Workflow Manager - 9 month Maternity Cover Operations · Farnham

2LK Design Ltd; Farnham; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A creative agency in the UK seeks an operations manager to ensure the effective running of the studio and a freelance talent network. The role involves orchestrating resource allocation, managing workflow bottlenecks, and monitoring team wellbeing. Candidates should have experience in operational management, a thorough understanding of resource allocation, and the ability to facilitate teamwork. This is an opportunity to contribute to an employee-owned, female-led brand experience agency committed to a people-first culture.

Benefits

Employee ownership

Creative work environment

Focus on team wellbeing

Qualifications

• Experience in operational management within a creative environment.
• Strong understanding of resource allocation and capacity planning.
• Ability to facilitate teamwork and communicate effectively.

Responsibilities

• Orchestrate resource allocation to optimize team performance.
• Manage brief intake and resolve workflow bottlenecks.
• Facilitate proactive searches for freelance talent and manage budgets.
• Monitor team utilization rates to ensure a balanced workload.

Skills

Operational Management

Resource Allocation

Capacity Planning

Workflow Optimisation

Team Wellbeing

Job description

You sit right in the heart of the agency, prioritising the smooth, effective running of the studio and freelance talent network. More than just a scheduler, you are the orchestrator who ensures the right people are working on the right projects at the right time. Your goal is to create the conditions for creativity to thrive by keeping operations smooth, managing capacity, and ensuring the team feels supported. Seeing the big picture and the details simultaneously is your superpower. You know exactly where creatives and freelancers are and what they are working on, enabling you to spot problems before they arise and optimise for both team wellbeing and project delivery.

Below are some of the things we are looking for from this role:

1. Strategic Resourcing & Capacity Planning

• Orchestrate Allocation: Ensure the creative team operates at peak performance by allocating resources based on skills, availability and development needs.
• Capacity Visibility: Maintain real‑time visibility of who is working on what to provide leadership with a clear picture for planning.
• Forecasting: Predict creative resource management challenges in the short, mid, and long term, escalating constraints to management with recommended solutions.
• Data Accuracy: Maintain project resource scheduling software and timesheet data to ensure the agency has accurate insights for forecasting.

2. Workflow Optimisation & Brief Management

• Intake & Triage: Manage the brief intake process with Client Experience, ensuring briefs are clear and complete before allocating creative resources.
• Bottleneck Resolution: Identify and resolve workflow bottlenecks before they impact delivery or quality.
• Prioritisation: Work with stakeholders to set realistic timelines and triage briefs when capacity is constrained.
• Meeting Facilitation: Conduct regular resource planning meetings with project leads and the ECD/ACD to align on agency needs.

Potential to suggest and implement changes to workflow and creative process across the agency.

3. Freelance Talent Strategy

• Talent Network: Maintain the "black book" roster of trusted freelance talent across disciplines.
• Full Lifecycle Management: Facilitate proactive searches for talent, negotiate rates, manage bookings and oversee onboarding to ensure freelancers have clarity on their work.
• Budget Control: In conjunction with finance team, enable tracking of freelance spend against forecasts and flag potential overruns early.

4. Team Wellbeing & Culture

• Sustainable Pace: Monitor utilisation rates to ensure a balanced workload, aiming to prevent burnout and support team welfare.
• Support System: Act as a bridge between departments, facilitating communication to ensure staff can conduct their work to the best of their ability.

About 2LK

We are an employee‑owned, female‑led and B Corp aligned brand experience agency.

At 2LK, ideas lead and anything’s possible. We’re an ambitious team of thinkers, driven by creativity, fuelled by innovation and bound by the belief that moments matter.

In a fast‑moving world, we remain in constant beta – adapting, adopting and always accelerating. We’re habit breakers, inspired by change and fascinated by what’s next.

As a Sunday Times Top 500 business to work for, everyone at 2LK is empowered and supported to grow; always playing to individuals’ strengths, we take great pride in our people‑first culture. Our values based around trust, honesty and respect build real relationships that matter and help create our relentless pursuit of designing award‑winning brand experiences.

If the role excites you, you’re committed and feel you can add value to our business, then we’d love to hear from you.