Operations Manager

Role Overview Walkup Studio is hiring a Operations Manager to architect, run, and continuously improve the systems that power our work - strategy, content production, talent/influencer programs, and client service. You’ll be the operational heartbeat across resourcing, finance ops, legal/contract workflows, and delivery - ensuring our teams ship excellent work on time, and on scope. What You’ll Do Operational Leadership Build agency operating systems: planning cycles, weekly business rhythm, dashboards, and post-mortems. Translate strategy into resourced, calendarized plans; pressure-test scopes, timings, and budgets before we commit. Run capacity management and staffing across strategy, creative, production, community, and paid support. Finance & Commercials Partner with Founders on forecasting, margin targets, and monthly close hygiene (accruals, WIP, COGS, revenue pacing). Improve quoting/scoping templates; track burn vs. budget; flag risk early and drive change orders. Oversee invoicing cadence, collections follow-up, and vendor payments; standardize POs and cost controls. Process & Tooling Evaluate and implement tooling for project management, asset routing, approvals, and reporting; drive adoption and SOPs. Standardize briefing, content calendars, QA, and delivery workflows across platforms (IG/TikTok/YouTube/Pinterest, etc.). Continuously optimize: identify bottlenecks, measure cycle times, and roll out process improvements. Legal, Talent & Compliance Operationalize SOWs/MSAs, NDAs, and talent/influencer agreements; maintain version control and clause libraries. Ensure usage rights , licensing windows, whitelisting/boosting permissions, and FTC disclosure compliance. Manage vendor onboarding (COIs/W-9s), risk checks, and insurance requirements for productions and events. Client & Team Operations Establish a consistent client operating cadence (QBRs, status, reporting) and coach teams on accountability. Build a vendor/talent bench; negotiate rates and SLAs. Hire, mentor, and performance-manage Operations/PM staff; nurture a culture of clarity, speed, and ownership. What You’ll Bring 2-4 years in operations/project management at a marketing, social, or creative agency (multi-client environment). Proven track record running complex content/talent programs and production calendars with measurable results. Strong financial literacy: revenue recognition, margin management, forecasting, and cost controls. Fluency in SOWs, scopes, change orders, and usage/rights mechanics (organic, paid, whitelisting, renewals). Data-driven and systems-minded with excellent written comms and stakeholder management. Tech expertise (or equivalents): Asana/Notion/Monday, Google Workspace, Slack, QuickBooks (or similar), e-signature, DAM. Nice to Have Experience with influencer EMV/measurement, social listening, and analytics dashboards. Production experience and event coverage workflows. #J-18808-Ljbffr