Freelance Director Creative Operations Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Company: Araca Merchandise, L.P.

Job Title: VP, Creative Operations & Resource Coordinator

Job Location: NYC, NY, Hybrid (in-office 3 days/week)

Compensation: $75K-$85K + 401k with Match + 3 weeks PTO + Medical, Dental, & Vision Benefits

The Araca Group is a leading, global entertainment & merchandising company that has been prospering for almost 25 years thanks to our innovative and collaborative team members. Araca’s employees act as brand ambassadors through creating live event and ecommerce merchandise experiences for some of the world’s top entertainment properties including, Wicked, The Book of Mormon, Beetlejuice the Musical, Back to the Future, The Outsiders, Formula 1 Exhibition and many more.

We are in search of a highly organized and strategic VP, Creative Operations & Resource Coordinator to join our Art team.

This role will oversee the workflow, scheduling, and resource planning of the Art team, balancing company priorities, client needs, deadlines, team capacity, and new business opportunities.

Working closely with Account Management, company leadership, and the Art team, this person will help ensure that creative work is appropriately prioritized and assigned. They will partner closely with the Art Director and COO to ensure the team has the resources, information, and support needed to deliver high-quality work on time.

Position Summary

The VP, Creative Operations & Resource Coordinator is responsible for managing an efficient and responsive workflow for the Art team and ensuring creative resources are aligned with company priorities, client needs, new business opportunities, and evolving deadlines.

Serving as a primary point of coordination between Account Management, company leadership, and the Art team, this role manages the flow and prioritization of creative requests while maintaining an understanding of team capacity, project status, and upcoming business needs.

This role works closely with the Art Director and COO to ensure the Art team is appropriately resourced and supported. The position will oversee the operational side of the department, allowing the Art Director to focus on creative direction, quality, mentorship, and creative leadership.

This person should be highly organized, proactive, calm under pressure, and comfortable managing competing priorities and making decisions about resources and timing in a fast-moving creative environment. This position works in close partnership with the Art Director and reports to the COO.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Creative Workflow & Resource Management

● Own and manage the day-to-day flow of creative requests through the Art team, from intake through completion.

● Maintain a current view of active projects, upcoming requests, deadlines, priorities, and team capacity.

● Translate company priorities, client needs, Account Manager requests, and new business opportunities into an actionable creative schedule.

● Evaluate competing priorities and recommend scheduling solutions based on urgency, business impact, complexity, available resources, and deadlines.

● Assign work based on designer skill sets, capacity, development opportunities, and project requirements.

● Coordinate the use of freelance designers and other external creative resources when additional support is needed.

● Identify opportunities to improve efficiency and maximize internal and external creative resources.

● Identify potential bottlenecks or resource conflicts early and recommend solutions.

● Maintain visibility into what is committed, in progress, at risk, and unable to be accommodated within current timelines.

● Seek the Art Director’s input when determining the appropriate creative resource for high-priority or strategically important projects.

● Incorporate the Art Director’s knowledge of the team and creative expertise into resource decisions without making the Art Director responsible for day-to-day traffic and scheduling.

● Evaluate new requests, changes, and shifting priorities before adding them to the team’s workload.

● Provide designers with clear priorities, deadlines, expectations, and next steps.

● Help create an environment where designers can work independently while receiving the appropriate level of creative direction and review.

Freelance Management

● Identify when freelance support is needed based on workload, deadlines, skill requirements, and internal capacity.

● Coordinate the hiring and onboarding of freelance designers and other creative resources.

● Maintain a current roster of qualified freelance creative talent and their areas of expertise.

● Coordinate freelancer availability, assignments, deliverables, deadlines, and communication.

● Ensure freelancers receive the appropriate briefs, assets, brand information, and project context needed to begin work efficiently.

● Manage freelancer administrative requirements, including rates, invoices, payment coordination, and required documentation.

● Track freelance spending against approved budgets and communicate potential overages before commitments are made.

● Evaluate freelance performance and maintain information on preferred resources for future assignments.

Brand Guidelines & Creative Resources

● Create and maintain a centralized brand guidelines resource for the Art team.

● Ensure brand guidelines, approved assets, logos, templates, typography, visual standards, and other creative resources are organized, accessible, and current.

● Work with the Art Director and designers to document creative standards and best practices.

● Identify recurring questions, inconsistencies, or production issues that could be addressed through clearer guidelines or resources.

● Ensure internal and freelance designers have access to the information needed to execute work consistently and efficiently.

Process Improvement

● Regularly evaluate how creative requests enter, move through, and exit the Art team’s workflow.

● Establish and improve systems, processes, and tools to increase efficiency within the department and across departments.

● Identify unnecessary bottlenecks, duplicative work, unclear ownership, and inefficient handoffs.

● Recommend and implement improvements to project intake, briefing, scheduling, communication, and approval processes.

● Maintain and improve the team’s project management systems, including ClickUp or other workflow tools.

● Develop reporting tools that provide leadership with visibility into Art team capacity and performance.

● Establish scalable processes that allow the team to manage increased volume without adding unnecessary layers of management or approvals.

Success in This Role Looks Like

--- The Art team understands what needs to be done, who is responsible, and when work is due.

--- Account Managers have a realistic understanding of creative capacity and timelines.

--- Company priorities and client needs are appropriately reflected in the Art team’s schedule.

--- Changes in priority can be managed without creating unnecessary disruption to the team.

--- Freelancers can be brought into the workflow quickly when additional capacity is needed.

--- The Art team consistently delivers high-quality work while operating collaboratively and efficiently.

Qualifications

● 3–5 years of experience in creative operations, project management, studio management, traffic, production, or a similar role within a creative, entertainment, advertising, branding, retail, or design environment.

● Exceptional organizational and prioritization skills with the ability to manage multiple competing deadlines.

● Strong understanding of creative workflows and the different skill sets required across a design team.

● Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with Account Management, Creative, Operations, and senior leadership.

● Comfortable making decisions and recommendations when priorities conflict.

● Strong project management and resource planning skills.

● Experience managing freelancers, vendors, or external creative partners.

● Experience with project management tools such as ClickUp, Asana, Monday.com, or similar platforms.

● Strong financial and budget management instincts.

● Ability to work calmly and constructively in a fast-paced environment with evolving priorities.

● High level of discretion, judgment, accountability, and follow-through.

Core Competencies

·      Resourceful & Proactive: Anticipates problems and identifies solutions before they become bottlenecks.

·      Strategic Thinker: Understands how client relationships, company priorities, new business, deadlines, and creative capacity intersect.

·      Operationally Strong: Creates structure and improves processes without adding unnecessary bureaucracy.

·      Collaborative: Builds strong working relationships across departments and communicates clearly.

·      Decisive: Can make thoughtful resource and scheduling recommendations when priorities compete.

·      Creative-Literate: Understands the creative process and respects the expertise of designers and creative leadership without needing to be the creative decision-maker.

·      Calm Under Pressure: Can manage shifting priorities and competing demands while maintaining a steady approach.

·      Detail-Oriented: Maintains accurate information about projects, resources, budgets, deadlines, and deliverables.

Missing some of these requirements, but know that you’re the right fit? We encourage you to apply and tell us why.

The Araca Group is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation.