Director of Studio Operations

Iyuno•Burbank, CA

About The Position

The Director of Studio Operations leads studio production teams and oversees production planning, staffing, facilities, equipment, workflows, vendors, and operational performance. The role works across Sales, Client Services, Production, Finance, Human Resources, Engineering, and global studio stakeholders to align production resources and delivery expectations with business priorities and company strategy. It supports project estimates and client pricing for dubbing and audio localization, manages studio budgets and forecasts, and monitors costs, utilization, and margins while maintaining quality and delivery standards. Significant risks or issues are escalated to the EVP of America Operations.

Requirements

Substantial experience in studio operations, dubbing, audio post-production, media localization, or a closely related entertainment production environment.
Experience leading multidisciplinary production teams and coordinating production managers, coordinators, engineers, facilities, and external vendors.
Strong understanding of dubbing and audio localization workflows, including voiceover and lip-sync dubbing, editing, mixing, and delivery requirements.
Demonstrated ability to manage competing deadlines, production capacity, resource allocation, and changing client requirements.
Experience evaluating workflows, resolving operational issues, and implementing process improvements.
Budget awareness and experience monitoring costs, vendor spend, and resource utilization.
Strong communication, stakeholder-management, coaching, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to collaborate across functions, locations, and time zones in a global organization.
Experience preparing or evaluating client estimates, service pricing, operating budgets, forecasts, and financial performance measures.
Ability to interpret cost and margin data and translate it into practical pricing, resourcing, and operational decisions.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a multi-studio or international media localization organization.
Experience with production planning, resource-management tools, workflow optimization, or operational reporting.
Established relationships with audio production or localization vendors.

Responsibilities

Lead and support production coordination, audio engineering, and production management teams to deliver projects on schedule and in line with quality and client requirements.
Plan and review workloads, staffing, facilities, equipment, and other production resources to balance capacity, deadlines, and business priorities.
Set priorities and expectations for direct reports and provide coaching, feedback, mentorship, and performance support.
Monitor production workflows and operational performance; identify bottlenecks, risks, and opportunities to improve efficiency, consistency, and service quality.
Partner with Sales, Client Services, and Production to assess project requirements, develop production plans, and support estimates or quotes.
Manage operational costs and contribute to budget planning, resource forecasting, and cost-control initiatives.
Build and maintain relationships with external vendors in coordination with the Global Vendor Manager, ensuring vendor capacity and services meet local production needs.
Coordinate with other Iyuno studios and global stakeholders to align local resources, workflows, technical practices, and delivery expectations with company strategy.
Partner with engineering and technology leaders on equipment readiness, maintenance, technical standards, and development of engineering capabilities.
Work with Human Resources and relevant leaders on staffing changes, employee matters, and required documentation; apply company policies consistently and escalate significant risks or issues to the EVP of America Operations.
Develop, review, and recommend client pricing, rates, and project estimates for dubbing and audio localization services based on scope, complexity, talent and studio requirements, engineering time, vendor costs, turnaround expectations, and commercial objectives.
Partner with Sales, Client Services, Production, and Finance to establish pricing assumptions, validate quotes, assess non-standard requests, and balance competitiveness, client expectations, delivery risk, and profitability.
Build and manage studio operating budgets and forecasts; monitor actuals against plan, evaluate cost drivers, and recommend actions to manage spend while maintaining quality and delivery standards.
Review project and service-line financial performance, including labor and vendor costs, capacity utilization, and margin trends; escalate material variances and recommend pricing or workflow adjustments.