Resourcing Manager

ABOUT MKG

Founded in 2003, MKG is a women led creative agency specializing in brand action. Brand actions – including live experiences, digital, virtual, and hybrid events, employee engagements, and social impact actions – humanize brands through creative storytelling and thoughtful, purpose-driven engagement. We’re proud to be long-standing partners to brands like Google, Target, Netflix, Meta, HBO, Delta Air Lines, and Dos Equis.

MKG has offices in NYC and LA. Candidates are expected to live within commuting distance of either office and be present for collaborative, in-person work on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Client and project management/oversight are central to this position as the Senior Producer drives the project and process.

$80,000-$95,000 annually ***This is the minimum + maximum base salary that we, in good faith, are willing to pay at the time of the posting. Salary commensurate with experience.

OVERVIEW

Responsible for resource management across Creative (Strategy + Design) and Production – staffing all projects that come into the agency efficiently and effectively keeping the health of our business and of our people top of mind.

Works to understand our people’s interests, bandwidth, capacity, strengths and areas of opportunity and uses that information to inform resourcing choices. Partners closely with the account team and/or project leads to understand client dynamics, personalities, expectations and working styles.

Strives to achieve maximum utilization of our people’s time with all staffing choices. Monitors non-billable activity and makes recommendations to increase billability where necessary. Properly forecasts openings in staffing bandwidth and communicates with Finance and Leadership when additional resources are needed.

Responsible for ensuring all employees are properly trained on our standard operating procedures and understand what is required of them from project to project. Continuously works to understand the challenges each team faces, brings recommendations and solutions on how to improve processes and workflows, and successfully sees improvements through.

GENERAL:

• Works with the Director of People Operations to create an environment where people are afforded the opportunity to grow, develop, and learn, and are acknowledged and rewarded for their contributions.
• Builds and maintains a strong partnership with Account Leads, Department Heads, Finance team and individual team members centered around respect, trust and openness.
• Owns resource management for the Creative (Strategy & Design) and Production teams.
• Monitors overall team utilization (billable and nonbillable) and capacity to inform staffing recommendations.
• Understands experiential marketing, how each department operates and functions, and what effort is required to meet deliverables.
• Provides organizational and process support to the project team.
• Remains calm under pressure, and is comfortable providing data-informed recommendations and standing behind their decisions.
• Is approachable and empathetic; encourages team members to come to them when finding it challenging to manage workload.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Resource Management:

• Ongoing resourcing for Creative + Production – staffing projects based on internal dynamics (team strengths open capacity, skills and motivations and team chemistry) as well as client needs (timelines and deliverables, etc).
  • Invests time into understanding team members’ individual strengths and passions to realize their potential and the agency’s potential.
  • Monitors overall team utilization and communicates capacity and forecasted staffing needs to Department Heads + Finance.
  • Actively monitoring staff effort on projects to ensure team members are on track and operating efficiently; re-evaluates staffing and hours distributions based on evolving relationships and scope changes.
  • Ongoing communication with staff surrounding their bandwidth + capacity
  • Determines when additional staff is needed, outside the current bench, and makes recommendations on Freelance/Short Term support or Full Time openings.
• Expert on our resource and project management tool, SmartSheet
  • Staff all projects efficiently and provide ongoing training and support to all users.
  • Ensures intake of all projects is happening in real time.
  • Work with project leads on a weekly basis to ensure timelines are up to date in Smartsheet so capacity can be properly evaluated

People & Process:

• Works in Tandem with Director of People Operations to:
  • To provide a safe and open environment where staff feels comfortable providing feedback.
  • Manage and maintain agency progress documents & tools including our Standard Operating Practice, Google Drive, Master Guide Book and Smartsheet tool.
  • Manage team inefficiencies and build process improvements to strengthen internal and external teamwork.
  • Build systems to increase cross-functional team efficiencies within the agency.
  • General agency onboarding/offboarding
• Update and organize the Freelance roster as new potential candidates come through the door. Responsible for adding in candidate information for Department Heads to interview.
• Maintains weekly office hours

REQUIREMENTS AND QUALIFICATIONS:

Education/Certification:

• Bachelor’s degree

Work Experience:

• 5+ years experience in an Experiential and/or a Creative Agency with a concentration in project management and resourcing
• Experience making data driven decisions to manage staffing and resourcing decisions
• Experience in a highly administrative role
• Experience in understanding staff utilization
• Experience in process flows- simplifying current processes and improving processes that are outdated
• Experience working in a client service, quick paced industry
• Experience and an understanding of agency & office management
• Strong Understanding of creative workflows and processes
• Experience managing and onboarding Freelancers, Short Term Employees & Full Time Employees

KNOWLEDGE / SKILLS / ABILITIES:

• Direct experience using Project Management tools (ie. Smartsheet, Monday, etc)
• Knowledge of organizational dynamics, change management, and process improvement
• Experience building & growing working relationships
• Experience in finding compromises amongst team members and working through multiple scenarios and solutions
• A can do attitude. A natural leader
• Highly enthusiastic  with the ability to employee teams
• Ability to multi- task smartly with the ability to prioritize as needed
• Ability to quickly change course when needed while being transparent with what is realistic
• Experience influencing at a variety of levels in an organization, including with cross-functional leaders
• Stellar project management skills and a track record of planning, executing, and delivering results
• Interpersonal and inter-team skills, including partnership building, mentorship, and conflict resolution within a diverse, cross-functional team
• Ability to think creatively about a variety of challenges and apply organizational skills accordingly
• Proficient in using Google Suite

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Handle highly sensitive and confidential information that can not be shared at any point
• Communicate effectively orally and in writing
• Highly process driven and proficient in reading data
• Interact professionally with various levels of Company employees and outside representatives
• Prepare reports and correspondence
• Meet tight time constraints and deadlines
• Analyze situations and identify problems and come to the table with solutions
• Exercise judgment and creativity in making decisions