The Studio Director is responsible for providing strategic leadership and operational oversight to the creative design function, ensuring the effective planning, resourcing, workflow management, and delivery of all creative design output. The role exists to bring clarity, structure, and momentum to the studio, enabling consistently high-quality work to be delivered efficiently and to agreed standards. Sitting at the centre of the creative design operation, the Studio Director ensures that design work is delivered by the right people, at the right time, and in line with business priorities. As a senior leader and line manager for the design team, the role balances creative ambition with operational discipline, working in close partnership with the Creative Director, Product Director, Editorial Director and Production Director to align studio output with strategic objectives. This role is pivotal in building scalable, effective studio systems and fostering an environment in which creative teams are supported, empowered, and able to perform at their best.
Responsibilities
* Traffic, Planning & Resourcing: Own end-to-end traffic and scheduling for the design team, working closely with Design Team Leads.
* Translate product and commercial priorities into clear, achievable creative plans.
* Build and maintain forward-looking capacity plans across permanent designers, freelancers and agencies.
* Balance workloads to avoid bottlenecks.
* Manage prioritisation, dependencies and sequencing across multiple product lines and seasons.
* Proactively identify resourcing risks and recommend solutions (re-prioritisation, freelance support, scope or timeline changes).
* Operations & Workflow: Design and continuously improve creative design workflows from brief to final delivery and handover to production.
* Ensure briefs are well-formed, prioritised and actionable before work enters the system.
* Implement stage gates, review points and sign-off processes that protect quality and timelines.
* Own and evolve creative project management tools, templates and reporting.
* Drive consistency, transparency and accountability across all creative workstreams.
* Cross-Functional Leadership: Act as the primary operational interface between Creative, Product and Production teams.
* Partner with Product to align creative output with product strategy, roadmap and commercial goals.
* Work with Production to ensure creative timelines support manufacturing, sourcing and retail deadlines.
* Support the Creative Director in maintaining creative standards while delivering against real-world constraints.
* Facilitate planning, prioritisation and trade-off conversations when demand exceeds capacity.
* Team Leadership & Enablement: Lead and develop the Creative Design Operations / Traffic / Studio Management function.
* Line-manage and support the design team, fostering clarity, and trust.
* Coach teams to work effectively within structured, scalable processes.
* Enable better planning, prioritisation and feedback conversations across creative leadership.
* Promote sustainable ways of working.
* Commercial & Strategic Impact: Provide leadership with a clear, accurate view of creative capacity, timelines and delivery risks.
* Support decisions around investment in headcount, tools, freelancers and agencies.
* Ensure creative operations scale effectively as the business grows into new categories, markets and channels.
* Help balance innovation and speed-to-market with quality, cost and operational discipline.
* Governance, Reporting & Performance: Define, track and report on key operational metrics for the design team.
* Ensure compliance with internal governance, brand standards and relevant external requirements.
* Support recruitment planning and hiring alongside the Creative Director and Studio Manager.
Qualifications
* Proven experience leading creative operations, studio management, traffic, or resource planning within a fast-paced creative environment.
* Highly organised and structured, with the ability to remain calm under pressure and bring clarity to complex workflows and competing priorities.
* Strong people leadership skills, with a demonstrated ability to support team wellbeing, performance, and professional development.
* Experience operating effectively within matrix organisations, partnering confidently with multiple senior stakeholders.
* Commercially astute, with a clear understanding of how creative delivery supports wider business objectives and outcomes.
* Comfortable challenging priorities, facilitating trade-offs, and making informed, pragmatic recommendations to enable effective decision-making.
About Curious Universe
At Curious Universe, we\'re all about sparking joy, creativity, and curiosity--through brilliantly designed products that invite everyone to create, explore, and play. Based in the vibrant city of Bath, we\'re a passionate, diverse team of designers, makers, and innovators, united by one mission: To create out-of-this world products that make people feel inspired and happy inside. Founded in 2018, we\'ve grown fast--selling over 20 million products a year in 38 languages across 77 countries. Our portfolio includes arts & crafts, activity books, toys, stationery and lifestyle products, plus exciting, licensed ranges that bring best-loved brands to life in fresh, engaging formats. At Curious Universe, we design products that spark imagination and invite hands-on creativity, turning ideas into experiences that inspire all ages. With a talented and diverse team driving innovation across every department, we\'re proud to create products that stand out on shelves and in homes around the world. Along the way, we\'ve been proud to earn recognition for both our creativity and company culture, from being named Business of the Year at the Business Leaders South-West Awards to winning Diversity & Inclusion at the Elite Business UK Awards. Our products have also picked up top honours, including the Creative Play Award and Dad\'s Choice Award. We are a 100+ team driving everything we do.
#J-18808-Ljbffr