Senior Manager, Creative Operations

HoneyBook is the leading client relationship platform for independent businesses. It powers billions of client interactions through tools for attracting leads, connecting with clients, booking projects, and managing payments. With HoneyBook, any independent professional can scale themselves and their business. Since the company was founded in 2013, HoneyBook members have built over 25 million client relationships and processed $11+ billion in payments on the platform. By providing an integrated suite of tools, HoneyBook simplifies workflow for independent professionals, serving as a center of gravity that streamlines operations from initial contact to final payment. 

Our culture is built on five core values that inform everything we do. We encourage collaboration, feedback, ownership, and have a growth mindset. We know experience comes in many different forms, some visible on your resume, others not. No one candidate will be a 100% perfect match to our description, so if you thrive in a fast-paced, intellectually-charged environment and have similar experience to what we are looking for, we encourage you to apply. HoneyBook is seeking a Sr. Manager, Creative Operations to bridge the gap between strategic vision and tactical execution within our marketing creative studio. 

About the role: 

Reporting directly to the Executive Creative Director, this role combines high-level creative insight with strong operational acumen to ensure the efficient and effective delivery of HoneyBook's creative initiatives across brand, product marketing, performance marketing, and integrated campaigns. The Sr. Manager Creative Operations will be instrumental in optimizing workflows, managing resources, budgets and driving operational excellence while maintaining the highest standards of creative quality. 

As the Sr. Manager Creative Operations, you'll navigate a fast-paced environment with the steady nerves of an air traffic controller. Your role centers on operational leadership and creative production, managing and empowering team members to produce excellent brand experiences across various platforms. Crucially, the Sr. Manager Creative Operations  will also play a strategic role in building out a production department and operationalizing the marketing creative department as a whole. As your team scales, you’ll be expected to be hands-on too — from developing project plans based on stakeholder briefs and GTM calendars/roadmaps to coordinating contracts and payments for all external creative vendors. Working closely with leadership, the Executive Creative Director, and cross-functional teams, you'll optimize systems and processes to enhance team culture and output. You're a detail-oriented problem-solver who can unite diverse contributors to drive success. Passionate about the creative process, you leverage cross-disciplinary skills to deliver outstanding results, always prioritizing the work over ego.

This role will require you to be in our San Francisco office 2–3 days per week (the current expectation is Wednesdays & Thursdays).

Here are a few of the things you will work on:

• Strategic Operations Management: Collaborate with the Executive Creative Director to translate creative vision into actionable plans. Develop and implement operational strategies aligned with HoneyBook's brand and business objectives.
• Creative Project Oversight: Manage the end-to-end production process for marketing creative projects, ensuring high-quality deliverables. Oversee complex, multi-channel creative initiatives from conception to completion.
• Team Leadership and Development: Lead and mentor a small team with the opportunity to grow it. Foster a culture of excellence and continuous improvement within the creative operations team.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Act as a key liaison between the creative team and other cross-functional departments. Ensure seamless communication and alignment across all stakeholders involved in creative projects.
• Budget and Resource Management: Oversee project budgets and resource allocation for the creative department. Manage relationships with agencies, freelancers, and vendors while optimizing costs without compromising quality.
• Performance Metrics and Reporting: Develop and track key performance indicators (KPIs) for creative operations. Provide regular reports to leadership on team performance, project status, and operational efficiency.
• Brand Consistency and Quality Control: Work with the Executive Creative Director to maintain brand integrity across all deliverables. Implement quality control measures to ensure creative output meets HoneyBook's high standards.
• Process Improvement: Continuously evaluate and refine creative production processes, tools, and methodologies. Implement solutions to enhance team productivity, creative output, and overall team morale.
• Innovation: Stay current with industry trends and best practices in creative production. Introduce innovative approaches to enhance the production process and deliver cutting-edge work.

Here is what we’re looking for in a candidate: 

• A strategic thinker with strong operational skills, capable of translating creative vision into executable plans
• Proven ability to manage complex, multi-channel creative projects from concept to completion, while ensuring that all deliverables, dependencies, timelines, and budgets are understood.
• Experience in leading and mentoring creative ops and production teams, fostering innovation and excellence
• Deep understanding of creative processes, design principles, and marketing strategies
• Excellent project management skills, including the ability to lead team status meetings, develop schedules, manage budgets, and track progress
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with diverse stakeholders, anticipate team needs, and proactively manage up and sideways; Should excel at key stakeholder management
• A data-driven approach to decision-making, with a focus on continuous process improvement (and a love for strong creative briefs!)
• Adaptability and resilience in a fast-paced, dynamic environment
• Experience working with SMB or consumer brands, understanding social trends and movements
• A passion for the craft of brand storytelling and advertising, combined with a keen eye for operational efficiency

Here is what is needed:

• 8+ years of experience in creative operations, project management, or production roles within marketing, advertising, or tech industries; Experience working in-house for a high-growth tech company is preferred
• 5+ years of experience in people management and team leadership
• Excellent project management skills with experience in managing complex, multi-channel creative initiatives
• Proficiency in project management tools, creative software, and collaboration platforms (e.g., Adobe Creative Suite, Notion, Figma, GSuite, Slack)
• Experience with budget management and resource allocation in creative environments
• Deep understanding of the creative development process (digital, editorial, advertising, marketing, social, etc.) and its critical dependencies
• Knowledge of iterative design systems and their implementation across various marketing channels
• Highly collaborative, resourceful, and motivated, the ideal candidate is a self-starter who proactively moves projects forward.
• Excellent presentation, interpersonal, and communication skills; must be able to articulate, document, and present the status of a project and the key dependencies to get it to completion.
• Existing relationships with world-class agencies, freelancers, and vendors
• Abnormally well organized, with strong attention to detail
• A love for the craft of brand storytelling and advertising, in all forms—all standing on a solid, fundamental foundation: great design.
• A trained eye for aesthetics, who is also analytical, operationally oriented, and metrics driven.

The good stuff:

Mission-driven: You'll be joining more than just another startup. Our members’ success is at the heart of everything we do.
Impact: We move quickly and encourage every employee to push the envelope. Our best ideas come from out-of-the-box thinking and innovation; be ready to fail fast and often!
Compensation: We offer a competitive salary and meaningful equity grants. $152k - $185k base compensation based on skills and experience. 
Benefits & perks: From wellness programs to exceptional family leave policies, the health and happiness of our employees are foremost.

Our core values:

People come first: We prioritize people as we explore opportunities and work through challenges.
Raise the bar: We push for greatness—for ourselves, each other, and our members.
Own it: Trust and ownership let us make decisions with confidence.
We love what we do: We bring passion to our work and love what we create for our members.
Keep it real: Authenticity, respect, and transparency are at our core.

The opportunity at HoneyBook is huge. Our primary customers today are creative businesses that generate $150B in revenue per year in the US. Founded in 2013, HoneyBook is based in San Francisco and Tel Aviv, has raised $498M, and is funded by Tiger Global Management, Norwest Venture Partners, Aleph, Hillsven Capital, OurCrowd, Durable Capital Partners LP, Vintage Investment Partners, Battery Ventures, Citi Ventures, Zeev Ventures, and 01 Advisors.

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