Creative Operations Manager

WORK LOCATION + HOURS:

Office hours are generally 8:30am–5:30pm. Open Book’s hybrid work model prioritizes staff working in our Minneapolis office at least 3 days/week.

ABOUT OPEN BOOK:

Open Book Communications is a Minneapolis-based team of doers, thinkers, and makers serving clients nationwide with communications and creative leadership. Our focus is creating storytelling that changes lives and organizations through work that cracks the code of how to show and tell an organization’s core story in compounding ways. We specialize in partnering with leaders driven by strong convictions and a vision for positive change who are wrestling with how to get their organizations to the next level. Our team culture is grounded by five core values: 1) drive toward outcomes, 2) big heart, no ego, 3) invite the challenge, 4) say it, do it, learn from it, 5) help others succeed.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

We are currently seeking a full-time Creative Operations Manager who will play a pivotal role in organizing and catalyzing Open Book’s creative workflow and project management. This will require building on existing systems as well as developing improved systems and best practices to support the creative team and project success. The ideal candidate will demonstrate a zeal and aptitude for optimizing workflows at both a high level and macro level, mastering details, and communicating with clarity and precision. This role reports to the Senior Creative Director.

REQUIRED SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS:

• Experience in project management
• Clear and precise communicator, both verbally and in writing
• Familiarity with creative processes, from project inception to production
• Reliable self-starter with ability to multitask and adapt to emerging priorities
• Able to forge paths forward in the face of ambiguity in ways that lay tracks for others
• Detail-oriented and process-minded; able to offer practical and actionable next steps without losing the big picture
• Impeccable organizational skills
• Collaborative team player while also able to work independently
• Appreciation for giving and receiving constructive feedback that helps work get better

PREFERRED SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS:

2+ years of experience in a service-based business; direct experience working in a creative agency preferred

Design experience and/or experience in production preferred, but not required.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

Manage Open Book’s creative workflows

• Establish and maintain Open Book’s creative calendar, including setting project pacing and timeline milestones that balance concurrent project workflows and meet project deadlines
• Proactively raise questions or flags about workflow priorities or anticipated capacity issues, working with the Senior Creative Director to arrive at solutions
• Serve as a trusted deputy to the Senior Creative Director to ensure consistent, forward momentum of creative workstreams; this will mean anticipating what needs to be done and proactively activating the team around next steps
• Provide Open Book’s Lead Team with a weekly creative operations digest that elevates key progress, budget, or process information in a way that provides insight into project health and equips the Lead Team to make decisions around project next steps

Oversee project infrastructure and reporting

• Setup and archive confirmed projects in Timely and Dropbox
• Oversee the team’s day-to-day use of Timely, Dropbox, and other infrastructure tools, adjusting projects as needed and ensuring time is being tracked accurately and files organization is consistent
• Actively monitor project health and budget status through Timely; proactively raise questions or flags to get ahead of potential budget issues
• Oversee project wrap-up, including providing an analysis of project outcomes and leading a project debrief with the creative team that aids learning and improvement on future projects
• Source and compile estimates and costing data to inform the development of accurate proposals
• Input relevant project information and budget updates into monthly client invoices

Serve as project management hub for creative team

• Be a consistent navigator and point person within projects for the Open Book team; this includes proactively communicating about the status, needs, next steps, and updates of a project
• Intake information and inputs about projects (internally and from clients) and seamlessly share information with relevant team members to ensure shared visibility and knowledge
• Recommend project management improvements or tools that would optimize the creative team’s ability to forecast capacity or bring efficiencies to the delivery process

Manage production and vendor partnerships

• Manage print production coordination and logistics in ways that meet client objectives and team needs, including managing timelines, budgets, and aligned expectations
• Source and confirm contracts and logistical plans with vendors such as freelance photographers or videographers in ways that integrate seamlessly with the creative team and client experience
• Communicate with all parties with warmth, professionalism, and a confident command of information; this requires both proactive outreach and prompt response through email and phone in ways that build relationship and trust
• Demonstrate existing skill for—or the capacity to develop aptitude in—the process of preparing files for production; this can include making final edits to content or graphics and ensuring files are set up accurately and cleanly for production
• Oversee ordering and purchasing of client materials or tools needed to deliver work, keeping accurate and organized records of transactions

Add capacity to creative team through administrative leadership of special projects

• Operate as an eager learner of Open Book’s business, clients, processes, and culture in order to be able to flexibly swing into diverse roles of the business and meet emerging needs
• Support Open Book’s EOS implementation process through administrative needs that arise