Senior Team Design Manager

SPCSHP is an Agency of Progress, applying intelligence, creativity, and craft to help clients understand themselves, their customers, and the larger culture. Regardless of the size of the organization or where they are on their journey, they all must move forward. For some, this requires incremental change. For others, transformation. SPCSHP is designed to build brands the way people experience them – where Stories, Systems, and Communities meet. Our client relationships span different industries and brand life stages: from start-ups like Lightricks to established Fortune 500 companies like JPMorgan Chase, Dairy Queen, PepsiCo, and Starbucks, among others.

SPCSHP is looking for a Senior Team Design Manager who will be the strategic architect of our agency's talent and capacity. As the sole resource manager at our agency, this role goes beyond traditional resource management to serve as a critical business partner to senior leadership, combining strategic workforce planning with hands-on operational excellence. The ideal candidate will bring both the analytical rigor to forecast and optimize utilization across the agency and the relationship skills to build and manage a robust network of freelance talent that scales with our clients' needs.

Roles + Responsibilities:

Strategic Resource Planning & Operations

• Oversee agency-wide resource allocation and capacity planning across all departments and client accounts
• Develop and maintain sophisticated staffing models that balance utilization targets, project needs, and crew development
• Partner with senior leadership to forecast resource needs based on pipeline revenue, new business opportunities, and account growth trajectories
• Assess holistic team structure against business needs and identify talent gaps based on level, skill, and expertise
• Lead conversations with stakeholders on recommendations for team growth and development, including building business cases for new full-time hires
• Identify and communicate anticipated capacity scenarios, including strategic solutions for predicted availability and/or overcapacity situations

Data Analytics & Reporting

• Extract, analyze, and synthesize utilization data from resource management systems to provide actionable insights to senior leadership
• Create comprehensive reports and dashboards that track key metrics, including billable utilization, bench time, project profitability, and resource burndown
• Present monthly and quarterly resource performance reviews to leadership with strategic recommendations
• Maintain strict confidentiality when handling sensitive utilization data, compensation information, and performance metrics

Freelance Network Management

• Build, cultivate, and maintain an extensive network of vetted freelance talent across all disciplines
• Lead freelance negotiations, including rate discussions, project scoping, and contract terms that balance quality, budget, and agency margins
• Draft and execute freelance contracts and statements of work that protect agency interests while maintaining positive vendor relationships
• Manage freelancer onboarding, compliance documentation, and ongoing relationship management
• Proactively gather inputs to drive hiring conversations with discipline leads, with ongoing assessment of prioritization based on business needs, network capacity, and freelance trends

Contract Administration & Vendor Management

• Draft, review, and finalize resource-related contracts, including freelance agreements, vendor MSAs, and staffing partnerships
• Ensure all contracts comply with legal requirements, insurance mandates, and agency policies
• Maintain organized contract repositories and renewal schedules

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Project Management, Finance, and Discipline Leads to align resource plans with project timelines and budgets
• Serve as the primary liaison between operations and creative/strategy/production teams for all staffing matters

Confidentiality & Discretion

• Handle highly sensitive information, including salary data, performance reviews, staffing decisions, and personnel matters, with absolute discretion
• Navigate delicate staffing situations with diplomacy and professionalism, managing difficult situations with composure
• Foster psychological safety while promoting cross-functional collaboration built on trust

Process Optimization

• Continuously improve resource management processes, tools, and workflows to increase efficiency and accuracy
• Champion adoption of resource management platforms and drive utilization of system capabilities
• Stay ahead of industry trends, tools, and emerging technologies in resource management and workforce planning

• 5-7 years of resource management experience within a creative agency environment, with demonstrated progression to senior-level responsibilities
• Expert proficiency in resource management tools 
• Advanced Excel and Google Sheets skills, including complex formulas, pivot tables, data visualization, and reporting
• Demonstrated expertise in pulling, analyzing, and presenting utilization data and resource performance metrics to leadership
• Strong contract writing and negotiation experience, with the ability to draft clear, protective agreements
• Established network of freelance talent across disciplines, or proven ability to rapidly build such a network
• Strong knowledge of agency business offerings and understanding of the capabilities that projects need for success
• Exceptional attention to detail with the ability to manage multiple complex workstreams simultaneously
• Strategic thinking capabilities with strong business acumen and understanding of agency P&L dynamics
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, comfortable interfacing with leadership
• Proven ability to handle confidential and sensitive information with the highest level of discretion and professionalism
• Demonstrated emotional resilience and ability to lead with empathy, maintaining motivation during setbacks
• Ability to foster psychological safety and promote cross-functional collaboration built on trust
• Demonstrates curiosity about the industry by actively seeking out and sharing insights from external learnings
• Collaborative mindset with proven ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders without direct authority
• Self-starter who thrives in an independent role, comfortable being the sole resource management expert and serving as the go-to authority on all staffing matters

The salary band for this role is $90,000 - $105,000 Where a prospective new hire's base salary will fall within this band depends on several factors including their qualifications and experience, the skill level required in the role, market rates, and the salaries of existing crew members at SPCSHP within the same role to maintain equity.