Head of Operations - Immersive Experience Studio

Wētā Workshop is seeking a Head of Operations for its expanding Immersive Experience division. This role involves driving financial performance, operational excellence, and people leadership across global studio networks, ensuring efficiency and cohesion for creative teams delivering extraordinary immersive experiences. The Head of Operations will be a crucial link between strategy and execution, evolving the operational, financial, and cultural heartbeat of the studio.

Must Have

• Maintain and evolve systems, processes, and compliance frameworks across studio locations.
• Oversee legal, commercial, and administrative functions such as quoting, contracting, invoicing, and reporting.
• Strengthen inter-team collaboration between Immersive Experience, Creative Media, Design Studio, and Manufacture.
• Support the establishment of new studio locations and ensure ongoing operational readiness.
• Lead annual budgeting and ongoing financial forecasting, with a firm grip on profit and sustainability.
• Partner with the finance team to deliver monthly reporting, cash flow forecasting, and variance analysis.
• Oversee financial approvals and prepare business cases to support strategic decisions.
• Drive studio-wide resource planning and utilisation forecasting.
• Identify capacity gaps, bottlenecks, and opportunities for optimisation across project pipelines.
• Champion processes and team structures that balance creativity, efficiency, and commercial outcomes.
• Oversee recruitment, onboarding, development, and performance across global teams.
• Foster a positive, inclusive culture grounded in Wētā Workshop’s values.
• Sound financial acumen and analytical capability.
• Exceptional communication, relationship-building and influencing skills.
• A collaborative, people-first leadership style.
• A proactive, solutions-driven approach to systems, processes, and workflow design.
• Loads of positive energy and passion for supporting creative excellence through strong operational foundations.

Perks & Benefits

• Opportunity to shape the future of immersive experiences.
• Play a pivotal role in enabling teams to bring extraordinary worlds to life.
• Help develop the operational framework that powers global storytelling at scale.

Company Description

We are a company of artisans and innovators. For over 30 years, we’ve applied our creativity and craftsmanship to the world’s arts, entertainment and experience industries

Our Immersive Experience (IE) Team are renowned for creating unique and meaningful experiences, from the intimate to the epic! They've worked on exhibitions, narrative-driven destinations, museums, galleries, retail spaces, art installations and a lot more... you can see our work here.

Job Description

Are you a seasoned operational leader with a passion for enabling world-class creative experiences? Wētā Workshop’s Immersive Experience division is expanding and seeking a dynamic Head of Operations to evolve the operational, financial, and cultural heartbeat of our growing global studio network.

About the Role

As Head of Operations, you’ll be the crucial link between strategy and execution—driving financial performance, operational excellence, and sound people leadership practices across our New Zealand studio and planned future studios in emerging markets. You will ensure the studios operate with efficiency, clarity, and cohesion, enabling creative teams to focus on delivering extraordinary immersive experiences around the world.

What You’ll Lead:

Operational Excellence

• Maintain and evolve systems, processes, and compliance frameworks across studio locations.
• Oversee legal, commercial, and administrative functions such as quoting, contracting, invoicing, and reporting.
• Strengthen inter-team collaboration between Immersive Experience, Creative Media, Design Studio, and Manufacture.
• Support the establishment of new studio locations and ensure ongoing operational readiness.

Financial Management

• Lead annual budgeting and ongoing financial forecasting, with a firm grip on profit and sustainability.
• Partner with our finance team to deliver monthly reporting, cash flow forecasting, and variance analysis.
• Oversee financial approvals and prepare business cases to support strategic decisions.

Resource & Workflow Leadership

• Drive studio-wide resource planning and utilisation forecasting.
• Identify capacity gaps, bottlenecks, and opportunities for optimisation across project pipelines.
• Champion processes and team structures that balance creativity, efficiency, and commercial outcomes.

People & Culture

• Oversee recruitment, onboarding, development, and performance across global teams.
• Foster a positive, inclusive culture grounded in Wētā Workshop’s values—creativity, courage, kindness, kotahitanga, and excellence.

About You

You’re an exceptional operational leader with a strong commercial mindset and proven ability to run complex, multi-location creative or production environments. You’ll bring:

• Sound financial acumen and analytical capability.
• Exceptional communication, relationship-building and influencing skills.
• A collaborative, people-first leadership style.
• A proactive, solutions-driven approach to systems, processes, and workflow design.
• Loads of positive energy and passion for supporting creative excellence through strong operational foundations.

Why Join Us?

This is a rare opportunity to shape the future of immersive experiences at one of the world’s most renowned creative companies. You’ll play a pivotal role in enabling teams to bring extraordinary worlds to life—and help develop the operational framework that powers global storytelling at scale, as we continue to grow.

Additional Information

You can find out more information in our job description here.

If we can do anything to accommodate you during the recruitment or interview process, please let us know.

Successful applicants will undergo a Ministry of Justice and other background checks as part of our recruitment process.