Director of Production

Join the Blacksmith Team!

The Director of Production will lead a cross-functional team of project managers, strategists, creatives, and developer leads through the full production process of concept to launch for all Blacksmith’s industry leading digital products. Through strategy and vision, influence and improvement of process, expert eye for quality, and commitment to outcome, this individual will closely work with our President to lead Blacksmith through continual agency growth.

Key Responsibilities:

Project Management Office Process and SOPs:

• Keen resourcing and delegation ability to keep your project managers, creatives, and developers productive at all times, focusing them mainly on billable work.

• Routine communication to President on status of active client portfolio targeted to success KPIs related to milestones, deadlines, hours, margins, risks, and how to improve.

• Cultivate, audit, and implement changes to current production policies, processes and documentation (including SOWs and SOPs) to proactively manage project quality, risk, and budget concerns as well as improving and lowering operational costs. 

• Ownership of improving and optimizing the project lifecycle. 

• Utilize understanding of Jira workflows to improve current workflows.

• Influence and protect the day-to-day protocol compliance for all projects from pre-sale through launch.

• Oversee the management of invoicing and billing to ensure timely and proper payment.

• Optimize budget through routine margin analysis and audits to ensure profit margin is maintained across all Blacksmith projects.

• Facilitating a post mortem for each project and executing upon the action items.

• Establish and ensure adoption of standards for how team members interact with clients.

Portfolio Management and Project Delivery:

• Expertly own the project management of large, complex web builds including establishing scope, milestones, running client calls, timeline, budget, and deliverables based on deep understanding of client PAIN points, how to solve their unique challenges, and motivate them to action.

• Assign project managers to clients and assist in the creation of comprehensive roadmaps by translating project requirements into delegated tasks to cohesively advance projects under established timelines/budgets.

• Attend discovery, kickoff, creative presentation, and final site presentation for all client calls to provide leadership presence and guidance when needed.

• Eagle-eye ability to identify project risks for challenging clients and expertly navigate your projects as well as your team with a solution mindset. 

• Savvy to what key milestones within projects you need to have presence and involvement for your team.

• Act as final signoff for all project documentation, meeting minutes, the client communication cadence, and project quality before launch.

Team Leadership:

• Strategize with internal team before all client presentations, clearly define roles, risks, and goals to empower the team and ensure success of presentation.  

• Act as the escalation point for production team members and lead them through communication in challenging situations, setting expectations, and negotiations.

• Regularly provide verbal and written feedback to the team to both celebrate success and clearly define any misalignments with expectations and how to get back on track.

• Conduct routine 1:1 meetings with 3-6 direct reports, emphasizing continuous project improvement as well as motivating the individual’s performance and career growth through SMART goal setting and coaching. 

• Assess need for additional talent, recruit, and lead the training/onboarding of new members.

• Conduct quarterly/annual performance reviews.

Pre-Sales and New Client Planning:

• Act as final sign off authority on a multitude of simultaneous pre-sales responses and SOWs including scope, pricing, budget management, timelines, and resourcing in collaboration with Business Development.

• Perform pre-sales project management process presentations when needed.

• Align key internal and external stakeholders on the project process and establish expectations of working for clients.

Proven Qualifications:

• 10+ years experience managing the creation of websites in an agency environment

• 5+ years experience in a director or management position with 4+ direct reports.

• 5+ years experience with PM Software; preferred Jira, Smartsheet, Trello

• Well-versed in various work flows such as waterfall and agile methodologies

• Strong presentation, communication, and interpersonal skills with the ability to link insights to strategy and translate complex ideas into simple and intuitive communications

• Proven ability to work through ambiguity to create clear definition for team

• 5+ years creating and executing upon six figure SOWs

• Experience leading an agency through substantial growth, process change, and holding members to standards

• Managed and led hundreds of large, complex web redesigns, rebuilds, and implementations with a deep Content Management System experience.

• Extensive knowledge of current and emerging digital best practices

• SME in web strategy & production, site operations, UI/UX features and functionalities, site tagging, testing operations, optimization, and device effectiveness

• A cool, calm, and collected approach to problem-solving

• Career growth from proven and recognized leadership abilities and promotions in current and previous organizations