Creative Services Manager

Job summary

Lead a team of designers by managing traffic, workflow, and resourcing to ensure the efficient delivery of creative solutions. Act as the operational backbone of the agency, overseeing budgets, contractor partnerships, and production plans from kickoff to delivery.

Job details

A BIT ABOUT US TuesdayAfternoon Media (TAM) is a creative design agency with a strong focus on strategic learning design, located in the heart of Leslieville. We are driven by curiosity and we craft with innovation to develop the right solutions to any problem. HERE’S WHERE YOU COME IN TAM is looking for a Creative Services Manager to join our team. We’re looking for someone to lead our team of designers through innovative creative and production opportunities - from the initial planning, to resourcing and budgeting, and managing any contractor partnerships. THE TEAM You’ll be joining a team of designers, strategists, and overall solution focused people on a mission to solve the challenges of a changing world. We’re a highly specialized group with various backgrounds and areas of expertise, but we all have one thing in common: We’re problem solvers. And we partner closely with our clients to help deliver and execute on solutions that meet their goals. As a Creative Services Manager, you’ll be the operational backbone of that work - the ‘eye in the sky’ who will design work flow approaches for diverse creative solutions with varying needs and parameters and keep them on track from kickoff to delivery. Self-starter by nature, you thrive in fast paced, fluid environments that enable team members to leverage their strengths and passions to influence what we do and how we do it. THE OPPORTUNITY As a TAM-er, you’ll get to use your know-how and passion for production to make a direct impact on our client experience and project success. You’ll bring in industry best practices that ensure our partnerships are strong, production runs smoothly and efficiently, production needs are forecasted, and day-to-day and long-term risks are mitigated. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Day to Day Activities Manage traffic and workflow across the agency, including understanding project pod capacity, balancing workload and identifying blockages and risks. Address day-to-day resourcing needs and forecasted resourcing needs. Partner closely with the Creative Director, Producers and project pods to translate briefs into actionable production plans. Manage and effectively prioritize multiple concurrent projects, budgets and freelancer / vendor relationships under tight deadlines. Implement and uphold the work-flow approach designed for the project. Facilitate and maintain the studio’s awareness and usage of all current and concise technical and brand requirements and standards for each of our clients. Support project teams and clients as an escalation point as needed. Support in the ongoing development of TAM team members through regular feedback, coaching, and working in a way that fosters continuous growth. Designing Practices Take a strategic approach to optimizing workflows and ensuring efficient use of resources. Lead implementation of production approaches and practices. Regularly reassess the production process to create efficiencies, while keeping quality and client experience top of mind. Grow our collective of freelancers, including sourcing, vetting and negotiating with freelancers, scheduling, and scoping work with freelancers. Keep yourself informed on new and emerging practices and technologies in the creative production space. Use strategic design to solve problems and bring in new ways of thinking. SKILLSET The ability to design production work flows that align to and consider all logistical and financial aspects of production (i.e scoping, timelines, and budgets). The ability to problem solve, prioritize and facilitate decision-making that balances product quality, client experience, and production timelines, while under pressure. Strong communicator, comfortable with managing expectations across creative, freelance and client partners. Proficiency with and ownership in promoting appropriate use of project management / business management tools such as Bonsai, Asana, ClickUp. 5-7 years of agency management experience as a creative and/or learning design agency, bringing in creative vision, forward thinking technical knowledge and strong leadership. The ability to bring a sense of urgency, movement and momentum to design and development. Strong leadership skills, and the ability to lead and inspire an agency of creatives who are aligned and autonomous. Lead with accountability and instill a strong sense of accountability in others. Creative minded, excited by the opportunity to lead the agency project pods to produce groundbreaking work in new and inventive waysExperience in working with and managing a network of freelancers is an asset. Experience applying human-centred approaches to solution design, including creative problem-solving and design thinking. Basic fluency in using creative tools such as Articulate Storyline, Adobe Creative Suite considered an asset. It is a hybrid role designed with flexibility in mind. We encourage our team to work where they do their best thinking and creating - whether that’s at home or in our pet-friendly Leslieville studio. At the same time, we value collaboration and connection, so there will be days when being in the studio or on-site with clients is required. To make this balance work, employees should live within a commutable distance of our Leslieville studio. At TAM, we also enjoy TAM-paid extended health benefits, an Employee Assistance Program, paid vacation days that increase over your tenure, birthday days off, holiday studio closures and learning allowances for conferences, courses etc. The hiring salary range for this full-time role is CAD $90,000–$120,000 annually depending on experience and qualifications. This role is to support maternity leave coverage and may not be a permanent position. Our organization fosters an inclusive and diverse team. We encourage applications from qualified candidates, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. Please submit your application to careers@tuesdayafternoon.net with Creatives Services Manager in the subject line. We thank all applicants that apply and appreciate your patience; due to a high volume of responses we will review all applicants, however only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. We do not utilize any AI tools in our recruitment or hiring process. We thank all applicants for their interest; should we wish to speak further, we will contact you directly!

What you’ll do

Lead a team of designers by managing traffic, workflow, and resourcing to ensure the efficient delivery of creative solutions. Act as the operational backbone of the agency, overseeing budgets, contractor partnerships, and production plans from kickoff to delivery.

Requirements

Requires 5-7 years of agency management experience in creative or learning design with strong leadership and organizational skills. Proficiency in project management tools like Asana or ClickUp and familiarity with creative tools like Adobe Creative Suite is preferred.

Benefits

• Extended Health Benefits • Employee Assistance Program • Paid Vacation Days • Birthday Days Off • Holiday Studio Closures • Learning Allowances

Listed skills

• Workflow Design · Preferred
• Problem solving · Preferred
• Budgeting · Preferred
• Leadership · Preferred
• Project management · Preferred

Other relevant skills

Identified from the job description. Confirm important requirements above.

• Workflow Design
• Resource Management
• Budgeting
• Freelancer Management
• Project Management
• Strategic Planning
• Creative Production
• Stakeholder Communication
• Problem Solving
• Leadership
• Human-Centred Design
• Design Thinking

Job areas

• Creative & Media
• Management & Leadership
• Art & Design
• Marketing
• Consulting