What is Studio Management?

Studio Management serves a hugely important role within any company that has a design service. As a Studio Manager, you need to assess the capability and availability of your creative design and copy team in order to determine its capacity. Each week you be required to look at freelance creatives, ascertaining the cost and need to support changes in workflow to hit business critical deadlines. With this in mind you’ll be able to inform departments of delivery times and suitable deadlines for all design work, ensuring the team isn’t overworked and performs to the best of its abilities at all times.

Salary information and career progression

Studio manager roles vary in salary depending on the size and scale of the operation.

Opportunity

The opportunity for studio and creative management is fantastic, you can start by looking after small divisions of a couple of designers and progress through to creative departments with hundreds of staff and with multiple teams and disciplines.

After studio management you can step up to become a Studio Director, looking after the full creative strategy. From here the next step is Head of Creative Services where you could be responsible for managing global creative services for agencies and clients that have offices in multiple regions.

• Recent changes in the sector

  Up until the last 5-10 years most creative management roles sat with leading agencies. With more and more client names building internal creative studios, the opportunity for creative managers to work with leading brands and clients has increased dramatically. Opening more opportunity to work in different company dynamics and work flows making this a space where you can constantly grow and change your career.

  Future prospects

  The creative area is set to be one of the fastest growing areas for the next 5-10 years globally, if your passion is creative services and management then you have a great opportunity to progress into a truly rewarding career.

• Salt’s advice for getting a Studio Manager job

  Always show you passion for creative management. Show your understanding for creative vision and how you relate that to creative heads. Show how you inspire your creative colleagues to deliver the best work in the industry. Further to this show your awards, what you are proud of and why – it’s all about passion and the know how to deliver!

  Employers’ requirements

  Most employers will require candidates to have previous studio or project management experience, and knowledge of different process and methodologies including Agile and Waterfall. Intermediate to advanced design knowledge and capability is also a must-have, in order to make sure you understand the team you are managing.

  CV requirements

  Aside from experience in a similar role, your CV should display a track record of leading a studio on successful projects. You’ll also need to have a proven ability to meet strict deadlines, clear communication skills, and proficiency in all Office software.

  Interview preparation

  Before a Studio Management interview, you may be asked to prepare a portfolio showing examples of some design projects you have delivered. Make sure you find out as much about the company you’re interviewing with as possible, in order to bring your perspective to the way they work.