Creative Studio Manager
Job Description
Hotel Creative
Hotel is a vibrant and energetic creative studio based in Fitzrovia, London. We are renowned for creating artful and deeply engaging physical experiences for global sports and fashion brands, but our offering extends to creative strategy, product and campaign conception, multi-media art direction and interior design. We are looking for a confident, energetic and experienced Studio Manager to join our close-knit team, manage our studio workflows, help us deliver elevated creativity, and have fun in the process.
Role Overview
The Creative Services Manager (CSM) is in charge of coordinating our studio workflows, facilitating best practice processes and empowering our teams to deliver creative excellence. Responsible for managing creative resourcing and collaboration across all teams, the CSM plays a pivotal role in shaping the agency’s working practices, and creative output.
Core Responsibilities
+ As the Creative Studio Manager, you will be a primary point of contact for resource management, from booking freelancers and scheduling new projects to adjusting ‘real’ time to reflect weekly / daily changes.
+ You will own the day to day management of creative teams and tasks, coordinating a wide variety of creative projects across different stages from planning, through ideation and development, to final production of finished assets for print, digital and physical production needs.
+ You will directly supervise and manage projects on behalf of the creative team, including progress monitoring, team development and coaching. You will facilitate and steward the creative team to drive for excellence, interpreting and delivering on project stakeholder needs.
+ You will ensure the resource bookings and working schedules put forward for your approval by our Project Management team set the studio up to deliver creative excellence, within the agreed goal posts of the project.
+ You will hold regular status meetings with the Project Management team to track progress and manage client expectations, analysing project progression throughout the development process. In this area you act as the voice of the creatives, speaking confidently to creative teams’ capabilities and capacity.
+ You will strive to maintain a happy healthy working environment, protecting the team and creativity as paramount. Where booking requests or client demands jeopardize this, you will challenge the Project Management / Client Services team and support them in the rethinking and renegotiation of project schedules. Your expertise and authority in this area will position you as a respected key senior player in our team.
+ You will line-manage the Studio Assistant, overseeing their delivery of the Studio’s operational infrastructure and day to day needs.
Person Specification
+ We are looking for a highly organised, confident and dynamic Creative Studio Manager to join our vibrant London based creative studio.
An energetic and vocal leader with a can-do attitude and a proactive outlook, you will be demonstrably comfortable working in a fast paced design studio that prioritises creative excellence whilst servicing demanding clients.
With a deep understanding of creative processes (including ideation, art-direction, visualisation, 2D and 3D Design, art-working and retouching), you will be an evangelist for best practice processes, constantly seeking to deliver creative excellence.
You will possess demonstrably strong interpersonal skills and be capable of interacting confidently with key stakeholders across the functions of the business, from pure creative to client services and leadership. You will thrive in a vocal and collaborative environment, confident to speak up and steer teams toward success. Your energy and enthusiasm for delivering great work is vital to the success of this role.
You will have experience with a variety of project management methodologies and resource planning tools, and embrace the opportunity to refine studio processes in the pursuit of efficiency and excellence.
Essential Requirements
+ 4-5 years in a comparable creative studio management role
+ Expert knowledge of resource / project management platforms and software
+ Brilliant communication skills; face-to-face, email, and phone with a reflex for action
+ Demonstrable knowledge of creative / design journey fundamentals, from ideation to production and delivery
+ Outstanding time and calendar management skills
+ Adaptable, decisive and solution focused, able to prioritise and function well under pressure
+ Comfortable working in a studio environment and not ‘from home’
+ Good sense of humour with a passion for high-end creativity and design
+ Based in the UK with indefinite leave to remain
Advantageous
+ Competent with InDesign and Keynote
+ Good computer and creative software knowledge with willingness to offer technical support
+ Interest in new creative / collaboration software and willingness to offer technical support
+ Experience of Workbook would be an advantage, however, training can be provided
+ Languages especially Italian, French or Mandarin
Core Responsibilities
As the Creative Services Manager, you will be a primary point of contact for resource management, from booking freelancers and scheduling new projects to adjusting ‘real’ time to reflect weekly / daily changes.
You will own the day to day management of creative resources, coordinating a wide variety of creative projects across different stages from planning, through ideation and development, to final production of finished assets for print, digital and physical production needs.
You will directly supervise and manage projects on behalf of the creative team, including progress monitoring, team development and coaching. You will facilitate and steward the creative team to drive for excellence, interpreting and delivering on project stakeholder needs.
You will ensure the resource bookings and working schedules put forward for your approval by our Project Management team set the studio up to deliver creative excellence, within the agreed goal posts of the project.
You will hold regular status meetings with the Project Management team to track progress and manage client expectations, analysing project progression throughout the development process. In this area you act as the voice of the creatives, speaking confidently to creative teams’ capabilities and capacity.
You will strive to maintain a happy healthy working environment, protecting the team and creativity as paramount. Where booking requests or client demands jeopardize this, you will challenge the Project Management team and support them in the rethinking and renegotiation of project schedules. Your expertise and authority in this area will position you as a respected key senior player in our team.
You will line-manage the Studio Assistant, overseeing their delivery of the Studio’s operational infrastructure and day to day needs.