Director of Production

Local Projects, LLC•New York, NY

6h•$150,000 - $180,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Production leads production strategy, delivery, and operational excellence for software and media projects from discovery through support. The role serves as the client’s production lead and owns end-to-end project scoping in partnership with the Account Director, who owns the overall client relationship and account growth. The Director manages production budgets, workflows, resource allocation, and capacity across internal teams, freelancers, and vendors, and hires, mentors, and leads a team of producers. Working closely with the COO, Operations, Account, and New Business, the Director ensures cross-departmental alignment to deliver high-quality work on time and within budget. The Director leads client-facing scoping and production delivery, including project planning, estimates, budget management, prototyping coordination, vendor and partner management, and post-open support and maintenance offerings. The position also establishes and iterates on production processes, tools, and templates, and oversees producer hiring, development, staffing, performance, and department administration. The position is hybrid and requires work at the NYC Studio as needed. The employee must have a primary residence in NY, NJ, CT, DC, VA, or MD and be able to travel domestically and internationally for installations, client meetings, vendor coordination, and pitches. Salary is $150,000–$180,000, commensurate with experience. Local Projects offers full-time staff health, dental, and vision insurance, an FSA, 401(k), access to short- and long-term disability insurance and life insurance, and a generous PTO package.

Requirements

10+ years of experience leading production for client projects.
Proven ability to scope, budget, and deliver complex projects.
Strong people-management and team-leadership skills.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to identify problems, develop solutions, and escalate appropriately while working within timelines.
Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
Track record of leading multidisciplinary production teams and managing external vendor relationships.
Ability to travel domestically and internationally for installations, client meetings, vendor coordination, and pitches.
Must work on site at the NYC Studio as needed.
Must hold a primary residence in NY, NJ, CT, DC, VA, or MD.

Nice To Haves

Experience in an experiential, exhibit, or built-environment agency.
Client or account leadership experience alongside hands-on production.
Breadth across both software and media production.
Background in production within physical spaces.

Responsibilities

Serve as the production lead for key client accounts in partnership with the Account Director, who owns the overall client relationship and account growth.
Own end-to-end project scoping, overseeing producers on deliverables, approach documentation, pricing, and partner selection for media and software projects.
Support new business pitches by ensuring potential work is scoped, priced, and feasible to produce.
Collaborate with project teams on production approaches, applying media, software, and AV expertise and routing work to the appropriate experts.
Partner with Operations to define in-studio prototyping requirements and priorities.
Create and execute project plans, estimates, and budget burns that reflect creative, production, and scope changes.
Develop and manage production-level budgets, including overhead and staffing strategies; the COO owns fee estimates and studio-wide resourcing targets.
Direct production workflows, weekly resource assignments, and capacity planning across internal teams, freelancers, and vendors, and provide utilization data to the COO.
Communicate agendas, deadlines, and priorities clearly and proactively to project teams and vendors.
Partner with Creative Technology to deliver post-open support and maintenance offerings.
Source, vet, negotiate with, and manage external producers, designers, vendors, and production partners through delivery; nurture a vendor and freelancer network and contribute to the shared database.
Write scopes of work, staff scopes, and vendor contracts; manage subcontractors and track change orders.
Establish and improve Production processes, protocols, tools, and templates in line with studio-wide standards set by the COO, and ensure consistent team application.
Recruit, interview, hire, and train production staff in collaboration with HR, making final hiring decisions within studio-wide policy.
Manage team growth through reviews, regular one-on-ones, and professional development planning, and recommend compensation adjustments.
Manage production staffing, resourcing, PTO approvals, and disciplinary or termination actions in accordance with company policy.