Studio Manager, Creative Studio - Marketing

The Company

Christie’s, the world’s largest Art Business, is an incredibly exciting & enriching place to start or continue your career. Whether you work within one of our Specialist Art Departments, or in one of our more Operational teams, we are all working together with one common goal in mind: to continue the success of this 260 year old company, steeped in history, bringing fresh ideas whilst not forgetting our shared values: Integrity, Excellence, Innovation, Responsibility & Relationships. Colleagues across all departments are truly passionate about what they do and it is inspiring to work with industry leaders across our business. 
 

Why This Role Matters

Reporting into the Head of Studio and Creative Operations, the Studio Manager ensures the Creative Team is fully supported and is central to maintaining the smooth running of the Studio’s day to day creative operations. As the operational lead of the studio, this role manages all studio traffic, team resourcing and brief intake and triage. They will support the Head of Studio and Creative Operations with resource management, studio budgeting, freelancer management and bookings, maintaining and developing studio processes, systems management and team timesheet management.

How You'll Make an Impact

Resourcing and Workflow

• Manage all incoming creative requests via Monday.com

• Prioritise projects based on deadlines and business needs

• Manage brief intake and triage, ensuring all briefs are to standard and actionable before allocating  

• Identify bottlenecks and identify when additional resources are needed

• Allocate projects to creatives based on capacity and skillset

• Provide real time operational problem solving to keep projects on track

• Manage and maintain team holiday calendar (FTE and FL) in accordance to project resourcing

Studio Team Management & Freelance Support 

• Manage all freelance recruitment, bookings and day rate negotiations   

• Grow and manage the studio’s freelancer data base

• Ensure all creative timesheets are completed and support on approvals

• Work with external freelance recruitment agencies, managing all documentation required

• Welcome and onboard new freelancers and external partners

• Ensure team members have the right information, tools and resources to deliver their work effectively

• Support the Head of Studio and Creative Operations with planning for the team i.e team social events and offsites

Creative Operations and Processes

• Continuously refine workflow processes to drive efficiency, reduce bottlenecks and improve output quality 

• Support on implementing new systems, templates, and operational tools as needed to enhance team productivity

• Coordinate meetings, schedules and agendas

• Maintain clear documentation of workflows, standards, procedures and production requirements

• Champion consistent ways of working across teams in the business

• Bring an understanding of AI within Creative Operations and identify opportunities for the use of AI

• Manage copyright tracking, usage rights and imagery clearances with internal rights & permissions teams

• Support on IT/HR and general business requests

Financial & Budget Management  

• Support the Head of Studio & Creative Operations with managing the studio budget

• Support on tracking freelance spend

• Raise POs, process invoices and ensure accurate cost coding

• Provide weekly and monthly studio budget updates to the Head of Studio and Creative Operations

• Negotiate rates with vendors to secure value and ensure compliance with Christie’s procurement policies

• Identify opportunities for cost savings and improved resource efficiency

Skills & Experience 

• 5-8+ years proven experience in creative operations at an agency or in-house

• Have an understanding of project management and shoot production

• Excellent creative team resourcing skills, especially in very fast paced and reactive environments 

• Strong understanding of how in-house Creative Studios run, covering all channel outputs (art direction, print, digital, exhibition, social, video and photo production, copy)

• Experience working with project management platforms (Monday.com, Asana, Trello or similar)

• Strong coordination, communication, scheduling and multitasking abilities

• Comfortable liaising with external partners, negotiating fees and managing budgets

• Familiarity with Adobe Creative Suite, Figma and Figma Slides workflows (even if not a designer)

• Experience working in arts, luxury, cultural or fast paced creative environments preferred

What you’ll bring to the team

• A strong desire to be part of an energetic, fast paces in-house Creative Studio

• Excellent workflow and creative team resourcing skillset

• Highly organised and meticulous, with excellent attention to detail

• Calm, pragmatic and confident handling multiple projects simultaneously

• Solutions focused with strong problem solving abilities

• Excellent communicator with clear written and verbal communication skills 

• Collaborative team player who supports both creative and business colleagues

• Proactive, positive and able to anticipate operational challenges before they arise 

• A great energy and team player

• Passionate about design, cultural creativity and high quality production

What’s great about working for us

• 25 days annual leave + 1 day Birthday leave  

• Christie’s Christmas office closure (guaranteed between 25th Dec – 1st Jan) – in addition to annual leave: almost two weeks to fully switch off and spend time with friends and family

• Additional 1 week’s annual leave within the year of a 5-year anniversary i.e. 5th, 10th, 15th and so on

• Volunteering day: Take an additional day of annual leave to volunteer for a charitable organisation that’s important to you

• Donation matching of up to £500 per annum to help you support the organisations you care about

• Flexible Fitness Fund - £400 per year expense allowance for health and wellness related activity (taxable)

• Access to world-renowned art: with regular exhibitions in our galleries to wander around and exclusive guided tours hosted by specialist colleagues

• Discretionary Bonus (dependent on the business and employee performance payable in March each year)      

• Generous retirement plan: We will double match your pension contribution up to 5% of your basic salary (Max 10% contribution from Christie’s)

• Private Health Insurance – no employee contribution needed, subsidised for other family members

• Dental Insurance – (may be extended at personal cost)

• Generous Income Protection Insurance in the event of accident, sickness or injury after 12 months

• Competitive Life Insurance policy from first day 

• Employee Assistance Programme – access to personal advice and support services including counselling

• Eyecare vouchers (once a year)

• Cycle to Work scheme

• Christie’s Extras – discounts on over 800 retailers, holiday packages, dinners and weekly shops

• Seniorcare by Lottie, a comprehensive eldercare solution

• Robust family first policy:

Ø  16 weeks full pay on Maternity Leave  

Ø  Eligible to return to work for 80% of your agreed normal weekly working pattern while being paid as though you were working 100%, post a minimum of 16 weeks of leave

Ø  Dependent back-up care: 10 sessions/ days of childcare or eldercare per year

Ø  Christies Family Network: Our community of parents who meet regularly over breakfasts, lunch, afternoon tea…

              *Christie’s reserves the right to change company benefits at any time

Closing Date: Sunday 5th July

Salary: £60,000 - £65,000 per annum

*this salary is to guide applicants on the level of the role, the offer will be aligned with the successful applicants experience for the position

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