Sr. Resourcing Operations Manager

ABOUT MKG

Founded in 2003, MKG is a women-led creative agency specializing in brand experience. From moments to movements, our work breaks through culture by connecting brands with their people. We’re obsessively curious problem solvers who humanize brands through creative storytelling, purpose-driven engagement, beautiful design and impeccable production. We’re proud to be long-standing partners to brands like Google, Target, Netflix, Meta, HBO, Delta Air Lines, Béis and Spotify and have offices in NYC and LA, but work everywhere else, too.

WORKING AT MKG

We're in the business of experience. We aim to create incredible experiences for everyone – that includes consumers, our clients, and our teammates as well. We care deeply about the journey just as much as the final product. So while you’ll be working hard to check all the details (twice) to make sure the work is flawless, you’ll be shoulder to shoulder with some of the brightest, most compassionate and collaborative people in the industry. 

We have offices in NYC and LA. Candidates should be within commuting distance of either office and will need to be available for in-person collaboration on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

OVERVIEW OF THE ROLE

MKG is hiring a Sr. Resourcing Operations Manager to lead the strategic and proactive work of how we staff our agency. Reporting to the VP, Creative and serving as the senior leader within the resourcing function, this role focuses on resource planning and forecasting, freelance budget management, and leadership communications across departments.

This is a player-coach role. You’ll directly manage our Resource Operations Manager, partner daily with department heads across Creative, Production, Strategy, Account, and Operations, and serve as the central communicator between agency leadership and the project teams who depend on you. You’ll use data — utilization, forecasting, freelance spend, allocation accuracy — to inform decisions and surface recommendations that service agency goals.

The ideal candidate is highly collaborative, solutions-oriented, and thrives in a fast-paced experiential environment where priorities shift quickly. You bring sound judgment to challenging staffing conversations, a steady hand to freelance budget oversight, and the discipline to keep complex staffing puzzles moving forward.

WHAT YOU WILL DO IN THIS ROLE:

Strategic Resource Planning & Forecasting

• Lead resource planning and forecasting across the agency, translating pipeline activity into clear and strategic staffing recommendations.
• Lead and manage regular reporting on metrics related to departmental and agency goals. Organize, analyze and apply data and trends to develop recommendations that service those goals.
• Track departmental utilization against agency targets and assess any significant departures with the appropriate parties.

Project Staffing & Cross-Functional Partnership

• Serve as the central communicator between Project Leads and Department Heads on staffing plans and adjustments.
• Work closely with Project Leads, actively pulling necessary information and flagging any hold-ups to keep staffing decisions and resourcing moving forward.
• Deploy the right talent for the role — aligning skillsets, client knowledge, experience level, growth ambitions and personal passions with what each engagement demands.

Freelance Talent & Budget Management

• Reach out to freelancers for availability and interest. Keep freelance rosters current with availabilities and rates.
• Negotiate rates and assemble contracts, serving as the senior approver for the final freelance agreements.
• Lead freelance expense management. Work closely with the VP, Creative and Finance Director to estimate freelance spend, obtain approvals for costs as needed, and constantly monitor expenses against budget forecasts and goals.
• Manage freelance onboarding and offboarding.

Team Leadership

• Provide direct oversight and management of the Resource Operations Manager — provide mentorship in service of their growth and development, while also partnering closely and guiding day-to-day on priorities and decision-making.

WHAT YOU WILL BRING TO THIS ROLE: 

Given the nature of experiential work, this role may require flexibility to work non-traditional hours, including evenings and weekends, as business needs arise. 

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience preferred
• Exceptional organizational skills with the ability to prioritize, problem-solve, and adapt quickly as business needs shift.
• Proven people-management experience — ideally with direct reports in a resourcing, project ops, or production capacity.
• Fluency with resourcing, forecasting, and project management tools (Kantata, Float, Resource Guru, Smartsheet, Airtable, Asana, Monday, or comparable) and the data hygiene that makes them useful.
• Understanding of creative / marketing / ad agency workflows, timelines, and cross-functional team structures is a must.  Experiential marketing experience is very advantageous. 
• Demonstrated experience owning a freelance budget at scale — from sourcing and rate negotiation through spend tracking and finance partnership.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills with experience partnering closely with Project Leads, Department Heads, Senior Leadership, and Finance.
• Comfort using data and reporting to inform staffing decisions and surface trends — not just to react to today’s staffing puzzle.
• Ability to navigate challenging conversations with professionalism, empathy, and sound judgment.

Salary Description:

$110,000 - $150,000 annually

*** This is the minimum + maximum base salary that we, in good faith, are willing to pay at the time of the posting. 

Salary commensurate with experience.