Operations Manager

Building a Brand Starts with a Story

FIRST is a leading global brand experience agency providing Content Creative Digital Technology Management & Delivery and Data & Insights services. For 30 years we have utilized three flexible delivery models: Embedded teams Corporate Campus operations and a Full-Service Agency.

Managing over 37000 events & projects annually across 110 countries FIRST serves 130 brands specializing in Fortune 500 companies within the Financial Services Technology Healthcare Media and Professional Services sectors.

Consistently recognized for excellence recent honors include 2026 Chief Marketer Agency of the Year the Ad Net Zero Award for sustainability and more.

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What You Would Get To Do

The Operations Manager serves as a critical operational partner across accounts service lines and regions acting as a connective layer between delivery teams shared services and operational leadership. This role focuses on proactively removing operational friction standardizing and scaling processes and driving adoption of best practices to enable high-quality efficient and consistent service delivery. Working closely with delivery leaders and Shared Services partners (i.e. Finance Procurement People & Culture Technology) the Operations Manager supports service delivery execution operational governance and continuous improvement initiatives. The role contributes to process design documentation implementation and performance tracking while flexing across business priorities as needed. The Operations Manager may also serve as a subject matter expert (SME) for specific operational processes client portfolios regions or strategic initiatives providing expertise that supports decision making risk mitigation and business growth

Your Contributions

Operational Partnership & Alignment

• Serve as a key connection point between delivery teams Shared Services and Operations Leadership to proactively identify and resolve operational roadblocks
• Act as an operational partner to delivery teams promoting consistent processes tools and ways of working across accounts regions and service lines
• Facilitate clear timely communication of operational updates changes and priorities to ensure alignment and awareness
• Participate in global operations meetings contributing insights recommendations and solutions to operational challenges
• Highlight operational risks dependencies and gaps and support remediation planning
• Support new business activity as needed including RFP responses proposals renewals pitch materials and executive presentations

Process Policy & Continuous Improvement

• Lead and support the design documentation rollout and ongoing maintenance of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) workflows playbooks and trackers
• Ensure SOPs and operational resources are current accessible audited and aligned to global standards with regional or account nuances documented as required
• Support service delivery model evolution process reengineering and operational innovation initiatives
• Drive adoption of global strategic initiatives tools and frameworks
• Support the development tracking and reporting of key performance delivery and quality metrics
• Contribute to training and enablement related to new processes systems and operational improvements

Project & Initiative Support

• Manage or support prioritized operational projects tied to strategic initiatives system implementations or account changes
• Provide project planning coordination and tracking support as required
• Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to ensure effective execution and change management.

Financial Vendor & Tool Operations

• Partner with Finance and Procurement to support supplier onboarding contracting compliance invoicing reconciliation and issue resolution
• Oversee or support vendor management processes and related tools ensuring documentation accuracy and process adherence
• Support invoicing billing budget tracking and financial reporting including monitoring billable and non-billable expenses
• Assist with auditing expenses trackers and invoices to support financial accuracy and profitability
• Maintain operational tools and repositories (e.g. SharePoint or similar platforms) to ensure data integrity transparency and accessibility

Talent Onboarding & Resource Support

• Partner with People & Culture / Talent Acquisition to support recruitment coordination and serve as an operational point of contact as needed
• Manage or support employee and freelancer onboarding and offboarding processes including systems access tools and required documentation
• Ensure consistent onboarding experiences across teams accounts and regions

What We Are Looking For

Please be aware that we know experience does not always look like we describe it. If you believe you would be an excellent fit for this role please apply - we would love to see how you could fit at FIRST.

• Position requires 5-7 years of experience
• Strong understanding of service line or account-based operations
• Including delivery workflows vendor management and cross-functional dependencies.
• Demonstrated financial acumen with experience supporting invoicing billing expense management budget tracking and profitability controls.
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously in a fast-paced deadline-driven and highly matrixed environment.
• Highly organized detail-oriented and disciplined in managing administrative operational and reporting tasks.
• Proficiency in project and task management including planning tracking and supporting delivery of operational initiatives and ad hoc requests.
• Experience implementing maintaining and governing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) process workflows and operational documentation.
• Advanced proficiency with Google Workspace and Microsoft Office including Excel
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to convey information clearly concisely and engagingly to diverse audiences.
• Skilled in communicating with cross-functional stakeholders and cascading key updates to ensure alignment and awareness.
• Ability to work effectively both independently and collaboratively within global cross-functional teams across regions and time zones.
• Solutions-oriented proactive and resourceful with strong problem-solving skills and a continuous improvement mindset.
• Professional discretion and sound judgment when handling sensitive or confidential information.
• Strong relationship-building skills fostering trust collaboration and effective knowledge sharing across teams.
• Comfortable supporting presentation development executive materials and operational reporting.
• Global mindset with adaptability to different cultures working styles and team dynamics.
• Demonstrated accountability for personal work environment productivity and adherence to organizational policies and standards.
• Proactively contributes to achieving organizational goals and supports broader business priorities as required.

At FIRST we believe that the passion creativity and commitment of our teams drive our success. Thats why we offer a range of benefits and perks to support your personal and professional growth

• Private Medical Insurance with BUPA from day one
• 28 Days Annual Leave PLUS Bank Holidays
• Personal Volunteer Day
• 20 Days of Sick Pay each Year
• Enhanced Parental Leave (Maternity & Paternity)
• Wellness Stipend
• Complimentary access to Headspace Rocket Lawyer & Maven
• Life Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Season Ticket Loan
• Mobile Phone Allowance
• Pension Scheme Enhancements
• Discretionary Bonus Structure
• Global Opportunities: With a presence in 7 countries worldwide including headquarters in London New York and Singapore you may have the opportunity to work on exciting projects across different locations.

#LI-Hybrid #LI-MV1

FIRST is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. FIRST is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are based on business needs job requirements and individual qualifications without regard to race color religion or belief national social or ethnic origin sex (including pregnancy) age physical mental or sensory disability sexual orientation gender identity and/or expression marital civil union or domestic partnership status past or present military service family medical history or genetic information family or parental status or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. We stand firm: FIRST will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. If any candidate feels that they are unable to meet the requirements of the role please get in touch to discuss adjustments or other suitable roles.