of the creative studio, ensuring projects are delivered on time and to the required standards.
• Manage and develop a team of Operations Managers, Traffic Coordinators and Content Coordinators.
• Oversee creative workflows, project priorities, resource allocation and capacity planning across multiple brands.
• Work closely with internal teams and external stakeholders to ensure smooth project delivery.
• Manage competing priorities, identify potential bottlenecks and resolve issues before they impact delivery.
• Ensure creative projects are accurately tracked, with clear visibility of deadlines, workloads and progress.
• Oversee external vendors, including onboarding, quality management and delivery.
• Review and improve existing processes to increase efficiency and support business growth.
• Support campaign planning and ensure creative assets are delivered in line with marketing requirements.
• Work across international teams to ensure consistent communication and collaboration.

What we’re looking for

You’ll have at least 5 years’ experience within a digital marketing agency or creative studio environment, with a strong background in creative operations, team management and project delivery.

Digital marketing agency experience is particularly important for this role. You’ll need to understand how creative teams operate, how projects move through the studio and how to manage multiple brands, stakeholders and competing deadlines.

You’ll have proven experience managing and developing teams, alongside a strong understanding of resource planning, workload management and creative production processes.

We’re looking for someone who can think strategically but is equally comfortable getting involved in the day-to-day operation. You’ll be confident making decisions, identifying problems and implementing improvements to ensure projects continue moving forward.

Experience with project management systems, creative workflows and Digital Asset Management (DAM) tools would be beneficial, alongside experience managing external vendors and supporting international teams.

Just as importantly, you’ll be an excellent communicator who can build strong relationships with stakeholders, manage expectations and remain calm when priorities change.

You’ll need to be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment and have some flexibility to collaborate with teams across different international time zones.

This is a great opportunity for someone who enjoys the operational side of a creative agency, has a passion for developing people and wants to play a key role in shaping how a growing international creative function operates.