Graphics Operations Manager

Title: Graphics Operations Manager
Company: Law Firm
Location: New York City, onsite 2x per week
Job Type: 6-month contract, likelihood of conversion to full-time

Summary:

We are seeking an experienced graphic design operations professional to manage a large, fast-moving pipeline of graphic design projects across our existing internal team and outsourced production partners. This contract role will direct day-to-day work intake, prioritization, project scoping, resource allocation, and delivery tracking—matching work to the right resources based on capabilities, capacity, complexity, and deadlines.

The primary focus is workflow management, supported by a strong design eye and sound judgment about quality, brand consistency, and presentation effectiveness. Using our Smartsheet-based workflow system, this person will establish clear project requirements, keep stakeholders informed, anticipate bottlenecks, and coordinate reviews and approvals to keep work moving.

The role supports client development, recruiting, and other strategically important initiatives, with limited hands-on design support as needed. This person coordinates assignments and delivery across the existing team and external partners; the role does not have people-management responsibility.

Responsibilities:

• Manage the end-to-end project pipeline, serving as the central point of intake and coordination for graphic design requests across the internal team and external/outsourced services.
• Clarify and scope incoming requests, confirming objectives, audiences, deliverables, required inputs, deadlines, and review and approval requirements before assigning work.
• Prioritize and allocate work based on business impact, urgency, complexity, design capabilities, and available capacity; rebalance assignments as priorities change.
• Interface with external and outsourced service delivery providers, providing clear briefs, coordinating handoffs and feedback, tracking progress, and ensuring completed work meets agreed requirements.
• Maintain and improve the Smartsheet workflow system, keeping project status, ownership, deadlines, dependencies, and next steps accurate and visible.
• Actively manage delivery, following up on outstanding inputs and approvals, resolving bottlenecks, managing scope changes and revision rounds, and escalating competing priorities or delivery risks.
• Set clear expectations with internal stakeholders regarding scope, turnaround times, responsibilities, and trade-offs when demand exceeds capacity.
• Monitor capacity across internal and external resources, identifying upcoming constraints and recommending adjustments to assignments, sequencing, or external support.
• Apply a strong design eye to quality review, checking work for brand consistency, visual clarity, layout, and presentation effectiveness; coordinate revisions with designers as needed.
• Maintain reusable templates and brand assets to support efficient, consistent production.
• Provide limited hands-on design or production support during peak periods, without displacing the role's primary responsibility for workflow and delivery.

Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience managing a high-volume, fast-moving creative or design project pipeline, with multiple simultaneous assignments and shifting deadlines.
• Experience coordinating work across in-house designers and external agencies, freelancers, or outsourced production services.
• Strong project scoping, prioritization, resource planning, and follow-through skills, including the ability to identify bottlenecks and make practical delivery trade-offs.
• A strong design eye, with the ability to assess brand alignment, visual hierarchy, layout, and the clarity and effectiveness of presentations and other business materials.
• Hands-on experience with Smartsheet or comparable workflow platforms such as Asana or monday.com, including maintaining reliable project tracking and reporting.
• Clear, confident stakeholder communication and a service-oriented approach to managing expectations, incomplete briefs, competing requests, and scope changes.
• Ability to get up to speed quickly and bring structure to an existing workflow while maintaining continuity of delivery.
• Familiarity with Microsoft PowerPoint and presentation-design workflows as well as Adobe Creative Cloud applications including InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator.
• Experience in a professional services environment, such as consulting, legal, accounting, or financial advisory. Relevant experience within a complex corporate marketing, communications, or in-house creative function in another industry will also be considered.
• Hands-on graphic design or production capabilities sufficient to provide occasional backup support.