Director of Creative Operations
Wolverine Worldwide · Rockford, MI
- Level
- Director+
- Team
- Production
- Degree
- Required
- Experience asked
- 10+ years
- Industry
- Industrial
- Posted
- 23 days ago
The role in 30 seconds
A director-level production role at Wolverine Worldwide (industrial) in Rockford, MI. Design, implement, and continuously improve operational processes across The Agency.
- They ask for
- 10+ years · degree required
- Tools it names
- Automation, Casting, Capacity planning
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of October 19, 2026
Production Engineer roles in the US: typical posted base $116k–$158k.
Median of the low and high ends of 241 live postings that list pay, out of 787 production engineer openings in the US, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
Michigan plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 20 other live production postings in Michigan.
- Experience asked
- More than usual (10+ vs 8+)
Similar roles usually ask 8+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- Lean 67%
- Team leadership 52%
- Six Sigma 33%
- ✓ Automation 33%
- New product launch 33%
- Cost reduction 29%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
Stands out: this posting asks for Casting, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
How to get in at this plant
Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.
- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Production team at Wolverine Worldwide
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
- 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.
Full description from Wolverine WorldwideAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
Primary Duties
Operations works to bring work from the project level up to the business level by designing and implementing business strategies.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required
- ✓Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Operations.
- ✓10+ years of experience in creative operations, project management, agency operations in an advertising agency environment.
- ✓Experience leading operational functions.
- ✓Strong understanding of the creative process from project intake through delivery.
- ✓Proven experience building resource plans, managing capacity, and balancing competing priori
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE: WWW) is a global footwear and apparel company driven by a vision to Make. Every Day. Better. Founded in 1883, the Company builds and grows iconic brands including Merrell®, Saucony®, Wolverine®, Sweaty Betty®, Chaco®, Hush Puppies®, Stride Rite®, HYTEST®, and Bates®, along with footwear licenses for Cat® and Harley-Davidson®. Headquartered in Rockford, Michigan, the Company’s products are sold in approximately 170 countries and territories worldwide. For more information, visit www.wolverineworldwide.com.
In 2025, the Company was recognized by Footwear News as Company of the Year, by Forbes as one of America’s Dream Employers, America’s Best Employers for Women, and America’s Best Employers for Company Culture, and by Inspiring Workplaces as one of the Most Inspiring Workplaces Globally.
Wolverine Worldwide is a Certified™ Great Place To Work®.
The Director of Creative Operations owns the operational backbone of The Agency, Wolverine Worldwide’s in-house creative agency, ensuring creative work moves from intake through delivery with clear priorities, the right resources, disciplined financial management, and consistent ways of working. Turns creative demand into an actionable operating plan and provides leaders with the visibility needed to make informed decisions.
In this role, you will lead the Creative Services and Project Management function, establishing standards and best practices for how work is planned, prioritized, staffed, and delivered. Responsible for building team capabilities, driving operational excellence, and ensuring a consistent level of service across the organization.
The Director of Creative Operations partners closely with Creative Leadership to continuously improve the systems, processes, tools, reporting, and workflows that enable the agency to deliver high-quality work with greater speed, transparency, and efficiency. Acts as a key connector across Brand Marketing, Finance, Procurement, Legal, IT, and external partners.
Creative Services Leadership
- •Lead and develop the Creative Services team.
- •Establish and maintain project management standards, tools, and best practices.
- •Ensure projects are appropriately scoped, planned, prioritized, and tracked from intake through delivery.
- •Foster a high-performing team culture focused on accountability, collaboration, and service excellence.
Operational Excellence & Process
- •Design, implement, and continuously improve operational processes across The Agency.
- •Audit and optimize core ways of working to drive efficiency, consistency, and scalability across brands.
- •Maintain intake, briefing, review, approval and delivery workflows.
- •Develop and maintain templates, playbooks, and operational standards that support efficient execution.
- •Lead change management efforts and drive adoption of new processes and ways of working.
Resource & Capacity Management
- •Own resource allocation across The Agency, ensuring the right talent is assigned to the right work at the right time.
- •Develop and maintain capacity planning, utilization reporting, and demand forecasting.
- •Partner with creative and marketing leaders to prioritize work and align resources against business needs.
- •Identify resource gaps and recommend staffing solutions, including hiring, contractor, freelance, and agency support.
- •Lead portfolio and staffing reviews to ensure team workload is balanced and sustainable.
Agency & Freelance Management
- •Oversee relationships with external agencies and freelance resources supporting The Agency.
- •Manage agency contracts, Statements of Work (SOWs), purchase orders, and vendor budgets in partnership with Procurement, Legal, and Finance.
- •Ensure agency scopes, estimates, timelines, and deliverables align with business objectives, budgets, and operational standards.
- •Track agency and vendor spending, forecast resource investments, and provide regular reporting on budget utilization and performance.
- •Evaluate agency and freelance effectiveness, identifying opportunities to improve quality, efficiency, capabilities, and cost management.
- •Establish clear engagement models and operating standards for external partners.
- •Help determine when work should be completed internally versus externally based on capacity, expertise, timelines, and business priorities.
- •Ensure external partners are effectively integrated into Agency workflows and ways of working.
Financial Operations
- •Manage Agency budget planning, forecasting, and financial reporting.
- •Partner with Finance and Procurement to ensure compliance with company processes and controls.
- •Provide visibility into Agency financial performance, spending, utilization, and resource investments.
- •Identify opportunities to optimize costs.
Tools, Systems & Reporting
- •Own the operational systems that support Agency workflows, resource management, project tracking, and reporting.
- •Ensure data integrity and consistent use of operational tools across teams.
- •Develop dashboards and reporting that provide visibility into workload, utilization and operational health.
- •Identify opportunities to streamline workflows through automation, improved tools, and emerging technologies.
Performs duties consistent with the Company’s AAP/EEO goals and policies.
Performs other duties as required/assigned by manager.
