Job Title: Creative Operations Manager
Reports To: Staffing Program Manager
FLSA Status: Full Time, Exempt, Salary
Length: 9 months, with potential for continuation
Top 3 Must Haves:
1. Trusted operator — someone who can own stakeholder and creative-team conversations independently and be relied on implicitly
2. Proven ability to build and run operational systems (tooling, process, single source of truth)
3. Strong communication and negotiation skills across creative and business
Job Summary:
The Creative Operations Manager is the operational backbone of our creative team. They own how work moves through the team — from intake, to resourcing, to delivery — and are the primary, trusted point of contact for all non-creative questions from stakeholders (timelines, budgets, status). Their core mandate is to reduce friction: standing up and owning the tools and processes, identifying and flagging issues, and staying on top of opportunities to level up our systems and structures.
Just as important as the system is the judgment behind them. This person is trusted to independently handle the conversations that keep projects healthy — negotiating notes, budget changes, and timeline shifts with both stakeholders and the creative team. A successful lead is also trusted to know when to escalate.
Great candidates get excited by the challenge of operationalizing a growing creative practice, but win on the soft skills: they are diplomatic, unflappable, and trusted implicitly to represent the team and handle the hard conversations.
While this is an operations-first role, our creative team is small and extra hands are always appreciated, especially on shoot days. There will be plenty of opportunity to gain hands-on experience on sets and assist with producing for candidates seeking that.
Essential Functions:
Operations, Tooling & Stakeholder Management (~55%)
- Serve as the primary point of contact for all non-creative stakeholder questions — timelines, budgets, and status — maintaining clear, consistent communication that keeps projects on-time, on-budget, and on-brand
- Own and continuously improve the team’s operational stack: identify, implement, and manage the tools that serve as a single source of truth and can handle communication, updates, and project tracking
- Independently negotiate notes, budget changes, and timeline shifts with both stakeholders and the creative team, escalating to the Creative Director when a conversation stalls or becomes creative-direction territory
- Track and report on overall budgets, keeping spend visible and on-plan
Resourcing & Flighting (~30%)
- Intake incoming projects, assess scope, and flight work across a team
- Coordinate schedules and resourcing, keeping a clear view of team bandwidth, interests, and skills to make efficient staffing decisions by project
- Keep an eye on the horizon for upcoming work and proactively plan capacity against it
- Facilitate team meetings and keep all project trackers current
Production Support (~15%, a plus)
- Provide hands-on production support as needed — occasionally showing up to set to help producers, run audio, or handle talent
- Act as a flexible swingman across production when the team needs an extra trusted set of hands (this is a bonus, not a formal producer or on-set role)
Required Skills & Abilities:
- Proven ability to build, implement, and manage operational systems, processes, and workflows that improve team efficiency, visibility, and scalability
- Strong project and program management skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives, priorities, deadlines, and stakeholder
- Exceptional stakeholder management skills and the ability to serve as a trusted advisor and primary point of contact for non-creative project discussions
- Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to navigate challenging conversations regarding timelines, budgets, priorities, scope changes, and project constraints
- Demonstrated ability to bridge creative and business priorities while maintaining positive working relationships and driving successful outcomes
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to establish structure and clarity in fast-paced, ambiguous environments
- Proven ability to independently assess situations, exercise sound judgment, and determine when escalation is necessary
- Experience managing resource allocation, capacity planning, team bandwidth, and workload balancing across multiple workstreams
- Ability to proactively identify risks, bottlenecks, dependencies, and process gaps and implement effective solutions
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to use data, reporting, and insights to inform operational decisions
- Experience managing budgets, tracking expenditures, monitoring project health, and ensuring visibility into financial performance
- Ability to create and maintain accurate project plans, schedules, trackers, dashboards, and status reporting mechanisms
- Skilled at facilitating meetings, driving accountability, documenting decisions, and ensuring follow-through across teams
- Comfortable influencing without direct authority and building consensus among creative, production, marketing, and business stakeholders
- Ability to thrive in a dynamic, rapidly changing environment while maintaining composure, professionalism, and a customer-service mindset
- Strong proficiency with project management, collaboration, resource planning, and workflow management tools
- Demonstrated commitment to continuous improvement with a passion for optimizing processes, reducing operational friction, and enhancing team effectiveness
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and professionalism while managing sensitive project, budget, and stakeholder information
- Adaptability and willingness to support broader team needs, including occasional hands-on production assistance when required
- Strong relationship-building skills with a collaborative, diplomatic approach that fosters trust across teams and stakeholders
Education & Experience:
- Demonstrated experience building operational systems and processes from the ground up — not just using tools someone else set up, but standing them up and owning them
- Excellent communication and negotiation skills, with the ability to translate across creative and business and hold hard conversations with both
- Experience managing feedback, budgets, and timelines across multiple simultaneous workstreams
- Strong organizational skills and sound independent judgment — someone who can be trusted to handle situations without a manager tapped in
- Experience coordinating resourcing and schedules for a creative or production team
Preferred Qualifications:
- Working knowledge of film and video production, with the ability to occasionally support on set (run audio, handle talent, assist producers)
- A passion for social media and all things digital
Physical Requirements:
- Must be able to regularly stand, walk, and move throughout filming locations for extended periods of time.
- Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
- Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times.
Work Environment:
- This role routinely requires using standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets, and printers.
- This position may require the ability to stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.
- Must be able to operate various electronic devices.
Position Type & Expected Hours of Work:
This is a full-time Hybrid-Seattle, WA role, defined as a combination of remote and in-office / on-site work within the Greater Seattle Area (King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties). This person would work remotely most days, but onsite as needed for client meetings and support. The office generally operates from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the days and hours of this position may vary week-to-week. Mighty Media’s workplace policies are subject to change at any time based on business necessity and manager discretion.
Additional Information:
- We receive a high volume of applicants and are unable to respond to all of them. Please know that we will be in touch with candidates moving forward in the interview process. All communications will come from [email protected].
- In addition to your resume and cover letter, please include a link to your digital portfolio.
- Pursuant to state and local pay disclosure requirements, the pay range for this role is $110,000-$122,000 annually. Compensation will be determined based on the skills, qualifications, and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position, and the Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time.
- If you are offered a position, please note that employment with the company is contingent on passing a criminal background check.
- While employed with Mighty Media Studios, you are not authorized to provide professional services to a competitor, other company or client that may be a conflict of interest with your work.
- Mighty Media Studios is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse environment with the Mightiest employees. If you require an accommodation in interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please note that in your application. We are committed to ensuring that everyone has an excellent interview experience!
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $110,000.00 - $122,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Paid time off
- Referral program
- Relocation assistance
- Retirement plan
- Vision insurance
Application Question(s):
*
Will you be able to reliably commute to Bellevue, WA for onsite days required?
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Bellevue, WA 98007
