Director, Resource Management & Creative Operations

Job Description

Visa’s Creative Studio is building a world-class, in-house creative model that delivers brand and business-driving work at speed and scale across Visa Global, North America, and Marketing Services. The Director of Resourcing & Creative Operations owns the operational backbone of the studio—resourcing, workflow, tools, and financial governance—ensuring we deliver consistently high-quality creative with clarity, discipline, and measurable performance.

A core mandate of this role is to unify a single operating model across all Visa creative services, aligning processes, standards, tooling, reporting, and ways of working across Global, North America, and Marketing Services. This leader will create consistency end-to-end, reduce friction, and enable a scalable, transparent, and efficient studio ecosystem.

This role will serve as the primary operational and resourcing partner to Marketing Services (North America)—especially for Project Intake—providing resource solutions, estimates, and delivery confidence before contracts are finalized. Success requires strong cross-functional influence, meticulous financial rigor, and the ability to build structure in a matrixed, fast-moving environment.

Key responsibilities:

Resourcing strategy, allocation, and capacity planning:

• Own end-to-end resource allocation across the Creative Studio portfolio, ensuring the right talent is staffed to the right work at the right time.
• Build and maintain a resourcing engine that includes capacity planning, utilization tracking, forecasting, and scenario modeling (e.g., demand spikes, priority shifts, vendor augmentation needs).
• Establish team structures per remit (e.g., brand campaigns, social, integrated, performance, production, regional requests), with clear roles, responsibilities, and coverage models.
• Implement a consistent intake-to-staffing workflow - brief requirements, skill mapping, staffing decisions, and documented approvals.
• Drive prioritization governance across stakeholders—balancing impact, urgency, and capacity—and lead escalation when constraints arise.

Unified operating model and studio governance:

• Design, implement, and continuously improve a single operating model that scales across Global, North America, and Marketing Services creative services.
• Define and socialize service delivery standards, workflow stages, handoffs, RACI/decision rights, and operating rhythms (WBR/MBR, staffing reviews, intake councils, etc.).
• Ensure consistent governance across all workstreams, including intake, estimating, approvals, vendor engagement, and delivery reporting.

Studio operating manual, standard forms, and documentation:

• Develop and own the Creative Studio Operating Manual, covering - intake, briefing, resourcing, timelines, production pathways, approvals, delivery, QA, archiving, and post-mortems.
• Create and maintain standard forms and formats that improve consistency and speed (brief templates, estimate templates, status reports, kickoff notes, creative review docs, change requests, retrospectives).
• Lead change management and training to cascade adoption across the organization, ensuring teams and stakeholders follow a consistent approach.

Tools implementation and workflow optimization:

• Lead implementation and ongoing optimization of creative operations tools (e.g., project/work management, intake systems, DAM, time tracking, reporting dashboards).
• Define tool governance - access, data standards, naming conventions, automation rules, reporting requirements, and best practices.
• Partner with Creative, Production, IT, and Security to ensure tools support speed, transparency, and compliance.

AI implementation and operational enablement:

• Identify high-impact opportunities to implement AI across creative operations and workflows (e.g., resourcing insights, briefing quality, versioning, production efficiency, knowledge management).
• Establish practical guardrails, training, and measurement frameworks to drive safe adoption and track productivity/quality gains.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to ensure AI practices align with Visa policies and brand standards.

Pricing model, cost-per-asset, and estimating discipline:

• Build and own the studio pricing model and cost-per-asset framework, enabling consistent, repeatable, and transparent estimates.
• Define estimation standards and assumptions (complexity tiers, revision rounds, production pathways, rush fees, external vendor pass-throughs as applicable).
• Provide leadership on scope clarity and change control—ensuring projects remain aligned to estimates and stakeholders understand trade-offs.

Timesheet management and portfolio financial rigor:

• Own timesheet management standards and compliance—ensuring accurate time capture, consistent allocation, and reliable reporting across teams.
• Lead meticulous financial tracking across all projects, including burn, forecasts, accruals, variances, and portfolio rollups.
• Produce clear, executive-ready financial reporting that supports planning, decision-making, and stakeholder trust.

