Senior Creative Operations Manager

£55,000-60,000 plus benefits

Reports to: Brand and Planning Lead

Directorate: Marketing, Fundraising & Engagement

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week

Location: Stratford, London

Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office)

Closing date: 7th June 2026 23:55

Please let us know if there is anything about the recruitment process that you would like to discuss, in particular if there are any changes or adjustments that would make it easier for you to apply. Please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible.

Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship.

Recruitment process: Competency based interview

Interview date: Week commencing 15th June

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer. We’re looking for a motivated Senior Creative Operations Manager to lead and evolve business operations for the In-house creative team, shaping efficient briefing, prioritisation and delivery models that enable high impact creative output. In this role you will be working in close partnership with cross organisational planning functions, the role will forecast, plan and report on business priorities.

This role is accountable for overseeing responsibilities of the Creative Operations team, including account management, resourcing, digital asset management and operations. Ensuring alignment to organisational needs.

In this position you will also champion excellence in creative operations across systems, processes and tools to drive efficiencies and optimisations to accelerate delivery transformation.

What will I be doing?

• Lead the creative operations team (account management, resource management, operations and digital asset management) to set clear direction, motivate direct reports and build capability to accelerate progress towards strategic goals.
• Partner with planning teams across the organisation to lead the internal creative planning cycle in order to forecast demand and optimise pipeline management.
• Connect support and planning functions with the creative team to align ways of working in order to enable high quality creative delivery that meets compliance standards.
• Direct account and resource management functions to embed best practice service models in order to strengthen partnerships with commissioning teams across the organisation.
• Oversee traffic management processes and resource planning to align creative skills with demand in order to consistently deliver high impact creative work.
• Design and evolve systems, processes and tools that underpin creative operations to enable smarter commissioning, resourcing and reporting in order to drive innovation and accelerate delivery transformation.
• Report on creative delivery performance and capacity to senior leadership to inform strategic decision making in order to right size capability for future business needs.
• Oversee the management of the digital asset management (DAM) system, and governance of digital assets together with key partnering teams to improve accessibility and reuse - maximising organisational efficiency and value.
• Manage the creative team budget to balance ambition with financial discipline, and achieve the highest standards of cost efficiency.

What are we looking for?

• Significant experience working within an in-house creative team or creative agency in a senior creative operations role, with a strong track record of collaborating with diverse stakeholders and building trusted relationships to deliver high quality service.
• Strong experience using traffic and production management systems, with the ability to assess workflows, deadlines and risk, and to make confident decisions that prioritise work and allocate resources effectively.
• Proven ability to rapidly understand a wide range of creative briefs by interpreting audience needs and communication objectives, and translating these insights into clear and scalable resource requirements.
• Demonstrable experience leading teams operationally through the implementation of processes, tools and standards, with a continuous innovation and improvement mindset focused on increasing efficiency and impact – including understanding and experience of AI, automation and scalable systems.
• Strong working knowledge of digital asset management systems, including a clear understanding of compliance requirements for usage rights and intellectual property permissions.
• Highly developed influencing and negotiation skills, with the confidence to work across teams and seniority levels to align priorities and deliver business outcomes.
• Strategic and future oriented thinker with experience in long term planning and a strong ability to translate strategy into effective operational delivery.
• Experience solving complex problems independently, making clear recommendations to leadership while empowering and supporting direct reports to develop the same capability.
• Sound experience in financial management including budget monitoring to support informed decision making.
• Demonstrable experience managing contracts and suppliers, including freelancers and software vendors.

Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do. Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination. Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism. Human: Act to have a positive impact on people. Together: Act inclusively and collaboratively.

We’re looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.

If you’re interested in applying and excited about working with us, but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience we’d still love to hear from you.

Eligibility criteria

• Internal candidates should ideally have completed their 6-month ‘getting started’ period before applying for other roles.
• You should also advise your current line manager at the point you make an internal application, or at the latest, at the point of being invited for an interview.
• All internal candidates applying for a secondment, must have:
• completed their getting started period
• discussed their intention to apply and gained approval to apply with their line manager
• been in their substantive (home) role for at least 6 months (this is only applicable if you have previously been on secondment)

If you do not confirm that you meet these requirements, we will not be able to progress your application.

For information about internal learning and development at Cancer Research UK please visit Fuse.

What will I gain?

We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals. You can explore our benefits by visiting our careers web page.

How do I apply?

We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. CVs are for all applications; but we won’t be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you fairly and objectively.

For more information on this career opportunity please visit our website or contact us at recruitment@cancer.org.uk.

For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in, the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented. We want to see every candidate performing at their best throughout the job application process, interview process and whilst at work. We therefore ask you to inform us of any concerns you have or any adjustments you might need to enable this to happen. Please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks.