Senior Creative Traffic Manager (FTC - Maternity Cover)

Selfridges is seeking a Senior Creative Traffic Manager to join our Creative Operations team on a Fixed Term Contract (FTC). Reporting to the Director of Brand Strategy, the Senior Traffic Manager will be responsible for overseeing traffic management across all creative teams, ensuring the seamless flow of projects. This role will focus on managing resource allocation, optimising workflow processes and ensuring timely project delivery. With experience in traffic management and a strong knowledge of project management tools, the ideal candidate will play a key role in streamlining operations within the creative function.

As the Senior Creative Traffic Manager, your responsibilities include:

• Traffic Management & Workflow Optimisation:
  • Oversee the scheduling and trafficking of creative briefs, ensuring projects are delivered to the correct teams at the right time.
  • Use project management system monday.com to track project progress, ensuring that deadlines are met and workloads are managed in line with team capacity.
  • Continuously review and refine traffic management processes, identifying opportunities for greater efficiency and alignment with business goals.
  • Provide vital operational support to the Director of Brand Strategy, allowing them to focus on broader business objectives.

• Team Leadership & Management:
  • Lead and mentor a team of Traffic Managers, ensuring efficient traffic management processes across creative teams.
  • Guide the team in resource allocation, project prioritisation, and balancing workloads in line with capacity, ensuring smooth delivery of all projects.
  • Act as the key point of contact for the team, ensuring that expectations are clear and processes are consistently followed.

• Resource Management & Reporting:
  • Work closely with traffic managers and team leads to assess resource capacity and allocate resource to projects based on team availability and project priorities.
  • Manage freelance requirements and bookings, ensuring external resources are used efficiently when needed.
  • Provide regular reports to the Director of Brand Strategy on project progress, resource utilisation, and workload allocation.

• Stakeholder Communication:
  • Act as a liaison between creative teams and internal stakeholders, ensuring effective communication of project timelines, progress, and any risks or delays.
  • Build strong relationships with key stakeholders to facilitate efficient workflows and resolve any traffic-related issues.
  • Provide regular updates on project statuses, traffic workflow, and resource availability to the Director of Brand Strategy.
  • Serve as the primary point of escalation for stakeholders, ensuring any issues are promptly addressed.
• Process Improvement:
  • Drive improvements to existing traffic management processes, focusing on optimising the flow of work, minimising bottlenecks, and ensuring resource efficiency.
  • Ensure all stakeholders are aligned with traffic management processes and best practices, including the effective use of monday.com.
  • Define and implement new workflows as needed to support the creative team’s evolving needs.
• Escalation & Risk Management:
  • Identify potential risks related to project delivery, resourcing, or workflow bottlenecks, proposing solutions to mitigate risk.
  • Proactively address and resolve issues that may impact project timelines or delivery, proposing solutions to keep projects on track.
  • Effectively prioritise tasks, manage competing demands, and push back when necessary to ensure project goals are met.

Skills & Experience

• Leadership & Team Management: Demonstrated experience in managing a team within a traffic, project, or resource management role, ideally within a creative or agency environment.
• Traffic & Workflow Management: Strong expertise in traffic management, including experience optimising workflows and resource allocation for creative teams.
• Project Management Tools: Proficient in using monday.com or similar project management tools (e.g., Asana, Trello) to manage project schedules, resources, and team capacity.
• Stakeholder Management: Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with experience managing stakeholder relationships across various departments.
• Process Improvement: A track record of identifying and implementing improvements to traffic or project management processes for greater efficiency.
• Problem-Solving & Adaptability: A proactive problem-solver, capable of managing multiple projects in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Organisational Skills: Exceptional organisational skills with the ability to balance competing priorities, tight deadlines, and diverse projects.