Head of Production, Experience Design

As Head of Production, Experience Design, your role is key to shaping and delivering our productions, requiring hands-on problem-solving to achieve top-quality, creative outcomes. We run multiple projects at once, spanning from XR to immersive experiences and DOOH. Working closely with the business development team, you’ll oversee the planning, execution, and management of all projects and teams, ensuring smooth operations and high standards. A proven track record in delivering complex tech-driven projects, along with strong skills in budgeting, scheduling, and team structuring, is essential.

You’ll manage the financial health and risk management of interactive and immersive experiences, and uphold production quality while fostering best practices. This includes managing permanent and freelance production staff, ensuring the team has the resources and capabilities needed to succeed.

You will also collaborate with the new business team, resource managers, and creative tech leads to align on goals, while working closely with the Head of Production (Branded Content/Film) to maintain unified processes and practices across the company. Maintaining regular collaboration with senior teams in our London and LA offices to ensure productions align with company objectives and leverage the strengths of our multi-skilled, global team.

Responsibilities:

Productions & Operations:

• Ensure solid and unified budgeting, scoping and scheduling practices across the production team; Update and continuously improve budget templates in conjunction with Finance Director.
• Ensuring a solid budgeting and scheduling process is set up from the outset on all new business enquiries.
• Standardised pitch and discovery processes and placement of productions between studios, including partner studios.
• Oversee all productions, ensuring that they are well planned and on track (profitability, creative excellence and technical soundness, risk management).
• Develop best practices in all areas ranging from pitching through to archival of the job, ensuring that projects are derisked and have maximum creative potential.
• Work closely with LA operations to ensure that they are supported and new business flows as smoothly as possible to London in that handover.
• Oversight of ‘crossover projects’ (film, interactive, original content).
• Involvement in, and awareness of, process development, including pipelines for interactive plus animation, live-action and real-time (AR/VR/animation/VFX) productions.
• Development of approaches and communication for cross-studio productions e.g. where discovery phase starts in the LA Studio and is passed to the London studio for production.
• Make sure standard practices are always adhered to (naming conventions, folder conventions, Discovery processes and risk assessment, etc.) while allowing them to respond to market & project specific demands without unnecessary restrictions.
  

People:

• Responsible for effectively allocating and managing team across production and new business (creative resources), ensuring effective execution of brief by resource managers for maximum utilisation of production staff and freelancers.
• Responsible for  production staff development (both internal training and working to pull in external talent as appropriate). This includes mentorship, formal training opportunities & work with the Head of People for roadmaps for employees.
• Work closely with the Resource Manager to develop the Creative Technology & Creative teams and coordinate needs & opportunities with other departments / senior managementWork with Branded Content HoP to ensure that all production talent is looked after and mentored in both disciplines.
• Development of best practices with the animation studio for interactive productions.
• Develop and maintain network of trusted production freelancers and partners, and work closely with the Talent & Resource Manager, Experience Design for all other talent.
• Promoting a positive and productive work environment and facilitate collaborative efforts.
• Maintain good morale within the team – particularly by championing great work and developing awareness, understanding and appreciation.

Business Affairs:

• Contracts and risk management - work closely with the EPs, the MD, insurers and legal to streamline and minimise risks.
• Drawing up internal documents, templates and contracts.
• Reviewing and negotiating standard external contracts (with EPs as appropriate), particularly on projects using more complicated arrangements.
• Reviewing and negotiating external licence, buyout, merchandise and any other legal documents, working with the MD.
• Ensuring all EPs and producers have a good understanding of best practice.
• Ensuring all productions have insurance cover in place.

New Business:

• Work with EPs to ensure that there are proper resources for all new business and productions, both internally and with partners.
• Work to develop new forecasting models; Ensuring full visibility of new business and productions in realtime to all stakeholder.

Strategy & Development:

• Work with senior management to ensure that priorities, vision and operations are in alignment with the overall company vision.
• Work with senior management and Finance to develop new production models to ensure that there is proper support (from slide templates to contracts to project management tools) to align our efforts around those structures.
• Key contributor to organisational development and maintaining company performance and culture.

Other:

• Maintain good relationships and knowledge of our talent network, rostered directors and our film teams.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with clients, suppliers and crew.