Studio Project Director in London

The Global Growth Studio sits at the heart of dentsu’s growth agenda, partnering with pitch teams, client leaders and markets to create stand-out creative solutions that win new business, strengthen client relationships and elevate the dentsu brand globally.

As demand for strategic creative support grows, the studio needs a highly organised, commercially aware Studio Manager to lead day-to-day operations and act as second-in-command to the Creative Studio Lead. The role turns studio priorities into clear plans, efficient workflows and high-quality delivery.

Working within dentsu’s London HQ and supporting a globally connected team, the Studio Project Director manages the flow of creative work through the Global Growth Creative Studio, ensuring briefs are captured, prioritised, allocated and delivered with clarity and pace. As the studio’s operational heartbeat and trusted deputy, you will maintain visibility across requests, timelines, capacity, risks and budgets so the right people stay focused on the right work. This role requires autonomy, judgement and the ability to manage complexity, influence stakeholders, guide contributors and make sound operational decisions across multiple workstreams.

Responsibilities

• Manage studio workflow, ensuring briefs, requests and updates are captured, prioritised and progressed.
• Act as first point of escalation for workflow pressures, project risks, resourcing challenges and budget queries.
• Coordinate allocation of work across designers, motion creatives, freelancers and studio contributors.
• Maintain trackers, schedules and status updates to give clear visibility of workload, deadlines, capacity and budgets.
• Act as second-in-command to the Creative Studio Lead, providing operational leadership and continuity across day-to-day activity.
• Support planning, prioritisation, resourcing, budget control, stakeholder updates and delivery governance.
• Recommend priorities and manage trade-offs across risk, capacity, budget and delivery.
• Translate briefs into clear project plans, timelines, milestones, task lists and approval routes.
• Track progress against plans, flagging risks, blockers, changing priorities and capacity pressures early.
• Manage freelance and supplier support when demand exceeds internal capacity.
• Track project costs, freelance spend and production budgets, including year-on-year review, forecasting and escalation where needed.
• Provide hands-on PowerPoint support, including slide layout, formatting, visual consistency and presentation polish.
• Support designers with day-to-day design tasks such as asset sourcing, resizing, basic artwork updates, document formatting and visual clean-up.
• Help prepare pitch and stakeholder materials, ensuring decks are accurate, well-structured and visually aligned to brand standards.
• Serve as a reliable point of contact for studio requests, project updates, timelines and delivery expectations.
• Keep stakeholders informed on project progress, priorities, risks and changes to timings or scope.
• Build strong relationships with Growth, Client Leadership, Markets and creative teams to support smooth collaboration.
• Help develop simple, scalable studio processes that improve briefing, planning, prioritisation and delivery.
• Standardise project documentation, briefing templates, trackers and status reporting.
• Identify opportunities to improve workflow visibility, team communication and creative efficiency.
• Take ownership while contributing to a positive, collaborative and high-performing studio culture.

Skills & Experience

• 5+ years’ experience in studio, project, traffic, creative services, design operations or production management.
• Highly organised, with the ability to manage multiple briefs, deadlines, stakeholders and moving parts.
• Strong operational judgement, with the ability to prioritise, escalate, make recommendations and keep work moving under pressure.
• Confident creating timelines, status updates, project trackers, task lists and workflow documentation.
• Able to manage budgets, track costs and maintain financial control across projects, freelancers and studio activity.
• Strong PowerPoint skills, with the ability to design, format and polish presentation decks to a high standard.
• Strong working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite, with Premiere Pro experience beneficial for supporting creative production and presentation delivery.
• Confident adopting AI tools and emerging technologies to improve efficiency, streamline workflows and enhance studio delivery.
• Proven experience with project management or workflow platforms such as Monday.com, Asana, Workfront, Smartsheet or similar is beneficial.
• Proactive, accountable team player who helps build a positive, high-performing studio culture.

What Success Looks Like

The Studio Project Director is recognised as the operational second-in-command to the Creative Studio Lead. Projects, resources and budgets are clearly planned, tracked and delivered from brief to final output. Risks, blockers and capacity challenges are flagged early and managed proactively. The Creative Studio Lead is supported with reliable operational insight, enabling stronger strategic focus and decision-making.

Working With Us

You will work with designers, strategists, consultants and business leaders on dentsu’s strategic growth opportunities, helping keep the studio organised while contributing to pitch decks, presentations and creative materials.

DEI Statement

At Dentsu, we embrace diversity and inclusion, valuing the unique perspectives and contributions of every individual. We believe that diversity fuels creativity and innovation, benefiting our employees, partners, and communities. We welcome applications from all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic. Beyond recruitment, we strive to create an environment where everyone feels respected, supported, and empowered to bring their authentic selves to work. We recognise the importance of work-life balance and are open to discussing flexible working arrangements for all roles.