Manager - Creative Services

Company Description

Founded in London in 1970, Saatchi & Saatchi has evolved into a global creative powerhouse with 114 offices in 67 countries and over 6,500 employees. As part of Publicis Groupe, we excel in integrated communications, working with top global brands to create unforgettable campaigns.

Our mantra, ‘Nothing is Impossible’, drives us to drive positive change through creativity. We pride ourselves on our unshakeable spirit and dedication to nurturing talent, ensuring your journey with us is one of continuous growth. Located across the UAE and KSA, Saatchi & Saatchi services the whole MEA region and consistently collects prestigious awards, namely ‘#2 Network of The Year’ at Dubai Lynx 2024, reflecting our commitment to leaving a positive impact.

Our culture is what sets us apart. Join our fun traditions that drive creativity and bring everyone together while keeping spirits high. We love our office parties and the collaborative environment that helps us create outstanding work.

Overview

The Creative Services Manager’s primary role is to find solutions internally. Working across regions and with all stakeholders, have an overview of the capacity and utilization of each creative resource. The responsibility includes but is not limited to ensuring the agency is running efficiently almost as a profit centre, and no client deadlines are missed.

Keeping the focus on quality, people, process, and profitability, the CSM must ensure the smooth running of all areas within the agency by resolving key production/workflow issues for the agency, whilst working with senior management to define optimum resources and processes that underpin the agency's success.

The CSM optimizes the use of creative resources on all assigned accounts. Based on annual or quarterly work-back plans provided by Business Leads, forecasts creative staffing needs and generates capacity plan. Partners with Business Director to understand ongoing assignment changes (scope, timing, etc.) and manages creative workflow. Works with Group CCO and Creative leads to prioritize assignments and to assign Creative Staffing by supporting at every creative stage to bring the ideas to life by casting the right people on the right job.

Responsibilities

Technical & Product

Pre-Briefing Phase

• Operates as a functional channel between Creative and Account management by working in advance of assignments to assess implications and anticipate workload needs
• Attends status meetings and collaborates with Creative Resources Team and Account Management throughout creative development and stays informed of timing, scope, and priority changes
• Takes ownership of the Capacity Plan. Ensure that the capacity plan is updated regularly
  
  

• Receives and reviews new assignment briefs to ensure assignment syncs with forecasting and to understand actual creative needs (scope of assignment, timing, and priority)
• Evaluates the available creative resources (aptitude, workstyle, Skill, and workload) against creative needs.
• Working to prepare staffing solutions based on matching the right teams (and number of teams) with the right projects
• Presents staffing solutions to assign appropriate creative team and works with the CCO & CD to organize and inform the team
• Organizes creative briefing and pit stops with time, location, team members and attends briefing
• Partners with the Creative Project Lead to manage project needs from briefing through client buy-off
• Anticipates and mediates workflow problems as identified by stakeholders
• Quickly sorts information to identify opportunities, alternative approaches, or next steps
• Coordinates Creative review committee with all stakeholders in Creative, Communications, Strategy, Production, and Digital Exchange
  
  

• Tracks individuals’ creative contributions to agency.
• Manage all resources and ensure all projects / account are staffed accordingly
• Ensure department leads sees all briefs before dispatching the work to the team
• Review timelines for campaigns and business requests with Account & Project Management ensuring the project team is given the right time and budget to deliver briefed work
• Manage the team's time and make recommendations to prioritize their workload to ensure timely work delivery
• Work closely with the team leads in prioritizing / re-allocating workloads
• Flag resourcing bottlenecks / conflicts and make recommendations to the senior leadership team
• Take ownership of the resource management tools to ensure resource crunches are identified and addressed.
  
  

• Serve as Casting Manager who understands the ins and outs of employees’ skill sets, strengths, and weaknesses to appropriately map talent to the business
• Ensure client teams have the right talent both onshore and offshore by partnering with leadership to understand what the work/client needs
• Anticipate trends within the group and create innovative solutions·
• Assesses skill sets and specialities, assigning the best possible resources for every project
• Continually monitors the group for efficiencies and overloaded reports concerns and opportunities to the head of creative services
• Seeks advice on developmental needs and opportunities within the creative department and creates plans to address those needs and opportunities
• Works to share the appropriate level of communication with creative teams, understanding what might be best suited to share in the hallway, via email, or scheduled meetings
• Maintains open-mindedness to ideas and welcome feedback on how to change or improve process
• Manage the day to day running of the workload allocations
• Effectively manages and motivates creative teams so they remain focused and meet deliverables
• Work closely with the Groupe assigned team to manage all freelance / recruitment requests
• Be a north star for processes and make sure everyone adheres to it
• Regularly watch timesheets and vacation for the full team and prepare reports
• Monitors the repository and remains gatekeeper for asset management
• Follows and leads the Groupe GDPR policy and guides others follow
• Support company culture; actively seek new, smarter ways of doing things
  
  

• Possesses good verbal and written communications skills to enhance negotiation and liaison with key stakeholders
• Able to empathize with people and business needs, and balance these against considerations of time and cost
• Tracks creative contributions and helps people do their best
• Projects optimism in the face of challenges
• Confidently brings escalated situations to resolution
• Gains support and ownership of all key stakeholders to deploy resources efficiently and effectively
• Problem solver and solution oriented
• To be able to keep calm in extreme work pressure and yet deliver
  
  

• Seeks others' feedback to develop self-awareness, strengths and address development area.
• Is able to proactively raise issues to improve effective team working and collaboration.
• Is able to communicate confidently in a clear, concise and articulate manner.
• Collaborates with stakeholders and embraces an inclusive based environment.
• Is able to make valuable contributions to discussions and brainstorming sessions, providing insight and point of view.
• Able to build relationships quickly with others and engages personally with peers and clients.
• Treats others with respect, listens to other perspectives, especially when they are different from own.
• Able to tackle problems in a timely manner and develop contingency plans that focus on problem resolution.
• Drives a culture of trust with Peers, clients and all other stakeholders.
  
  

• Is able to take ownership for actions and deals with consequences in a mature manner.
• Able to adjust performance based on experiences and feedback and showcases agility and flexibility.
• Displays openness to the ideas of others and leverages them when beneficial for the business.
• Showcases curiosity and open mindset towards new ways of doing things.
• Is able to set high impact objectives and goes above and beyond to exceed performance.
• Demonstrates the Growth Mindset and is able to take ownership of personal development and growth.
• Capable of constructively challenging the status-quo and takes risks to challenge internal and external perspectives.
• Approaches situations and individuals with honesty, integrity and humbleness.
• Displays resilience and maintains drives and a positive outlook when faced with challenges.
  
  

• At least 5 years of experience in a relevant or an operations related job role
• Demonstrates an understanding of strategy, creative, data & analytics, digital & film production processes and terminology
• Extremely organized and a good negotiation skills
• Able to take calculative risk
• Stands up for own viewpoints, actions, or decisions, even in the face of strong disagreement and skillfully overcomes objections
• An operations background with ‘can do’ positive attitude
• Possesses good verbal and written communications skills to enhance negotiation and liaison with key stakeholders
• Capable of resolving seemingly intractable problems in a manner that maintains relationships with all stakeholders