Design Studio Manager

We are looking for an organised proactive and commercially minded Design Studio Manager to oversee the day-to-day operations of our design studio.

This role is responsible for managing workflow scheduling and resource allocation across Design Edit and Motion teams ensuring projects are delivered efficiently on time and to a high creative standard. The Design Studio Manager will play a central role in balancing team capacity maintaining operational efficiency supporting project profitability and enabling a positive and collaborative studio culture.

Working closely with Design & Edit Leadership Client Service and the wider Anthesis teams this role will act as the operational heartbeat of the studio ensuring work is planned efficiently deadlines are achievable and teams are set up for success

Studio Resource & Workflow Management
Own and manage day-to-day resourcing across Design Edit and Motion departments.
Allocate projects based on skills availability development opportunities and project requirements.
Maintain accurate short medium and long-term resource plans across all studio teams.
Lead daily or weekly studio traffic and resource meetings.
Manage project scheduling timelines and workload distribution to support high-quality creative output.
Identify and resolve resource conflicts bottlenecks and scheduling risks proactively.

Capacity Planning & Forecasting
Build and maintain accurate capacity forecasts across all studio disciplines.
Work closely with Client Service and the wider Anthesis team to forecast upcoming work and resource demand.
Support effective prioritisation of projects and changing business needs. Anticipate future hiring and freelance requirements based on pipeline and business growth.

Stakeholder & Team Collaboration
Act as a key operational partner to Heads of Department.
Build strong relationships across departments to ensure smooth collaboration and delivery.
Support a positive solutions-focused studio culture with clear communication and fair workload management.
Escalate risks delivery challenges or resourcing concerns proactively.

Commercial Performance & Reporting
Monitor and improve studio utilisation chargeability and operational efficiency.
Support profitable project delivery by tracking allocated hours against budgets and timelines.
Partner with Finance and Client Services teams to monitor project profitability and resource performance.
Produce regular reporting on utilisation capacity freelance spend recoverability and workflow trends.
Help ensure projects are scoped realistically and resourced appropriately.

Freelance & External Resource Management
Manage the sourcing onboarding allocation and offboarding of freelance across Design Edit and Motion teams.
Maintain accurate records of freelance bookings costs contracts and performance
Ensure freelance support is aligned with budgets timelines and profitability targets
Ensure freelancers are effectively integrated into project teams and workflows.
Build and maintain a strong network of trusted freelance partners and specialist contractors.

Studio Operations & Process Improvement
Continuously improve studio workflows processes and ways of working.
Champion best practice in planning resource management and timesheet accuracy.
Drive consistency transparency and operational discipline across the studio.
Help create efficient processes that enable creatives to focus on high-quality work.

Experience in Resource Management and/or Studio Management Traffic Management or Creative Operations within a creative design content or integrated agency environment.
Proven experience managing workflows across Design Edit & Motion teams.
Strong understanding of studio operations creative production workflows and agency commercials.
Experience managing utilisation chargeability forecasting and project profitability.
Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
Strong organisational skills with exceptional attention to detail and accuracy.
Ability to manage multiple fast-moving priorities in a deadline-driven environment.
Commercially minded with strong analytical and problem-solving skills.