Director, Creative Operations at LAGOS in Philadelphia, PA

Job description

• The Director, Creative Operations is responsible for building and leading the operational infrastructure that enables the Brand Creative team to deliver exceptional work efficiently and at scale. This role oversees the end-to-end creative workflow, from intake, scoping and prioritization through resourcing, production, approvals and final delivery, creating clarity, accountability and visibility across the team. Working closely with the VP, Brand Creative, the Director will lead day-to-day Creative operations, manage project workflow and oversee photography operations, including management of LAGOS’ in-house photographer and Bangkok-based photographer/retoucher. This role will establish the processes, resources and operating rhythms that enable the team to execute effectively, maintain clear priorities and move creative work seamlessly from concept through delivery.

Responsibilities

• Creative Operations & Project Management
• Own the end-to-end Brand Creative workflow, from project intake and briefing through production, review, approval and final delivery, establishing clear ownership, timelines, priorities and handoffs across concurrent workstreams.
• Translate business and marketing priorities into actionable creative workflows and resource plans, maintaining visibility into team capacity, dependencies, upcoming needs and potential risks.
• Partner with the VP, Brand Creative and creative leadership to drive accountability, follow-through and effective prioritization across the team.
• Continuously improve creative processes, tools and ways of working to increase efficiency, scalability and capacity without compromising creative quality.
• Photography Operations & Team Management
• Own the end-to-end photography workflow across in-house and Bangkok resources, from product readiness and shot planning through scheduling, retouching, approvals and final asset delivery.
• Directly manage LAGOS’ in-house photographer and Bangkok-based photographer/retoucher, setting priorities, workload, expectations and development goals.
• Partner with the Art Director, Brand Creative, E-Commerce and other stakeholders to translate photography requirements into clear schedules, production plans and capacity allocations across locations.
• Coordinate larger campaign and content shoots with creative leadership, production partners and external vendors, ensuring alignment on timelines, resources, workflow and delivery.
• Resource & Team Management
• Assess Creative team capacity and resource needs, guiding prioritization and allocation across internal team members, freelancers, agencies and external partners while proactively identifying gaps and bottlenecks.
• Manage and develop direct reports through clear expectations, ongoing feedback, coaching and performance management, fostering a collaborative, accountable and solutions-oriented environment.
• Identify opportunities to thoughtfully integrate AI and emerging tools into Creative workflows to improve efficiency, capacity and the team's ability to focus on higher-value work.
• Cross-Functional Operations & Collaboration
• Serve as a key operational partner between Creative and Marketing, Digital/E-Commerce, PR, Sales, Product Development and other teams, establishing clear briefs, timelines, ownership and handoffs.
• Partner closely with Product Development to understand product readiness and changes throughout the development lifecycle, proactively identifying impacts to photography, creative assets and timelines.
• Identify recurring friction points and implement scalable tools, processes and project-management practices that strengthen how Creative works with its partners.
• As the Creative Operations function matures, support select broader cross-functional initiatives where stronger planning, workflow or project-management structure can improve outcomes.
• Budget, Asset Management & Delivery
• Manage day-to-day administration and tracking of the Creative department budget in partnership with the VP, Brand Creative, including project spend, commitments, forecasts, invoices and purchase orders, while partnering with Finance and Accounting on accurate processing and reconciliation.
• Own post-production, retouching and asset-delivery workflows, partnering with the Art Director on selects and creative review and establishing clear standards for approvals, quality control, naming, version control, distribution and access.
• Partner with Creative and cross-functional teams to identify channel-specific deliverables and specifications early in the process, ensuring final assets are accurate, organized and delivered on time.

Requirements

• 7–10+ years of experience in creative operations, creative project management, marketing operations or a related field, with experience leading complex creative workflows and teams.
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing teams, including managing internal employees, freelancers, agencies and/or international resources.
• Strong understanding of photography and content production workflows, including shot planning, scheduling, retouching, approvals and final asset delivery.
• Strong project, resource and capacity-management skills, with the ability to prioritize competing workstreams, manage dependencies and proactively address risks and bottlenecks.
• Experience managing departmental and/or project budgets, including forecasting, spend tracking, invoice management and partnership with Finance and Accounting.
• Proficiency with project-management and workflow tools; experience with Asana preferred.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, judgment and problem-solving skills, with the ability to build effective relationships across creative and cross-functional teams.
• Experience in luxury, fashion, retail, beauty or another highly creative consumer brand environment preferred.

Skills

Required

• Creative operations
• Creative project management
• Marketing operations
• Team leadership and development
• Project management
• Resource management
• Capacity management
• Budget management
• Forecasting
• Spend tracking
• Invoice management
• Excellent communication

Preferred

• Experience with Asana