Studio Traffic Manager

Make it Good; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 391,000 - 614,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work with flexi hours

Provident fund

Job summary

Make it Good is seeking a seasoned studio operations leader in a hybrid Stellenbosch, SA environment. You will own the studio workflow, manage the creative operations team, and coordinate freelancers while ensuring on-time delivery within budget. Strong leadership with empathy and disciplined processes is essential.

The role focuses on scheduling, capacity planning, and maintaining high-quality output across retail, commercial and consumer brands in a fast-paced studio.

Qualifications

• 5+ years' ad agency experience required.
• Proven experience leading a studio or traffic function.
• Excellent computer skills including Office 365, Outlook, Excel, Teams, SharePoint and PowerPoint.
• Fully functional home office for remote days.
• Outstanding multitasking and attention to detail.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to lead with empathy while staying firm, fair and diplomatic.

Responsibilities

• Owning the workflow from brief through to studio and production output.
• Leading and managing the creative operations team, including the studio coordinator.
• Assessing briefs, deadlines and capacity, and scheduling work by priority.
• Reprioritising quickly when urgent briefs or curveballs land.
• Keeping a big-picture view of studio workload, capacity and competing priorities.
• Sourcing, managing and allocating freelancers within budget, including invoicing and monthly reporting.
• Monitoring workflow and delivery daily, and clearing bottlenecks before they become problems.
• Translating deliverables into realistic creative and production timelines.
• Championing the agency's values, systems and ways of working.

Tools

Office 365

Outlook

Excel

Teams

SharePoint

PowerPoint

Job description

Location: Stellenbosch, Western Cape
Work model: Hybrid (in-office Tuesday to Thursday) with flexi hours. Need to be able to legally work in SA to be considered.
Salary: R35 000 - R55 000 CTC (depending on level of experience)

Why you'd want to work here:

Hybrid working with flexi hours Provident fund Kind, respectful people A structured studio with clear systems Great staff retention (lots of people leave and come back) Fast-paced, varied work across retail, commercial and consumer brands

About our client:

Our client is an established retail marketing agency with over two decades behind it and a growing portfolio of commercial and consumer brands. The work is high volume, detail-heavy and deadline-driven, so they need someone who can bring calm and order to a busy studio. This is a high-ownership leadership role for a systematic, optimistic team player with a heart of gold.

What the job involves:

• Owning the workflow from brief through to studio and production output
• Leading and managing the creative operations team, including the studio coordinator
• Assessing briefs, deadlines and capacity, and scheduling work by priority
• Reprioritising quickly when urgent briefs or curveballs land
• Keeping a big-picture view of studio workload, capacity and competing priorities
• Sourcing, managing and allocating freelancers within budget, including invoicing and monthly reporting
• Monitoring workflow and delivery daily, and clearing bottlenecks before they become problems
• Translating deliverables into realistic creative and production timelines
• Championing the agency's values, systems and ways of working

What you need to be considered:

• 5+ years' ad agency experience
• Proven experience leading a studio or traffic function
• Excellent computer skills, including Office 365, Outlook, Excel, Teams, SharePoint and PowerPoint
• A fully functional home office for remote days
• Outstanding multitasking skills and attention to detail
• Resourceful, practical and quick on your feet
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills
• The ability to lead with empathy while staying firm, fair and diplomatic

Bonus points if you:

• Have used Chase for traffic, or know your way around Monday, ClickUp or Basecamp
• Use AI tools day-to-day and like finding ways to streamline creative work
• Speak design and procurement, with a solid understanding of print techniques and processes
• Bring a calm head, empathy and good energy to the studio