Creative Project Manager / Design Operations Manager for design studio

We’re a growing creative studio looking for a Creative Project Manager / Design Operations Manager who has real experience working with graphic designers and creative teams. This is not a general VA or administrative project management role. We need someone who understands how creative work actually moves from brief → designer → internal review → revisions → client delivery, and can confidently own that process without needing constant direction. You’ll work closely with our Creative Director, Studio Coordinator, and freelance design team to make sure every project is properly briefed, assigned, tracked, reviewed, and delivered. We work in EST and are open to people that can work with that time overlap (BST welcome). ******************** What you’ll own *Turn client questionnaires, project scopes, feedback, references, and assets into clear designer-ready briefs *Manage designers across multiple active client projects *Assign work based on designer strengths, workload, and deadlines *Keep Trello/project management boards accurate and up to date *Proactively follow up with designers on deadlines, revisions, blockers, and missing information *Make sure designers have everything they need before work begins *Review completed work before it reaches the Creative Director ************************* Catch issues like: *missing deliverables *incorrect copy or typos *inconsistent fonts *incorrect hex codes *outdated versions *missing links/assets *incorrect exports or file formats *incomplete final folders *Manage revision rounds and version control *Organize client files and creative assets in Google Drive *Make sure final files are complete and properly organized before offboarding *Build and improve SOPs as you identify workflow gaps *Keep projects moving without waiting for the Creative Director to tell you every next step *Escalate creative-direction or strategy decisions when necessary **************************** You’re probably a great fit if... You’ve worked at a creative agency, branding studio, advertising agency, ecommerce brand, or similar creative environment and understand the realities of managing designers. ***************** You may currently be a: - Creative Project Manager - Design Project Manager - Creative Operations Manager - Design Operations Manager - Senior Designer who moved into project management or operations - Creative Coordinator with substantial project ownership experience Graphic design experience is a major plus, but not necessary. Branding knowledge (do you know what a hex code is? What about logo files?) You should be comfortable enough with Canva, Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud, branding, and basic production terminology to review files and recognize when something is missing or incorrect. You do not need to be the Creative Director. You do need to understand creative production well enough to know when something is ready for review or when something is wrong. **************************************** What we’re looking for - We want someone proactive. - A big part of this role is noticing things before they become problems. For example: - A designer hasn’t acknowledged tomorrow’s deadline - A client approved one concept but the designer is working from another - Six deliverables were promised but only five were submitted - A final logo folder is missing an SVG - A project has been sitting for several days without movement - A brief doesn’t contain enough information for a designer to begin - A revision was completed but nobody communicated what changed - We need someone who sees those things and takes action. You should be comfortable saying: “I noticed this was missing, so I followed up and got it resolved” rather than waiting to be told what to do next. ********************************* OUR TEAM You’ll work alongside: *Creative Director - handles high-level creative direction, major design decisions, and final creative approval. *Studio Coordinator / Account Manager - primarily handles client communication. *Freelance graphic designers You will primarily own production and designer management. ************************************* TOOLS WE USE Experience with these is helpful: Trello Google Drive Slack Canva Figma These would be a bonus but not 100% necessary: Adobe Creative Cloud HoneyBook You don’t need experience with every tool, but you should be comfortable learning systems quickly. ****************************** Please start your application with the word ORANGE so we know you read the full posting. Strong candidates will be invited to a short interview. Finalists will then complete a paid creative project management exercise based on a sample client project.