Creative Operations Director in London

Williams Lea are seeking a Creative Operations Director to join our team! Williams Lea is a global provider of technology-enabled business and marketing services, bringing together talented people, deep industry expertise and emerging technology to help some of the world's leading organisations work smarter and transform the way they operate. Our people are at the heart of what we do. Working alongside innovative technology, including AI, our teams deliver critical services for clients around the world. Built on a strong heritage and long-standing client relationships, we are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone has the opportunity to grow, contribute new ideas and make a meaningful impact.

The Creative Operations Director is responsible for leading the delivery of integrated creative services, ensuring operational excellence, and aligning creative output with client objectives and business strategy. Working closely with the Global Creative Director, the role combines strategic leadership, client partnership, and operational oversight to drive high-quality delivery, optimise service models, implement continuous improvement initiatives, and support the growth and development of the team. The successful candidate will bring a strong creative background across disciplines such as design, motion graphics, and film, together with proven experience in leadership, project delivery, stakeholder management, and client engagement. They will play a key role in shaping service delivery, fostering innovation and best practice, and ensuring Williams Lea continues to provide a world-class service that supports client growth and evolving business needs.

Key Responsibilities

• Gather and analyse client feedback to inform creative process improvements
• Partner with client leads to identify growth opportunities and improve delivery
• Responsible for strategic operational planning across the account
• Identify new services and manage those from sale through to implementation and management
• Implement tools and systems to improve team efficiency, quality and visibility
• Responsible for Operational Excellence and client satisfaction
• Oversee the creative workflow highlighting potential risks to the client
• Analyses data and reports that give insight into how to adjust to improve the service
• Proven experience in growing services and identifying new ones
• Track Williams Lea and client budgets and POs across all creative projects
• Work on month-end activities and invoicing
• Responsible for contractual governance

Personal attributes

• Strategic thinker with the ability to balance long-term vision and operational priorities
• Personable and approachable, maintaining a positive, professional presence and highly engaged communication style
• Strong listener with a naturally inquisitive mindset, able to probe beyond surface-level information, challenge assumptions, and seek clarity when needed
• Confident communicator who is comfortable leading discussions, influencing stakeholders, and driving outcomes
• Inspirational people leader, capable of motivating and guiding teams through demanding and fast-paced periods while upholding Williams Lea's values and culture

Key Competencies

• Proven project management and delivery skills
• Fluency across the marketing ops stack - creative production and campaign delivery
• Quality communication at all levels
• Client Focus
• Leading the Team
• Planning and Organising
• Delivering against strategic objectives

Essential Skills

• Experienced Creative Account Manager ready for next step into a demanding role
• Pragmatic adopter and approach to AI
• Capable of developing and implementing strategic objectives
• Strong commercial awareness, ability to plan and negotiate
• Detail-oriented outlook
• Self-motivated, able to work autonomously
• Understands Williams Lea company values and business objectives and is able to deliver against them
• Able to manage, motivate and develop a diverse team

Rewards and Benefits

We believe in supporting our employees in both their professional and personal lives. As part of our commitment to your well-being, we offer a comprehensive benefits package, including but not limited to: 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays (pro-rata for part-time roles), salary sacrifice schemes, retail vouchers, life assurance, private medical insurance, dental insurance, health assessments, cycle-to-work scheme, and discounted gym memberships.

You will also have the opportunity to work for a global employer who is dedicated to offering each and every employee an enjoyable, challenging and rewarding career with future career development prospects!

Equality and Diversity

The Company values the differences that a diverse workforce brings to the organisation and will not discriminate because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. It will not discriminate because of any other irrelevant factor and will build a culture that values openness, fairness and transparency.

If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format or would like to make a reasonable adjustment to enable you to make an interview please contact us.

Longevity driven by innovation

In a rapidly changing world, the ability to innovate and break new ground drives progress. Williams Lea has harnessed this ability for more than 200 years. Our 5,200+ talented employees worldwide are experts in delivering efficient business processes in complex and highly regulated environments. We’re always progressing, connecting technology with expertise and strong processes to transform support services.