WHO WE ARE

ONA is an independently owned creative agency with expertise in brand strategy, brand identity, creative concepts, graphic design, video and photo production, content strategy, and brand experience. We are proud to partner with some of the biggest industry-defining clients in sports, culture, wellness, and women-led businesses. 

We believe that sports are a conduit to the growth of human potential, that culture is what drives creativity and, above all, that exceptional people make exceptional work.

Job Title: Director of Operations

Location: Los Angeles (Hybrid)

Time Type: Full-time

THE ROLE

As the Director of Operations, you are the "whole-picture" thinker and central problem-solver for ONA. In this role, you provide critical support and operational guidance to every department within the agency. You possess a high level of emotional intelligence, strong people skills, a deep understanding of cross-functional agency deliverables, and the analytical mindset required to optimize organizational workflows against strict client timelines and budgets. Your primary focus is evaluating, elevating, and implementing business workflow procedures, forward-planning resource capacity, and ensuring our agency operates at peak efficiency and profitability.

This position reports directly to the Founder & CEO.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Business Strategy & Process Optimization

• Drive Operational Excellence: Review, analyze, and evaluate current business workflow procedures to identify opportunities for optimization. Implement new policies and procedures that streamline day-to-day operations.
• Establish Agency Metrics: Define and enforce quantitative and qualitative metrics, guidelines, and standards to evaluate the company's overall efficiency and effectiveness within the workflow.
• Automate & Innovate: Develop process flows and automated workflows around resource management and project delivery practices to reduce manual administrative overhead.
• Tracking & Reporting: Create and maintain a centralized dashboard that integrates key trackable operational and financial metrics.

Resource Management & Capacity Planning

• Lead Resource Allocation: Act as the central conduit (in partnership with the Founder and Managing Director) for assigning cross-functional teams to jobs. Monitor actuals versus planned hours for individual projects and operating activities.
• Forward-Plan for Growth: Analyze current and future resource demands based on upcoming projects and business development activities, ensuring the agency is proactively prepared for scaling.
• Scope Support: Collaborate closely with Account Leadership to understand client engagements, providing strategic input on the development of scopes of work (SOWs) and accurately forecasting internal and external resource needs.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Mentorship

• Foster Team Synergy: Oversee the full project lifecycle from an operational standpoint, mentoring cross-functional account, creative, strategy, and production teams to ensure seamless collaboration and workflow efficiency.
• Identify Organizational Gaps: Proactively identify and address key resource and skill gaps throughout the agency, resolving resourcing bottlenecks before they impact project timelines and budgets.
• Operational Change Management: Effectively architect, communicate, and train teams on new operational directives, policies, or technical procedures, driving high adoption rates among both managers and staff.

People Operations & Compliance

• Lifecycle Management: Own and implement the end-to-end employee lifecycle, standardizing onboarding and offboarding processes for all full-time employees and freelancers.
• Recruiting Operations: Partner with hiring managers to maintain job descriptions and talent pipelines: oversee posting, applicant tracking, initial screenings, interview scheduling, and offer definition alongside leadership.
• Policy & Handbook Ownership: Maintain and enforce the employee handbook, ensuring all policies remain compliant with California and local employment laws while reflecting ONA's cultural values.
• Process Quality Control: Establish and monitor regular internal audits to guarantee that compliance, personnel files, signed agreements, platform access, and security credentials are systematically updated.

WHAT YOU BRING

• Experience: 8+ years of proven leadership experience in operations, people management, and project/resource planning, preferably within a fast-paced creative agency environment.
• Analytical & Financial Acumen: Strong analytical skills with a deep understanding of agency planning processes, budgets, timesheets, and time-tracking methodologies.
• Emotional Intelligence: Comprehensive interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills with the unique ability to recognize individual capacities, strengths, and burnout risks.
• Problem-Solving & Autonomy: A proactive ability to catch issues early, take initiative, and work independently to establish effective mitigation plans.
• Cultural Connection: A passion for current trends, design, sports culture and media, with the ability to translate and integrate into strategic client recommendations.
• Technical Proficiency: Expert knowledge of Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, Figma, and resource management or communication platforms such as Slack, Monday.com, Harvest, etc.

COMPENSATION

• The salary range for this position is $130,000 - $175,000 annually. Compensation offered will be based upon multiple factors including job-related knowledge, skills, and depth of experience.