Associate Director, Business Operations

Omnicom Media US H&S•New York, NY

8h•$70,000 - $125,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Hearts & Science is seeking an Associate Director, Business Operations to support a global luxury and lifestyle brand. This role sits at the center of how the account runs day-to-day — ensuring teams across planning, activation, marketing science, and finance operate in a coordinated, structured way. We are specifically looking for someone who has worked in media planning or activation and understands how agency teams actually function in practice. That experience is critical to helping build the right ways of working, governance structures, and team operating models that allow a complex account to run smoothly. If you understand how campaigns move from strategy to execution — and know where the operational friction points typically occur — this role will give you the opportunity to help design better systems that enable teams to execute with clarity and confidence. The Associate Director, Business Operations helps design and operationalize how the team works together. This role partners closely with Planning, Activation, Marketing Science, Finance, and Account Leadership to ensure the right structures, processes, and ownership models are in place across the account. You will help build RACIs, ways of working, governance frameworks, and operational guardrails that ensure teams know when to engage partners, how work moves through the organization, and how priorities are executed effectively. This is a strategic operations role, focused on improving how teams function — not just managing tasks.

Requirements

6–8+ years of experience in media planning, activation, or agency operations
Strong understanding of how media planning and execution teams work together
Experience working across multiple channel teams within an agency environment
Ability to design structured processes, governance models, and operational frameworks
Strong Excel and operational workflow management skills
Confidence working with senior stakeholders and facilitating cross-team alignment

Nice To Haves

You understand how agency teams actually operate, not just how processes look on paper
You know where execution typically breaks down and how to fix it
You think about structure, accountability, and clarity, not just output
You know when to pull in the right expertise to solve a problem
You bring order to complex organizations without slowing teams down

Responsibilities

Design and implement clear ways of working across Planning, Activation, and Marketing Science teams
Build and maintain RACI frameworks that clarify roles, decision rights, and escalation paths
Help teams understand who should be involved, when, and why across key workstreams
Identify operational friction points and recommend improvements to team structure and workflows
Partner with Planning and Activation leaders to ensure campaign execution aligns with operational processes
Facilitate alignment across Planning, Investment, Marketing Science, and Finance
Support priority projects by bringing the right teams together and solving operational challenges
Help leadership navigate complex workstreams by ensuring clear ownership and coordination
Strengthen cross-channel QA and trafficking governance
Standardize workflows that improve consistency and efficiency across teams
Maintain key operational trackers and documentation to ensure transparency into timelines and deliverables
Ensure reporting and deliverables meet client expectations for quality and timeliness
Maintain documentation around operational processes and governance standards
Monitor post-launch controls to ensure campaign accuracy in market
Support governance of media budgets across workstreams
Monitor staffing utilization and burn rates
Flag financial or operational risks early and help leadership determine the right course of action