Creative Resource Manager (12 month Contract)

We are currently looking for a Creative Resource Manager to join our internal agency team reporting to the Director, Resource Management. The Creative Resource Manager will play an essential role within our internal agency, supporting our Brand Leads, Agency Operations and partnering with our Creative and Production teams to ensure success of creative initiatives.

The Creative Resource Manager manages the Creative Department and Production delivery workflow in a way that fosters the development of exceptional creative while optimizing the efficient deployment of creative resources. 

This contract role collaborates with Brands Leads and Agency Operations to understand incoming projects, scope, and timelines to seamlessly handle creative assignments and provide recommendations on capacity and bandwidth of the Creative and Production teams.  

The Creative Resource Manager will deploy the right creative resources into the right assignment so that great work can be accomplished but also increase creative group resources efficiently. This role’s responsibility also includes traffic flow to ensure new processes and platform input is accurately executed and maintained.

• Pre-Brief Phase
• Operates as a functional conduit between Creative Teams and Business Leads by working in advance of assignments to assess implications and anticipate workload needs
• Reviews all Project Intake forms in timely manner and addresses next steps with Brand Lead, Project Managers, and appropriate creative teams (ie. Confirmation of scope, ask, timelines)
• Attends Brand Lead status meetings and collaborates with full team throughout creative development and stays informed of timing, scope, and priority changes

• Receives and reviews new assignment briefs to ensure assignment syncs with forecasting and to understand actual creative, production and In-store marketing needs (scope of assignment, timing, and priority) – this can also be understood as “Traffic Managing” creative assignments
• Evaluates the available creative resources (aptitude, workstyle, and workload) against creative needs. Working to prepare staffing solutions based on matching the right teams (and number of teams) with the right projects
• Attends briefing and is the resource assignment driver and owner throughout brief, creative development, and execution process
• Anticipates and mediates work-flow problems
• Quickly sorts information to identify opportunities, alternative approaches or next steps.
• Follows progress of assignment to understand project demands and team capacity with Resource Management Tools (Workfront/Float)

• Anticipate trends within the group and creates innovative solutions
• Assesses skill sets and specialties, assigning the best possible resources for every project
• Continually monitors the group for efficiencies and overload and reports concerns and opportunities to appropriate Sr. Leaders
• Seeks advice on developmental needs and opportunities within the creative department and creates plans to address those needs and opportunities.
• Maintains open-mindedness to ideas and welcome feedback on how to change or improve process.
• Continues to track projects, deliverables, and workloads through the production phase in partnership with the Sr. Production Manager

• Manage and oversee resourcing allocations for the creative and production teams
• Support Brand department leads to understand pipeline and current projects to then assign creative and production resources
• Review bandwidth across creative and production teams and maximize utilization across all resources
• Build out schedules based on deadlines/milestones for each project stage within resourcing tool (Float) to effectively identify resourcing gaps and opportunities
• Monitor project hours in Float and tailor approach based on project realities
• Maintain knowledge of current and upcoming projects and business development activities anticipating resource availability and pressures
• Recommend improvements on estimating and staffing future projects

• Proven ability to manage creative and production resource workflow and allocations
• Working experience with Resource Management online software (Float and/or Workfront would be ideal)
• Exceptional organizational, time management, change-management, and problem-solving skills
• Background in Business Operations considered asset
• Understanding financials; and manage resource budgets
• Exceptional verbal & written communication skills

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