Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. HOKA, a Deckers Brands company, is seeking a Senior Manager, Creative Operations to lead the operational infrastructure supporting its global creative marketing engine. The role will oversee creative planning, workflows, capacity management, reporting, agency and freelancer operations, and the Creative Project Management team while partnering with global and regional brand stakeholders.
Responsibilities
- Own and evolve the Creative PM operating model—including capacity planning, workload management, prioritization frameworks, intake processes, creative resourcing models, workflow SOPs, and the tools and systems (e.g., Asana, monday.com, Airtable) that enable visibility, alignment, and effective delivery across the creative & marketing organization
- Build and maintain end-to-end campaign workflows ensuring timelines are grounded in reality, handoffs are clean, and all cross-functional partners have a shared understanding of process, roles, and what 'done' looks like
- Establish and optimize review and approval processes that reduce friction, create early creative alignment, and protect the team's ability to deliver quality work on schedule
- Directly manage the Creative Project Management sub-team—developing talent, maintaining strong team culture, and ensuring delivery excellence
- Mentor and develop the Creative PM team's project management capabilities, operational thinking, stakeholder management, and ability to influence cross-functional partners
- Partner with the Director, Global PM on headcount planning, onboarding, and the ongoing evolution of the Creative PM team's structure as the business scales
- Partner with Marketing and Brand teams to ensure campaign strategies and business goals translate into clear, actionable creative briefs that reflect team capacity, delivery requirements, and creative standards
- Serve as the operational bridge between regional and global creative workstreams, ensuring market-specific adaptations align with global brand standards and process
- Drive weekly and bi-weekly creative cadence meetings, ensuring the right people are aligned, blockers are surfaced early, and decisions are made at the right level
- Manage end-to-end creative freelancer and contractor operations—including talent sourcing coordination, interview processes, contract execution (direct and agency-supported), and budget tracking—to ensure timely onboarding, resource continuity, and spend within plan
- Deliver consistent and regular reporting on creative operations KPIs, resource utilization, workstream timelines, delivery health, and risks; proactively surfacing insights, recommendations, and options to support decision-making by the Director of Global PM and senior marketing leadership
- Manage day-to-day coordination with creative agency and vendor partners—ensuring process accountability, clear SOWs, and on-time delivery within agreed scope
- Maintain the creative operations 'source of truth'—ensuring that brand systems, design standards, and creative toolkits are operationalized consistently across all workstreams and asset outputs
- Build frameworks and playbooks that enable cross-functional teams to effectively engage with Creative while ensuring quality and craft standards are upheld across HOKA's full annual asset volume
- Own the operational governance and continuous improvement of creative systems—including digital asset management—to ensure creative assets, templates, and brand resources are organized, accessible, and effectively utilized across global and regional teams; driving adoption, maintaining consistency, and enabling a scalable global creative organization
Skills
- Interested applicants must reside in one of the following approved states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Advertising, or related field
- 7+ years in creative operations, project management, or marketing operations within a consumer brand (footwear/apparel/sportswear preferred)
- Strong brand experience operating effectively in complex, matrixed, global organizations
- Experience building and scaling creative operations systems—including infrastructure, workflows, governance models, and tools to enable team growth and operational maturity
- 3+ years of direct people management experience leading a project management or creative operations team
- Proven track record managing internal creative studios and external agency/vendor partnerships within a global brand environment
- Demonstrated ability to translate business strategy into actionable creative briefs, operational plans, and executable workflows
- Experience defining operational KPIs, establishing reporting cadences, and using insights to drive decision-making and continuous improvement
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to influence, educate, and gain alignment across cross-functional stakeholders
- Ability to lead through influence without authority—building trust through credibility, clarity, and calm problem-solving
- Creative empathy and understanding of the rhythm, culture, and ways of working within creative teams
- Strong team leadership skills, inspiring learning, collaboration, and operational excellence among team members
- Strong understanding of creative development, campaign workflows, design processes, and production lifecycles
- Ability to translate strategic objectives into clear creative briefs, project plans, and execution frameworks
- Strong data and reporting discipline, with the ability to define KPIs, establish reporting rhythms, and communicate insights to leadership
- Ability to exercise independent judgment, prioritize competing needs, and make thoughtful operational decisions
- Strong attention to detail, adaptability, and ability to manage ambiguity throughout the project lifecycle
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, global environment
- Proficiency with project management tools including Asana, monday.com, and Airtable (required)
- Ability to travel domestically
- PMP certification a plus
- Background in campaign development, content creation, or brand marketing ops strongly preferred
- Experience with DAM systems preferred
Benefits
- Bonuses
- Financial planning and wellbeing plans to protect income, pay for expenses and invest in the future
- Time-away-from-work plans to support family time, health, and recharging
- Generous discounts
- Community-based programs
- Extensive opportunities and support for personal and professional development
- Comprehensive health and wellness programs and offerings
Company Overview