Senior Manager Marketing Ops & Creative Services

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Senior Manager, Marketing Operations & Creative Services is a highly strategic and operationally driven leader responsible for overseeing marketing operations, creative services, and project management across Phoenix Retail, supporting both Express and Bonobos. This role is central to how marketing and creative work moves through the organization, ensuring projects are planned effectively, executed seamlessly, and delivered on time, on budget, and with strong cross-functional alignment.

This leader oversees the end-to-end operational management of marketing and creative execution, including intake, planning, workflow management, reviews and approvals, cross-functional coordination, and process optimization. Working closely with partners across Brand Marketing, Creative, Merchandising, E-Commerce, Performance Marketing, Retail, Finance, and external vendors, this role serves as a key connector across teams, establishing clear ways of working and ensuring stakeholders remain aligned throughout the project lifecycle.

This role is also responsible for setting the operating rhythm, team priorities, and ways of working for the Marketing Operations and Creative Services function. In addition, this leader oversees budget management for the function and partners across the broader marketing organization to support budget tracking, accountability, and alignment with Finance. This person will directly manage the Project Manager, Creative & Marketing Operations and the Senior Project Manager, Creative & Marketing Operations, while driving operational excellence, team effectiveness, and continuous process improvement in support of both brands.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead the Marketing Operations and Creative Services function for Phoenix Retail, overseeing workflow, project management, and operational execution across Express and Bonobos with a critical eye to how Marketing process integrate seamlessly with total company GTM processes
• Manage and develop the Project Manager, Creative & Marketing Operations and the Senior Project Manager, Creative & Marketing Operations, driving team effectiveness, clarity of process, and strong executional discipline
• Set the operating rhythm, team priorities, and ways of working for the function, ensuring clear ownership and effective execution across all levels of the team
• Oversee intake and prioritization of brand and marketing initiatives, ensuring briefs are clear, aligned, and routed to the appropriate stakeholders for execution
• Partner with Brand Marketing leaders and cross-functional teams to translate strategy into actionable project plans, ensuring initiatives move efficiently from ideation through delivery
• Oversee the integrated marketing calendar, seasonal processes, and key milestones across both brands in partnership with Brand Marketing and Merchandising/Design leadership, ensuring the team is effectively managing day-to-day execution against those plans
• Establish and lead project timelines, workflows, milestones, and review and approval processes to ensure work is delivered on time and with the necessary cross-functional alignment
• Drive clear project roadmaps and workflow priorities for the team, ensuring deliverables, responsibilities, deadlines, and dependencies are understood and adhered to
• Serve as the central point of coordination and source of truth across marketing and creative projects, ensuring stakeholders are aligned on timing, status, risks, and next steps
• Lead project kickoffs, internal reviews, status meetings, and other key touchpoints across the project lifecycle
• Record, consolidate, interpret, and communicate feedback clearly, while ensuring action items are captured and follow-up is managed effectively
• Proactively identify risks, dependencies, and process gaps, and recommend practical solutions to keep projects moving
• Manage and maintain project status reporting and delivery recaps to provide visibility across teams and leadership
• Conduct post-project reviews and assess opportunities to improve processes, workflows, and team efficiency
• Define and evolve the operating model, governance, and best practices for Marketing Operations and Creative Services, improving visibility, accountability, speed, and cross-functional alignment
• Partner with Brand Marketing and cross-functional leaders to ensure presentation materials, timelines, creative deliverables, and supporting assets are accurate and aligned

• Partner closely with leaders across Marketing, Creative, Merchandising, E-Commerce, Retail, and other cross-functional teams to ensure projects are coordinated effectively and all required reviews and approvals are built into timelines
• Ensure all work is executed in accordance with established processes, governance, and review structures, creating strong alignment across functions and minimizing executional risk
• Support the successful execution of seasonal initiatives, campaigns, launches, and ongoing brand marketing programs through strong operational planning and stakeholder coordination
• Serve as a key operational partner to marketing leadership, helping connect strategy, resourcing, and execution across the organization
• Manage relationships with external vendors and agency partners as needed to support project execution and timelines

• Lead budget oversight for the Marketing Operations and Creative Services function, ensuring disciplined planning, tracking, and management of expenses
• Partner with Finance and marketing leadership to monitor budgets across marketing workstreams and maintain clear accountability against approved spend
• Support forecasting, accruals, invoice tracking, and budget reconciliation for relevant marketing and creative functions
• Partner across the marketing team to ensure budget implications are understood within project planning and execution, and that teams remain aligned to financial targets
• Serve as a key point of contact for Finance partners, helping maintain visibility, accountability, and rigor in budget management across the function

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelors degree or equivalent experience
• 10+ years of experience in marketing operations, creative services, project management, or related fields
• Significant experience leading complex, cross-functional marketing and creative workflows in a fast-paced organization
• Strong project management experience across marketing execution, campaign development, and creative operations
• Proven experience managing multiple priorities simultaneously while maintaining strong attention to detail and executional excellence
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across all levels of the organization
• Ability to serve as a clear point of coordination and single source of truth across multiple departments and stakeholders
• Strong experience partnering across cross-functional teams and aligning diverse groups around shared goals, timelines, and deliverables

• Experience within retail, fashion, e-commerce, or consumer marketing environments
• Experience leading marketing operations and creative services across multiple brands or business units
• Strong understanding of project lifecycle management, creative development processes, and campaign execution
• Experience managing external vendors, agency partners, and production-related workflows
• Experience with budgeting, forecasting, and financial tracking in partnership with Finance
• Project management experience in print production, marketing operations, or creative execution environments preferred

CRITICAL SKILLS & ATTRIBUTES

• Strategic and highly organized operator
• Strong leader with excellent project management discipline
• Clear, confident communicator and cross-functional collaborator
• Exceptional attention to detail and follow-through
• Ability to balance big-picture thinking with hands-on execution
• Calm, diplomatic, and solutions-oriented under pressure
• Self-directed, resourceful, and accountable
• Strong prioritization and time management skills
• Process-minded, with an eye toward simplification and continuous improvement
• Financially disciplined and comfortable managing budgets and operational accountability