Design Operations Manager

Design Operations Manager

Design operations managers support companies who make digital products to connect with customers and streamline processes. They work with design team members on several projects simultaneously and manage designers and developers.


What they love about their jobs

Creative professionals talk about their favorite parts of their day.

Susy Siddens
“I get to bring joy through positive communications that help people do outstanding work.”
Susy Siddens
Design Studio Manager at Sans Serif
Alyson Lawrence
“I love getting to make design choices that foster growth in my company and community and also within the people working next to me. ”
Alyson Lawrence
Design Manager at Adweek
Michael McNamara
“I love being in a position to help improve the advertising industry's underrepresentation by POC.”
Michael McNamara
Studio Manager at McKinney Health
Aaron Sanchez
“I get to teach, not just design.”
Aaron Sanchez
Creative Director at LinkedIn
Mira Crisp
“I love helping creative souls reach their highest potential.”
Mira Crisp
Creative Director at Vanguard

Where this is needed

🎮
Gaming
A massively growing industry that needs creatives of all kinds not only to build games, but to plan the characters, create the campaigns, and envision what’s next.
💬
Social Media
The big social media companies employ thousands of creatives to build better experiences for users, strategize how to evolve their platforms, program better tools, and much more.
📢
Marketing
The key to marketing is clear and persuasive storytelling, and that means writing, design, digital experiences, photography and a lot more that goes into bringing a brand’s value to its customers convincingly.
💄
Beauty
Beauty and cosmetics live and breathe branding, and the industry needs creative leaders to make interesting, distinctive designs, campaigns and identities that connect with a wide range of customers.
🧵
Fashion
Style is always evolving, and the industry doesn’t just need apparel and footwear designers. Magazine editors, writers, photoshoot producers, and many more roles are in demand.
⚽️
Sports
From broadcasting competitions to running individual teams and leagues, the sports industry is massive and becoming more global. Every kind of creative jobs exists here to amplify the incredible stories of athletes, teams and their fans.

Skills to thrive in this field

📌
Project Management
Create and monitor project schedules, and identify bottlenecks and potential missed deadlines
📌
Organization
Extreme attention to detail for creative, budget, timing and technical needs
🤝
Collaboration
Working with designers, engineers, and creative to formulate content for each channel
🔍
Attention to Detail
Be thorough in all areas of your work to ensure it is completed optimally
💬
Communication
Strong communication skills, with the ability to speak with all levels of professionals

Commonly used tools

Slack
Slack
A communication platform for teams that enables real-time messaging, file sharing, and collaboration
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams
A communication and collaboration platform for teams
Asana
Asana
Work management tool for teams to plan, organize and manage their work
Trello
Trello
A kanban style project management and organization tool
Monday.com
Monday.com
A project management tool
Mural
Mural
Whiteboarding tool to let teams collaborate visually to solve problems
Typeform
Typeform
To ask users questions and gather information
Google Forms
Google Forms
To ask users questions and gather information
Figma
Figma
A cloud-based collaborative design platform
Airtable
Airtable
Airtable is a cloud-based collaborative database platform
Dropbox
Dropbox
A cloud storage and file sharing service
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator
Vector graphics design software
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