(USA) Senior Manager, Creative- Business Affairs

Position Summary...

Do you have a keen understanding of production budgets and expenses? Do coworkers seek out your eye for detail to review their reports? Have you ever been excited about the idea of finding and fixing inefficiencies in a creative way? If so, you might be ideal for the Senior Manager, Creative Production Analyst role within the Walmart Creative Studio.

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in production cost management across various media, including TV, Print, OOH, Digital Videos, Web, Mobile, Social, and Experiential, and will be able to leverage that experience
to produce insights about budgeting efficiently to produce high-quality content.

In this role, you will review in-house and agency production estimates to optimize our investment in quality content creation. You will work together with our creative and production teams, marketers, and finance partners to establish best practices, locate efficiencies, and improve return on investment.

What you'll do...

• Review and advise creative and production teams’ production costs for all content creation projects, ensuring optimal use of resources.
• Develop, implement, and maintain industry-leading benchmarking standards and best practices for production cost management.
• Provide objective validation and transparency in budget and estimate planning and allocation for content creation projects.
• Establish and enforce ongoing governance of Walmart’s creative production infrastructure.
• Collaborate closely with internal WCS and external agency partners’ creative and production teams, in-house marketers, and finance partners to identify opportunities for cost savings without compromising quality.
• Conduct regular analysis of production costs and provide detailed reports to senior management. Build quarterly reports on production budget savings to share with finance.

• Identify potential risks in marketing and advertising strategies, develop mitigation plans, and ensure adherence to internal policies and guidelines.
• Manage relationships with external vendors and negotiate favorable terms to maximize value.
• Train and develop internal teams on cost management best practices and tools.
• Monitor industry regulations and legal requirements relevant to advertising and marketing practices, advising the team on compliance matters.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in production cost management, as an agency producer, line producer, or in a similar hands-on production role, preferably within a large-scale advertising or content creation environment.
• Direct experience with bidding processes, including reviewing, comparing, and negotiating production estimates and vendor bids for TV, Print, OOH, Digital Videos, Web, Mobile, Social, and Experiential media.
• Prior experience managing or overseeing agency-produced work and collaborating closely with external production partners.
• Demonstrated ability to manage and oversee production budgets ranging from $500k to $20m across multiple projects and media types.
• Familiarity with AICP Guidelines and union (DGA, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, ACE, etc.) crew and talent rates and applicable overtime compensation.
• Proficient in cost management software and tools.
• Meticulous attention to detail in reviewing reports and contracts to ensure accuracy and compliance.
• In-depth knowledge of industry standards and best practices for production cost management.
• Excellent problem solving, quantitative, and analytical abilities and strong negotiation and communication skills.
• Strong vendor relationships with production companies, with a proven ability to leverage those relationships to drive efficiency, quality, and value.
• Demonstrated ability to offer new insight and drive innovation in production.
• Ability to think strategically and provide sound business advice while balancing creative needs.
• Familiari