Operations Manager – Digital Marketing Agency

Operations Manager – Digital Marketing Agency

Location: Remote from South Africa

Industry: Digital Marketing / Professional Services

Company: Confidential

The Opportunity

Our client is an established, growing digital marketing agency with a team of approximately 20 professionals operating internationally. The agency delivers services across SEO, paid media, conversion rate optimisation (CRO), content and analytics.

They are seeking a hands-on Operations Manager to improve operational efficiency, strengthen accountability across the business and free up senior leadership to focus on strategic priorities.

This is a highly practical role requiring someone who can connect people, projects, resources and commercial administration to ensure the business operates effectively.

The successful candidate will be expected to identify operational challenges early, make sound decisions within agreed parameters, take ownership of issues through to resolution and continuously improve processes to prevent recurring problems.

Key Responsibilities

1. Resource Planning, Capacity & Project Delivery

• Maintain accurate and reliable information relating to project delivery, team capacity and resource availability.
  

• Reconcile contracted client hours, planned workloads, actual time recorded, employee leave and remaining project requirements.
  

• Monitor all stages of work, including work in progress, reviews, blocked tasks and additional work required to correct or complete deliverables.
  

• Assess available team capacity based on skills, availability and project timelines.
  

• Maintain consistent reporting periods, assumptions, and reliable sources of operational information.
  

• Identify resource constraints, workload imbalances, project overruns and potential delivery risks.
  

• Ensure issues are translated into clear decisions and actions, with assigned owners and deadlines.
  

2. Operational Accountability & Follow-Through

• Ensure actions arising from meetings, internal communications and business discussions are accurately recorded in agreed systems.
  

• Assign clear ownership, deadlines, and evidence of completion to operational actions.
  

• Monitor outstanding tasks and ensure commitments are delivered.
  

• Resolve routine operational blockers and coordinate dependencies between teams.
  

• Escalate significant issues proactively, presenting practical options and recommended solutions.
  

• Establish a culture of accountability, consistency and effective follow-through.
  

3. Commercial Administration, Scope & Billing Readiness

• Maintain effective operational processes from initial client agreement through project delivery, scope changes and completion.
  

• Ensure accurate records of contracting entities, approved project scope, commencement dates, milestones, purchase orders and billing restrictions.
  

• Monitor changes to agreed project scope and ensure appropriate approval processes are followed.
  

• Work closely with account owners and Finance to resolve commercial or administrative exceptions.
  

• Ensure operational delivery and invoicing information remain aligned.
  

• Support timely and accurate handovers to Finance without assuming responsibility for accounting, invoice approval, or payment authority.
  

4. Client Onboarding & Project Launch Readiness

• Coordinate operational onboarding requirements for new clients and projects.
  

• Ensure project briefs, resource allocation, internal handovers, system access, and necessary approvals are completed before work begins.
  

• Maintain structured onboarding and project launch checklists.
  

• Identify incomplete or unapproved launch requirements and ensure they are addressed.
  

• Coordinate the management of operational incidents and launch-related issues.
  

• Ensure appropriate technical specialists provide required approvals and supporting evidence for the approved version before launch.
  

5. Internal Systems, Processes & Administration

• Maintain consistent workflow standards and operational procedures across the business.
  

• Ensure ownership of operational data and responsibilities is clearly defined.
  

• Keep essential process documentation accurate and up to date.
  

• Coordinate employee onboarding and offboarding requirements with authorised stakeholders.
  

• Support the management of business assets, system access requests, renewals and administrative requirements.
  

• Ensure agreed internal controls are followed, and appropriate supporting records are maintained.
  

• Establish effective handover arrangements and cover for recurring operational responsibilities.
  

6. Continuous Improvement & Operational Efficiency

• Identify and eliminate unnecessary administrative processes, duplicated reporting and avoidable meetings.
  

• Evaluate operational improvements based on potential benefit, implementation effort and associated risk.
  

• Introduce practical changes that improve productivity, accuracy and consistency.
  

• Ensure new processes are adopted by relevant teams.
  

• Monitor and measure the effectiveness of implemented improvements.
  

• Demonstrate tangible reductions in manual work, operational errors and unnecessary management involvement.
  

AI, Automation & Technology

A key component of this position is the ability to use technology, AI and automation to improve operational efficiency.

The successful candidate must be comfortable personally configuring and implementing straightforward, low-risk workflow improvements using existing business systems, AI tools and low-code automation platforms.

Examples may include:

• Automated alerts identifying resource or capacity issues.
  

• Automated capture of meeting actions, subject to human review.
  

• Streamlined client onboarding workflows and automated readiness checks.
  

• Improvements to operational reporting and administrative processes.
  

The Operations Manager will work alongside a dedicated automation specialist to identify requirements for more complex technical integrations.

Responsibilities will include:

• Defining automation requirements and clear acceptance criteria.
  

• Testing automated processes before implementation.
  

• Supporting adoption across relevant teams.
  

• Monitoring performance and maintaining implemented workflows.
  

• Ensuring approved systems and appropriate data access are used.
  

• Maintaining separation of confidential client information.
  

• Protecting human-edited information and managing duplicate or missing data.
  

• Establishing appropriate activity logs, failure notifications, and manual backup procedures.
  

• Using reliable, rules-based calculations and retaining human approval for sensitive or commercially significant decisions.
  

• Measuring actual time savings after allowing for checking and maintenance, alongside accuracy and employee adoption.
  

This is not a software engineering position. However, candidates must be able to demonstrate practical experience implementing and maintaining automation solutions rather than simply identifying opportunities for improvement.

Decision-Making Authority & Working Relationships

The Operations Manager will be empowered to make routine operational decisions within agreed priorities, budgets and approval limits.

This will include:

• Requiring complete project plans and operational information.
  

• Returning incomplete briefs for correction.
  

• Enforcing agreed workflow standards.
  

• Coordinating routine resource adjustments.
  

• Identifying work that is not ready for launch and obtaining the necessary approvals.
  

• Escalating material issues relating to project scope, expenditure, capacity and commercial decisions with clear recommendations.
  

The position will work closely with Account Managers, Account Directors, Client Partners, Finance and senior leadership.

Existing functional responsibilities will remain with the appropriate teams:

• Account Managers: Day-to-day account coordination and client communication.
  

• Account Directors: Strategy and specialist delivery quality.
  

• Client Partners: Client commercial outcomes, retention, growth and scope decisions.
  

• Finance: Accounting, invoicing and payment authority.
  

• Senior Leadership: Business strategy, people management and significant commercial decisions.
  

The Operations Manager will ensure effective coordination between these functions, maintain clear handovers and drive operational issues through to resolution.

Candidate Requirements

Relevant Operational Experience

• Previous responsibility for operations within a small or medium-sized agency, professional services organisation or comparable service-based business.
  

• Strong understanding of resource planning, project delivery, client deadlines and operational efficiency.
  

• Commercial awareness of how employee time, project scope and resource allocation affect business profitability.
  

• Experience identifying and resolving operational inefficiencies.
  

Ownership & Problem-Solving

• Demonstrable experience personally identifying and resolving recurring operational problems.
  

• Confidence making practical decisions when information is incomplete.