Director of People Operations: Boutique LA and NY Creative Studio
Location: LA or NYC
Our client is a boutique creative studio with around 30 team members based primarily in LA but also NYC – recently named one of the most innovative companies in the world by Fast Company. Their work spans brand identity, advertising, product design, web, and more — working with companies like Recess, Fly By Jing, David, Grindr, A24, TBPN, and The BBC.
The studio seeks a Director of People Operations with a design agency, brand studio, or creative startup background who both owns the people side of the studio (onboarding, performance, policy) and resource management with a direct responsibility for forecasting studio capacity, advising leadership. This role comes with management responsibility as well.
Responsibilities:
-Own and evolve people operations, including hiring, onboarding, offboarding, performance management, and team development
-Build and maintain company policies, employee handbooks, and operational documentation that reflect the studio's values and protect the team
-Lead recruiting efforts across the studio, from writing job descriptions and sourcing candidates through interviews and offers
-Oversee the contractor-to-full-time pipeline and ensure a smooth, transparent experience for new hires during trial periods
-Champion studio culture by creating rituals, feedback loops, and structures that keep the team connected across offices and remote contributors
-Serve as a trusted point of contact for team members on workplace concerns, growth conversations, and interpersonal dynamics
-Partner with leadership to develop compensation frameworks, benefits programs, and professional development opportunities
-Track and manage compliance, contracts, and employment logistics across states and employment types
-Identify what's not working in how we operate and propose real solutions, not just surface-level fixes
-Own studio-wide resource management: forecast capacity across disciplines and timeframes, and give leadership a clear, current read on how much new business we can take on without breaking the team or the margin
-Deliver regular capacity, utilization, and staffing reports to leadership, and translate those numbers into clear recommendations that tie directly to revenue targets
-Manage the Resource Manager, and build the systems, tools, and cadences that keep staffing balanced, sustainable, and aligned with both team capacity and business needs
-Partner with Creative Leads, Producers and Project Managers to ensure projects are staffed accurately from kickoff
-Own the contractor network as a strategic resource: maintain a strong bench, manage rates, and bring in the right freelance talent quickly when capacity or craft requires it
Requirements:
-8+ years of experience in people operations, talent management or HR at a design agency, brand studio, creative consultancy, or startup. Non-negotiable. Someone who understands the rhythms of studio life.
-Direct experience managing or overseeing resourcing, staffing, or workforce planning in a project-based creative environment
-Exceptionally organized with clean systems, documented processes and reliable follow through
-Deeply people-oriented but operationally minded. You care about how people feel and you also care about whether the systems supporting them actually work
-Strong instincts around employment practices, compensation, and compliance, and when to bring in outside counsel
-Culture-builder, not a culture-police. Understand that great studio culture is intentional but not forced, and you know how to create the conditions for it without over-engineering it
-Comfortable navigating difficult conversations with honesty and care, whether that's a performance issue, a team conflict, or a hard organizational decision
-Communicate with clarity and warmth across every level of the organization, from leadership to interns
-Proactive, not just reactive. You think about how to make the team stronger six months from now, not just how to get through the week
-Great taste and genuine appreciation for the creative work the studio produces
Apply Now
Send your resume to jodi@trurecruitment.com.