Do you excel at orchestrating creative workflow — turning complexity into clarity, momentum, and consistently brilliant delivery?
Are you a client‑focused operational leader who thrives at the intersection of process, people, and purpose — ensuring great ideas become outstanding, real‑world impact?
Do you bring the perfect blend of operational rigour, creative empathy, and commercial awareness — keeping teams inspired, clients confident, and projects flowing smoothly from insight to execution?
The role
We're looking for a Creative Operations & Client Services Manager to play a pivotal role at the heart of ICE's creative delivery — leading operational excellence while acting as a trusted partner to our clients.
You are the architect of workflow, the guardian of process, and the connector between clients ambition and creative execution.
ICE exists to help people, places, and organisations thrive. We turn behavioural insight and evidence into campaigns, experiences, and communications that improve lives.
This role ensures that insight becomes impactful, accessible, beautifully executed creative, delivered on time, on budget, and aligned to client objectives.
You will work as part of a fast paced, agile, creative organisation. You will be expected to drive and have access to a car. You will also be expected to travel to other ICE offices from time to time.
Why join ICE
We deliver purpose-led work that directly improves communities, health, and wellbeing.
Our work is evidence that we are leading behaviour change work across the UK
We have a culture rooted in insight, creativity, and co-design.
We offer opportunities for professional development across behaviour change, design, insight, and digital innovation.
Offer hybrid working with trust, autonomy, and a supportive leadership team.
Promise a chance to shape the evolution of ICE's brand and creative capability.
Salary Range: £38,000 - £45,000 per annum.
Key elements of the day-to-day role:
The role will involve:
Client Services & Account Management
• Act as the primary day-to-day contact for allocated creative services clients.
• Build strong, trusted client relationships through proactive communication and responsiveness.
• Lead client briefings and translate objectives into actionable studio briefs.
• Manage expectations around timelines, scope, budget and deliverables.
• Provide regular progress updates and status reporting internally and to clients.
• Anticipate risks and resolve issues proactively, bringing cross-agency skills in to support solutions and identify growth opportunities.
• Support account growth and contribute to proposals and scoping discussions.
Creative & Studio Operations
• Lead end-to-end studio workflow: briefing, scoping, scheduling, traffic management, QA, and sign-off.
• Manage capacity planning and resource allocation across design, marketing, and digital services teams.
• Oversee timelines and delivery schedules across multiple projects.
• Optimise project management tools and studio processes, ensuring resources and team are fully utilised and working effectively.
• Maintain quality assurance, accessibility standards, and brand consistency.
• Identify and implement operational improvements to increase efficiency.
Financial & Commercial Oversight
• Support accurate scoping and costing of creative work.
• Track budgets, time allocation, and profitability.
• Ensure projects are delivered within agreed budgets and timescales, producing reports and evidence.
• Identify efficiencies that improve margin and delivery performance.
Leadership & Culture
• Line manage and support team members across Marketing, Design and Digital.
• Empower a collaborative, accountable, and high-performing studio culture.
• Set clear expectations and support professional development.
• Encourage cross-team collaboration across ICE.
Operations & Governance
· Act at all times within the Company's rules, policies, procedures, and financial regulations.
· Observe and comply with employees' obligations under Health and Safety policy and law.
· Support a progressive approach to Equal Opportunities ensuring that the Company's commitment to equality of opportunity in service provision and employment practices are present in any work.
· Comply with all information governance policies and procedures at all times.
· Maintain the highest standards of personal and professional integrity and conduct.
Essential existing skills/experience
* 3 years minimum in creative agency/studio/operations or client services role.
* End-to-end creative delivery management.
* Managing multi-disciplinary teams (approx. 4–6+ people).
* Client relationship ownership.
* Budget tracking and scope management.
* Line management and team development.
* Performance management and expectation setting.
* Managing freelancers/suppliers.
* Workflow/system implementation.
* Traffic management and capacity planning.
* Process improvement and optimisation.
* Strong project/programme management.
* Prioritisation and risk management.
* Resource forecasting.
* Process design.
* Confident leading client meetings.
* Expectation and scope management.
* Clear written and verbal communication.
* Negotiation and influencing skills.
* Ability to manage your own work and deliver across multiple projects.
* Budget management.
* Understanding of margins and utilisation.
* Commercial judgement in delivery decisions.
* Excellent attention to detail and time management skills.
* A collaborative mindset and willingness to learn and grow.
* Comfortable with a hybrid working model (a mix of office and home-based).
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Experience in using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other digital platforms.
Desirable:
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Public sector/NHS/health sector experience.
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Bid support and proposal development.
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Behaviour change or purpose-led campaigns.
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Scaling teams or implementing structural change.
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Advanced reporting dashboards and utilisation tracking.
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Familiarity with CMS platforms and creative software ecosystems.
About us
ICE is one of the fastest growing behaviour change organisations in the UK. We bring courage, energy, and ambition to equip & enable more organisations & people to move our world forward. To grow our significance as a leading behaviour change practice. By energising organisations & people to find the clarity, courage, & commitment needed to realise their full purpose & potential.
Our Mission
We are social activists driven to unlock your power, purpose and possibility, we are for people and planet.
We Make Better Happen.
We are a purpose-driven organisation; our ethos and beliefs are important to us. As a team we hold and practice three core character traits and set around those character traits are the behaviours that matter to us as a team for our work together.
Whole Heartedness:
Bring passion and energy to our work, our colleagues and ourselves.
Trust:
Trust and intent to do the right thing.
Being Curious and Creative:
Bringing our ideas to add value to what we do.
"We live by what we believe not by what we see."
Training for all roles will be provided along with a programme of continued professional development.
Only those shortlisted will be contacted.