Senior Vice President, Delivery and Operations

About us: Highwire is a modern strategic communications and digital marketing agency designed for disruptive companies. We work with high-growth technology companies and established brands looking to reinvent themselves.

At Highwire, we believe that storytelling fuels transformation. And the most impactful stories represent all voices and perspectives. As a values-driven agency, we foster an inclusive environment where everyone—regardless of age, race/ethnicity, size, shape, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion and different abilities–can feel safe, celebrated and worthy.

We ensure every Highwire Walker has unique support to climb to success. Our commitment to diversity, inclusion and belonging is permanent and foundational to our business and culture. We aspire to change our industry and build a better future for all.

Our people-first culture is driven by four core values:

1. Inclusion Always
2. Growth Mindset
3. Team Empowerment
4. Fierce Distinction

We’re looking for individuals with big ideas, strong opinions, and the energy to bring them to life. If you thrive in an environment that values personal accountability, high standards, and boundless motivation, this is the opportunity for you. Be part of our award-winning culture and contribute to an exciting and growing business where you can make a real impact.

We are based in San Francisco, with offices in New York, Boston, and Chicago. However, we are also open to hiring in the following states: Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.

The Senior Vice President of Delivery and Operations guides the delivery of all client work, ensuring timely results to agreed standards while aligning the outputs and dependencies of various disciplines and external resources. By owning both internal and client-facing processes, they design, implement and refine our project management, quality control, resource allocation and tracking.

Bringing multidisciplinary experience in marketing, communications, content and creative work, they harmonize schedules and anticipate roadblocks ensuring continued growth, risk mitigation, and client retention.

This role offers an exciting opportunity to shape the future of a thriving strategic communications and integrated marketing agency, while significantly improving our operational efficiency. The ideal candidate will blend strategic thinking with operational excellence to drive growth, ensure scalability, and deliver exceptional results for our clients.

Key Responsibilities

• Operational Excellence and Process Standardization:
  • Develop and implement standardized processes for resource requests, delivery, quality assurance, and internal reporting (utilization, capacity, billability) using existing agency platforms, such as Kantata, as well as making recommendations for new ones
  • Adapt and integrate various business models into our processes: Fixed pricing, deliverable-based pricing, managed vendor and time and materials
  • Oversee the development of SKU-based pricing and capacity forecasting for appropriate deliverable-based work
  • Continuously improve proposal and scoping accuracy through ownership of budgeting processes and audits against time entry
• Capacity Planning and Resource Management:
  • Own Digital capacity planning, accounting for multi-disciplinary teams, third-party contractors and internal constraints such as client conflicts and availability
  • Implement weekly staffing forecasts and capacity planning processes to ensure optimal resource allocation and conflict avoidance - while Highwire plans billability monthly, we aim to schedule work weekly to avoid overlaps and overcommitment
  • In partnership with our finance team, manage freelance and contractor budgets against planned capacity and spend, ensuring additional capacity is deployed only where necessary and justified
• Client Relationship Management:
  • Participate in and manage client-facing activities, including ownership of key/high-value work for Highwire’s most important clients
  • Work in partnership with Client Relationship Managers (CRMs), account leads and practice leads to build a strong understanding of key clients' businesses, verticals, preferences, technical requirements and operational nuances
  • Identify client growth opportunities and participate in proactive proposals to continually enhance delivered programs (ideally leveraging the repeatable processes outlined above)
• Team Leadership and Development:
  • Manage and mentor producers, project managers and delivery specialists, including direct reports
  • Hold regular one-on-one meetings and execute performance evaluations for direct reports, leveraging individual OKRs and quarterly targets. Align all goals with the Digital practice and agency objectives
  • Foster a positive, collaborative culture that contributes to job satisfaction and team efficiency
  • Embrace hybrid staffing models, particularly on smaller accounts, where some level of project management work will be handled by account managers. Facilitate their onboarding to standard processes wherever applicable.
• New Business and Growth:
  • Participate in new business processes for significant opportunities, helping to facilitate the development of new business pitches and proposals
  • Collaborate with business development teams to refine existing new business processes, and connect them to our delivery models for a seamless transition from prospect to client workflows
• Cross-Functional Integration:
  • Proactively identify integration opportunities and efficiencies between Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Creative, Insights & Analytics and Public Relations teams
  • Consistently strive to connect operational processes (project management, task management) to business processes (revenue and expenditure tracking)

Qualifications and Experience

• 10+ years of experience in project management, operations or related field, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role
• Proven track record in developing and implementing operational processes and systems
• Experience working within Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Creative, Insights & Analytics or Public Relations
• Experience in service delivery, capacity planning, resource management, and forecasting
• Change management and internal communications experience is a benefit
• Excellent project management skills with proficiency in relevant software (e.g., Asana, Monday.com , Wrike, Kantata)
• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Project Management, Marketing, Communications, or related field; MBA preferred

Personal Attributes

• Strategic thinker with strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Detail-oriented with the ability to see the big picture
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, able to build trust quickly and effect change with relationship building, not just process deployment
• Adaptable and resilient in a fast-paced, changing environment
• Willingness to try, fail and try again: A lot of the approaches introduced by this role will be new to Highwire, and may not find their footing first time
• Results-driven with a focus on efficiency and quality
• Strong leadership abilities with a talent for mentoring and developing team

Additional Requirements

• Available to work Monday through Friday during standard business hours in a U.S. timezone (ET or PT preferred)
• U.S. citizen or permanent resident legally allowed to work in the U.S.

Salary Information

$195,000 - $249,000 a year

The anticipated salary range for this position is $195,000 - $249,000. Salary is based on a range of factors that include relevant experience, knowledge, skills, other job-related qualifications, and geography.

The duties delineated above will vary depending on the needs of each specific account, and in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by this employee. This individual will be required to follow any other instructions and to perform any other duties requested by his or her supervisors.

We are actively seeking candidates who possess a genuine passion for tech PR and are excited to expand our team. As we continue to grow our agency, we are proactively building a pipeline of exceptional individuals to connect with and consider for future opportunities.

If you are enthusiastic about the world of tech PR and are eager to embark on a rewarding career in this field, we encourage you to start the conversation by applying today. We value your interest in our agency and look forward to hearing from you.

Apply now and let's explore the possibilities together!