Freelance Creative Resource Manager

Position Type: Full-time

Location: Los Angeles or NYC | Remote

Reports to: Director Creative Operations

Position Overview

The Creative Resource Manager is the operational heartbeat of the studio - responsible for ensuring the right creative talent is assigned to the right work, at the right time. This person will partner closely with Creative Directors, Project Management, and Leadership to manage bandwidth, optimize team allocation, and support studio health as workload ebbs and flows. They bring clarity, structure, and foresight to a fast-paced creative environment and help the team operate smoothly and sustainably.

Creative Resourcing & Scheduling

• Own and manage all creative resourcing across the studio, including freelancers
• Create, maintain and continuously update a centralized studio resourcing tool
• Assign creative leads and supporting roles based on skill set, project needs, availability, and career growth goals
• Forecast short-term and long-term staffing needs based on pipeline, new business, and upcoming briefs
• Manage daily, weekly, and monthly resourcing reviews with Creative Directors and PM leads

Freelance & Talent Management

• Build and maintain an active roster of vetted freelancers across key disciplines
• Lead outreach, availability checks, onboarding coordination, and rate negotiations (when applicable)
• Track performance, reliability, and cultural fit to ensure high-quality talent for future assignments

Operational Leadership

• Serve as the central point of contact for all creative staffing questions and needs
• Bring structure and clarity to workflows, communication paths, and creative team expectations
• Partner with Creative Leads to identify skill gaps and recommend new roles or hiring needs
• Collaborate with Ops and HR on job descriptions, hiring plans, and team growth initiatives
• Support process alignment across Creative, Accounts, and Production to ensure smooth project delivery

Studio Health & Reporting

• Monitor team workload to balance utilization, prevent burnout, and ensure equitable distribution of work
• Proactively surface capacity issues, conflicts, or risks before they impact timelines or quality
• Provide weekly utilization reports and long-range demand planning for leadership
• Develop resource planning frameworks, intake forms, and briefs to streamline communication

Creative Team Partnership

• Build strong working relationships with creative team members to understand their strengths, interests, and development goals
• Help match talent to opportunities that support growth while meeting project requirements
• Foster a supportive, collaborative studio culture rooted in clarity, expectation-setting, and respect

Qualifications

• 5 years of experience in creative operations, project management, or studio resourcing (agency or studio experience strongly preferred)
• Deep understanding of experiential creative roles (graphics, spatial, motion, digital, etc..)
• Strong organizational and communication skills - able to bring calm, clarity, and structure to fast-moving environments
• Experience working with resource management or project planning tools (Asana, Airtable, Monday.com, Float, Smartsheet)
• Proven ability to balance the needs of multiple teams, personalities, and deadlines with diplomacy and decisiveness
• Highly proactive problem-solving approach with strong attention to detail
• Ability to navigate ambiguity, manage change, and influence across levels

PINCH’S CORE VALUES YOU:

Joy Begets Creativity: In the heat of the project, can we find moments of fun and levity? When stressed, anxious about succeeding, or frustrated with process, good ideas are hard to come by. Great ones, nearly impossible. You help contribute to a creative and positive work environment by being collaborative, open to ideas, and treating team members with respect.

Go Beyond the Ask: At face value, many projects seem destined to produce uninspiring results. We ask ourselves, can the core goals be hijacked –hopefully with a core client as an accomplice– to ensure we can create stories that are interesting, cool, or even fun. Let’s give clients what they need, but are unable to articulate and opening them up to possibilities that they may not have imagined. You help facilitate this discovery process by pushing the work by being inquisitive, keeping yourself up-to-date with cultural trends, and expressing your point of view.

Never Arrive: Stagnation kills creative (and companies). Brands need to grow and evolve, teams need to grow and evolve, companies need to grow and evolve. Can we push ourselves and our clients to stay ahead of the current, to realize that success always needs to evolve beyond what we know or feel comfortable with. You contribute to the growth and success of the team by holding yourself to a high standard of excellence and taking risks.

Human Beings Feelings: “Feel Something.” A fundamental need for human beings is to connect with something that feels magical and special. This comes through moments which move us emotionally, and separate us from daily concerns. You keep Pinch accountable to its values by keeping our “why” at the forefront of your work.