Director, Brand and Experience Operations

Morgan Street Holdings•Chicago, IL

10d•$140,000 - $150,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Brand & Experience Operations serves as a key operational partner to the Chief Brand & Experience Officer (CBXO) and Brand & Experience Leadership Team, supporting the execution of strategic priorities, operational excellence, resource planning, and organizational effectiveness across the Brand & Experience organization, including Client Strategy, Creative, Partnerships & Licensing, Product Design, and Digital Design. This role has a global scope that combines elements of a Chief of Staff, business operations leader, and resource management partner, helping translate leadership objectives into actionable plans while ensuring teams are effectively aligned, prioritized, and resourced. The position is responsible for providing visibility into resource allocation, utilization, capacity planning, staffing forecasts, and operational performance, enabling informed decision-making across the organization. The ideal candidate is highly organized, collaborative, analytically minded, and comfortable operating across multiple functions, and interfacing with senior leadership. They bring strong project management, financial acumen, and communication skills, along with the ability to drive alignment and execution in a fast-paced environment.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in business operations, strategy, resource management, consulting, PMO, Chief of Staff, or related leadership roles.
Proven ability to operationalize strategy, drive cross-functional initiatives, and support senior executive leaders in complex organizations.
Experience with resource allocation, workforce planning, capacity management, budgeting, forecasting, utilization reporting, and business performance analysis.
Strong understanding of financial drivers and ability to translate operational data into business insights and recommendations.
Exceptional communication, executive presentation, and relationship-building skills.
Demonstrated ability to influence and align stakeholders across multiple functions without direct authority.
Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, with experience leveraging dashboards, KPIs, and reporting tools to support decision-making.
Experience driving operational excellence, process improvement, and organizational effectiveness initiatives.
Experience supporting brand, creative, design, marketing, product, digital, consulting, or professional services organizations preferred.
Proficiency with business intelligence and planning tools such as Power BI, Tableau, Excel, or similar platforms.
Bachelor's degree or equivalent required.

Nice To Haves

Relevant certifications (e.g., PMP, Lean Six Sigma) desirable.

Responsibilities

Support the CBXO and Brand & Experience Leadership Team in operationalizing and executing strategic priorities and key business initiatives.
Coordinate leadership team meetings, operating reviews, quarterly planning sessions, offsites, and follow-up actions.
Develop leadership presentations, organizational updates, executive communications, and business review materials.
Maintain visibility into key organizational priorities, risks, dependencies, and decisions requiring leadership attention.
Partner with functional leaders to track progress against commitments and ensure alignment across teams.
Help establish and manage operating rhythms, governance processes, and leadership reporting.
Support resource allocation processes across Brand & Experience disciplines to ensure alignment with business priorities, client commitments, and strategic initiatives. Serve as key interaction point with Finance partners and P&L business leads.
Facilitate resource planning discussions and help identify capacity constraints, staffing gaps, and utilization opportunities.
Maintain resource forecasting models and reporting tools that provide visibility into team workloads and demand trends; maintain and validate trends and assumptions in monthly reconciliation.
Partner with department leaders to balance competing priorities and support informed resource allocation decisions.
Help develop scalable resource management processes and best practices that improve efficiency, transparency, and decision-making.
Monitor utilization and capacity metrics to support effective workforce planning and fit within financial realities of the businesses.
Partner with Finance and functional leaders to manage the operational and financial impacts related to resource planning and delivery.
Partner with Finance to track and analyze utilization, burn rates, staffing requirements, and resource allocations against approved scopes of work.
Support reconciliation processes (driven by finance and business leads) between resource plans, project staffing, utilization reporting, and financial forecasts.
Prepare reporting and dashboards that provide visibility into resource-related financial impacts and operational performance.
Assist in workforce forecasting, headcount planning, and capacity modeling activities.
Identify trends and insights that support prioritization, staffing decisions, and operational improvements.
Support initiatives that improve operational efficiency, workflow management, planning processes, and team effectiveness.
Identify process improvement opportunities and partner with stakeholders to implement solutions.
Develop and maintain operational dashboards, KPI reporting, and performance metrics.
Leverage data and analytics to support decision-making and continuous improvement efforts.
Promote consistency in planning, reporting, and operational processes across the organization.
Partner with the CBXO, People Team, and function leaders to support organizational planning and workforce strategies.
Help assess organizational needs, staffing requirements, and skill gaps to support future growth.
Contribute to workforce planning, hiring prioritization, and team structure recommendations.
Support initiatives that enhance collaboration, employee experience, and organizational effectiveness.
Partner with Finance, Analytics, People, Legal, Technology, and other shared services teams to support operational alignment and execution.
Serve as a connector across Brand & Experience functions, helping facilitate communication and coordination.
Support cross-functional initiatives and ensure effective follow-through on key business priorities.
Help remove operational barriers and escalate issues when necessary to maintain momentum and delivery.