Financial services, PO raising, and operational controls:

• Oversee operational workflows tied to PO raising and financial services, partnering with Procurement and Finance to ensure policy compliance, accuracy, and speed.
• Help ensure vendor onboarding, invoicing readiness, and correct cost coding for reporting and audit requirements.
• Establish operating controls and documentation to reduce risk and increase transparency.

Agency and production partner ecosystem support:

• Support development of the studio’s roster of agencies, production partners, and specialist vendors—including engagement models, rate structures, performance scorecards, and governance.
• Help define when to use internal vs. external resources, and establish scalable pathways for augmentation.
• Maintain operational standards for partner briefs, estimates, timelines, and delivery expectations.

Primary partner to Marketing Services NA (Project Intake):

• Serve as the main contact point for the Marketing Services team (North America) for Project Intake and resourcing solutions.
• Provide resourcing plans, staffing scenarios, and estimate inputs before any contract is closed, ensuring feasibility and accurate cost representation.
• Partner with cross-functional stakeholders (Creative Leadership, Finance, Procurement, Legal) to support contract readiness and delivery confidence.

Studio leadership support and “back office” build:

• Act as the primary operational partner to the Senior Managing Director, helping build and scale the back-office operations of the in-house model across Visa Global, North America, and Marketing Services.
• Lead and mentor ops/resourcing team members (where applicable), setting standards for rigor, service, and continuous improvement.
• Serve as a culture carrier for operational excellence -  calm under pressure, proactive communication, strong follow-through.
• Core competencies
• Resource allocation & capacity strategy
• Operating model design & change management
• Financial rigor and estimating discipline
• Tool implementation & workflow optimization
• AI enablement with governance
• Cross-functional leadership & stakeholder management
• Operational excellence mindset (speed + quality + transparency)
• What success looks like (first 6–12 months)
• A unified, adopted operating model across Global, North America, and Marketing Services, with clear governance and consistent execution.
• Reliable resourcing planning that improves utilization, reduces bottlenecks, and increases on-time delivery.
• A functioning pricing/cost-per-asset framework that speeds estimating and improves cost transparency.
• Strong timesheet compliance and real-time visibility into project and portfolio financials.
• Executive dashboards for OKRs and financial goals with actionable insights.
• A strengthened partner ecosystem (agencies/production) with clear engagement standards and measurable performance. 

This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in office will be confirmed by your hiring manager.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

• 10 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 8 years of work experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters/ MBA/JD/MD) or at least 3 years of work experience with a PhD

Preferred Qualifications:

• 12 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or 8-10 years of experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 6+ years of work experience with a PhD
• 10+ years of experience in creative operations, resourcing, studio/agency operations or in-house operations (experience understanding and working with full integrated campaign development and creative disciplines are mandatory)
• Proven experience resourcing teams and talent allocation (FTEs or Contractors) for creative development and execution across all types of work, end to end capabilities
• Proven experience building resourcing models, capacity planning, and operational systems in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment.
• Strong financial acumen - estimating, budgeting, forecasting, variance management, and executive reporting.
• Experience implementing and governing workflow tools (work management, time tracking, intake, reporting).
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive adoption of standardized ways of working.
• Experience operating within an in-house agency/creative studio inside a large enterprise.
• Familiarity with Procurement/Finance workflows (POs, vendor onboarding coordination, invoice readiness) and internal controls.
• Practical experience implementing AI into workflows with governance, enablement, and measurable impact.

Additional Information

Work Hours: Varies upon the needs of the department.

Travel Requirements: This position requires travel 5-10% of the time.

Mental/Physical Requirements: This position will be performed in an office setting.  The position will require the incumbent to sit and stand at a desk, communicate in person and by telephone, frequently operate standard office equipment, such as telephones and computers.

Visa is an EEO Employer.  Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status.  Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.

Visa will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable local law, including the requirements of Article 49 of the San Francisco Police Code.

U.S. APPLICANTS ONLY: The estimated salary range for this position is 178,300.00 to 285,600.00 USD per year, which may include potential sales incentive payments (if applicable). Salary may vary depending on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this position may be eligible for bonus and equity. Visa has a comprehensive benefits package for which this position may be eligible that includes Medical, Dental, Vision, 401 (k), FSA/HSA, Life Insurance, Paid Time Off, and Wellness Program.