Senior Manager, Creative Operations, Beauty
About the Role
The Senior Manager of Creative Operations will drive process, planning, and executional excellence within the Creative function across all Beauty initiatives for Gap Inc. This leader will oversee creative project management, resource planning, and operational systems to ensure that every campaign, asset, and product-related deliverable is executed efficiently, on time, and to brand standards.This role serves as the operational backbone of the Creative organization — ensuring the seamless intersection of creative vision, marketing strategy, and go-to-market execution. The ideal candidate combines a deep understanding of creative processes with strong operational discipline and communication skills.
What You'll Do
1. Creative Process & Project Management
Own the end-to-end workflow for all creative projects — from brief intake through production and delivery — across both product and marketing touchpoints.
Define and manage critical paths, timelines, and review milestones for campaigns, photography, packaging, and digital content.
Partner with the Ops Director to manage day-to-day project tracking and tactical execution, ensuring accountability and visibility across teams.
Serve as the central hub between Creative, Marketing, Product Development, and Merchandising, ensuring all creative work aligns with launch calendars and business priorities.
2. Resource Planning & Vendor Management
Manage resource allocation across design, copywriting, and production, balancing in-house and external talent.
Oversee agency and vendor relationships, including contracting, onboarding, and performance management.
Anticipate resource needs for upcoming initiatives and proactively recommend scaling or support solutions.
3. Process Optimization & Systems
Design and implement creative operations systems and tools (e.g., project management, digital asset management, approval workflows) to improve collaboration and speed-to-market.
Document and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs) for creative processes, ensuring clarity and efficiency across teams.
Continuously evaluate and refine processes to reduce bottlenecks and improve creative throughput.
4. Budget & Performance Oversight
Partner with Finance and Marketing to track and manage creative production budgets, ensuring cost efficiency and accurate forecasting.
Maintain visibility into spend by campaign, vendor, and production type.
Identify opportunities for process or vendor optimization to maximize ROI.
5. Cross-Functional Alignment
Partner closely with Marketing, Merchandising, Product Development, and Strategy to ensure creative deliverables reflect business priorities and meet launch deadlines.
Lead creative planning meetings and calendar alignment sessions.
Act as the operational link between brand creative teams and central marketing functions, ensuring Beauty initiatives integrate seamlessly into overall brand campaigns.
Who You Are
10+ years of experience in creative operations, project management, or production management, ideally within beauty, fashion, retail, or lifestyle brands.
Proven success implementing/managing creative workflows, and cross-functional alignment in a fast-paced, multi-brand environment.
Strong understanding of marketing and creative development processes — from brief to launch.
Proficiency in project management tools (e.g., Smartsheets, Airtable, Monday.com, Wrike) and digital asset management systems.
Excellent organizational, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
Experience managing budgets, vendors, and external agencies.
Highly collaborative mindset with the ability to balance creative excellence and operational discipline.