Operations&Program Delivery Lead– (Hybrid – Cape Town)

ENVIRONMENT Our client is a leading social-first agency that connects brands with influential creators to produce culturally relevant, performance-driven campaigns. The agency is scaling into its next phase of growth and is investing in the operational backbone and program-management discipline required to deliver premium work, repeatably, profitably, and at pace. This role exists at a growth inflection where operational decisions and project delivery are deeply interdependent. The environment is hybrid, collaborative, and innovation-forward, embracing AI and automation as force-multipliers. The person in this role operates across NY and LA, serving as the operational bridge across all departments.

DUTIES

Lead planning, execution, and delivery of major agency-wide initiatives.

Build detailed project roadmaps with clear owners and decision gates.

Proactively identify risks and implement mitigation plans.

Drive stand-ups, steering committees, and retrospectives.

Define and enforce project management methodology standards across the agency.

Own the selection and optimization of internal tools and tech stack.

Continuously refine the A-to-Z Process Playbook.

Eliminate bottlenecks to increase output without proportional headcount.

Maintain real-time team bandwidth visibility across all accounts.

Resolve resourcing conflicts, balancing strategic versus immediate needs.

Refine influencer pricing models and the deliverables calculator.

Monitor project budgets, gross margins, and P&L data.

Enforce budget adherence and flag variances early.

Keep the deliverables calculator aligned with market conditions.

Manage the end-to-end legal workflow: SOWs, reviews, redlines, scope changes.

Ensure compliance with FTC regulations and AI content standards.

Serve as operational point of contact with outside counsel.

Lead operationalization of AI agents across high-frequency workflows.

Measure and report on time and cost savings from AI integrations.

Continuously identify new automation opportunities.

Serve as the operational bridge across all departments.

Act as objective decision-maker for shared resource conflicts.

Contribute an operations-first perspective to leadership discussions.

REQUIREMENTS

7+ years in operations management, project/program management within an agency or marketing services environment.

Demonstrated track record of leading complex, multi-stakeholder programs from planning through delivery.

Strong financial acumen— comfortable with P&L statements, margin analysis, and budget management.

Experience managing SOW/contract workflows and familiarity with FTC advertising compliance.

Proven ability to manage cross-functional teams without direct reporting authority.

Proficiency with modern project management tools (Asana, com, Notion, Smartsheet).

Strong command of both Agile and Waterfall delivery methodologies.

Preferred: Strong operational experience in a high-stakes environment with excellent project management capabilities driving a premium team to achieve operational objectives.

Preferred: Hands-on experience evaluating, deploying, or managing AI/automation tools in an operational context.

Preferred: PMP, PgMP, or equivalent project management certification.

Preferred: Experience with capacity planning software or resource management platforms.

Preferred: Background working in a high-growth, founder-led or private-equity-backed agency environment.

ATTRIBUTES

Operational Rigor:

Builds systems that run without daily intervention; obsessive about documentation, repeatability, and continuous improvement.

Program Delivery:

Consistently delivers complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives on time and within budget— even when scope shifts mid-flight.

Financial Acumen:

Naturally thinks in margins, utilization, and ROI; translates P&L data into actionable operational decisions.

Cross-Functional Influence:

Earns trust across departments without positional authority; resolves conflict through clarity, not escalation.

Tech&AI Fluency:

Comfortable evaluating, adopting, and operationalizing new tools and AI workflows at speed.

Bias to Action:

Defaults to“solve it now” over “schedule a meeting about it.”

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