Creative Services Manager

Hue & Cry Limited; Greater London; On-site; GBP 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A creative agency in London is seeking a Creative Services Manager to oversee creative workflows, ensuring effective project delivery. This leadership role requires proven experience in creative operations with strong commercial awareness. The ideal candidate should excel in communication, decision-making, and team leadership. The position offers a competitive salary among other benefits including generous holiday and a positive work culture.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Vitality membership

Cycle to Work scheme

Generous holiday policy

Qualifications

• Proven experience in Creative Services/Creative Operations within a creative agency.
• Understanding the end-to-end creative process from strategy to delivery.
• Strong grasp of budgets and profitability.

Responsibilities

• Own and lead creative workflow across the agency.
• Ensure projects are scoped, costed, and resourced appropriately.
• Build strong relationships across departments.

Skills

Creative process understanding

Commercial awareness

Decision-making

Clear communication

Leadership

Job description

Location: London (hybrid: 3 days in-office)
Salary: £50,000 DOE

Reports into: MD UK

We are looking for an experienced Creative Services Manager to sit at the heart of our agency – owning how work flows through the business and ensuring our creative output is delivered brilliantly, collaboratively and profitably.

This is a leadership role, not just a workflow or traffic function.

You will be the commercial and operational gatekeeper for all creative work across the agency, acting as the conduit between Creative, Client Service, PR and Strategy. Your job is to ensure the right people are on the right work, at the right time, with the right information – and that projects move smoothly from brief to delivery.

The Creative Services Manager plays a critical role in freeing up our creative teams to do what they do best, while giving senior stakeholders confidence that work is planned, resourced, delivered and tracked effectively.

This role is based in London and supports both UK and growing US creative requirements.

To apply, send your CV and a cover note to Lucy Morris, using the link below.

Hue & Cry is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or disability status.

Agency-wide workflow & delivery leadership

• Own and lead short-term (1-4 weeks) and longer-term (up to 12 weeks) creative workflow across the agency.
• Be the single point of entry for all creative requests, ensuring clarity, prioritisation and commercial viability.
• Run strategic workflow sessions that look beyond live resourcing to future needs, pressure points and opportunities. Take responsibility for how work moves through the agency – not just how it’s scheduled.

Project knowledge & casting

• Develop a strong understanding of all live and upcoming projects by:
  • Joining key scoping, briefing and kick-off sessions.
  • Staying close to briefs, deliverables and timelines.
• Play a leading role in casting teams, balancing availability, capability, development opportunities and commercial realities.
• Ensure briefs are clear, signed off and fit for purpose before work begins.

Commercial & operational gatekeeping

• Protect agency profitability by ensuring:
  • Projects are appropriately scoped, costed and resourced.
  • Time is planned realistically and tracked effectively.
  • Risks are flagged early, with solutions proposed collaboratively.
• Work closely with Client Service and PR teams to support informed client conversations around scope, timing and budget. This will involve regular analysis and reporting of the commercial status of live jobs.
• Actively manage freelance usage, rates and relationships to ensure quality, value and flexibility.

Cross-agency integration & influence

• Build strong, trusted relationships across Creative, PR, Client Service and Strategy, positioning yourself as a neutral, enabling leader.
• Translate process into accessible, human language – making systems feel supportive rather than restrictive.
• Champion a solutions‑first mindset, particularly under pressure or change.
• Help embed consistent ways of working while remaining flexible to different project types and rhythms.

Culture & leadership

• Be a visible, calm and confident presence in the agency.
• Lead with empathy, fairness and clarity.
• Contribute to a positive, collaborative culture where people feel supported and empowered to do great work.

You are someone who:

• Has proven experience in a Creative Services / Creative Operations / Resource Management role within a creative, brand or communications agency
• Understands the end-to-end creative process from strategy and concept through to production and delivery.
• Is commercially minded with a strong grasp of budgets, timing and profitability.
• Confidently owns decisions and outcomes while collaborating openly with others.
• Balances rigour with warmth bringing structure without stifling creativity.
• Communicates clearly, calmly and constructively even under pressure.
• Feels comfortable operating independently of any one department and is motivated by what’s best for the agency, not just a single team.

What we offer in return

We’ll equip you with the tech you need to succeed and a competitive salary. After your probation, you will also enjoy Vitality membership and EAP, and we are enrolled with the Cycle to Work scheme.

Our office is based in Holborn, and we operate a 2 day a week WFH policy. We believe in face-time with our clients, so travel is often an exciting part of the job, and we have offices in NYC & LDN.

Generous holiday

Statutory holidays are great, but we also close the office over the New Year period, give you your birthday as an extra holiday day, and increase your extra holidays based on length of service.

Team culture

Did you know we have a bar in our office? Monthly Thirsty Thursdays happen during our company meetings, and we have dedicated DEI, B Corp, and social committees.