Client Operations Director
Los Angeles, USA
7/7/2022
Client Operations Director
The Global Client Director provides guidance to a team of Account Managers, Account Reps and Data Entry assistants ensuring their associated clients' localization needs are anticipated, understood and met with the highest level of customer service. The Director collaborates with key representatives of other departments (Language Production, Finance, Media Operations) to coordinate project details, address questions, ensure client requirements are communicated, and investigate and evaluate any issues. The Director is the point of escalation internally for their team as well as externally for their associated clients. As such, the Director plays a significant role in coaching and educating their team members and clients to fully understand the available options for localization, and to guide the client in making the best choices for their projects. Reporting to the Vice President of Client Ops, the Director will need to be a sophisticated communicator orally and in writing to respond to the needs and expectations of a variety of clients, vendors, staff and executives. In addition, the Director will play an active role in understanding the revenue associated with their clients and work with senior management to determine monthly projections, gross margin analysis and business development. The ideal candidate will have a passion for film and television, and a deep understanding of dubbing and subtitling production processes, workflows, and more.
Principal Duties & Responsibilities
- Provides high-level oversight of client projects from bidding to completion, ensuring milestones are hit and risks are mitigated.
- Coordinates, delegates and assigns work to various departments and Account Reps as necessary.
- Understands and advocates for the client's needs and priorities.
- Tracks project schedules and key dates for receipt of elements, delivery, invoicing and payment.
- Meets regularly with their Client Ops team Manager(s) to discuss new and ongoing projects, team capacity, training needs and other operational issues.
- Addresses client concerns and escalates issues appropriately to VP of Client Operations with recommended solutions.
- Directs and coaches Client Ops teams in customer service, localization methods and protocols.
- Creates and maintains department training materials and documentation.
- Works with VP of Client Operations to build and leverage strong relationships with executive-level customer contacts.
- Orchestrates and participates in client events to facilitate goodwill and promote positive interactions.
- Creates and maintains client org charts and contact details.
- Provides advice on pricing and workflows to Sales on quotes for new work.
- Onboards new customers into internal systems, defines appropriate SLAs to determine proper workflows and socializes internally as needed to ensure success for the customer's project.
- Reviews and approves vendor invoices.
- Reviews productivity and gross margin analysis with VP of Client Operations.
- Gathers, analyses and creates monthly revenue projections for internal executives.
- Maintains client rate cards.
- Assesses profitability of projects, business segments and clients.
Must be able to demonstrate:
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- High level of organization and attention to detail.
- Analytical, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.
- Ability to effectively manage time and triage competing issues.
- Resourcefulness and ability to creatively problem-solve.
- Ability to make sound, independent decisions and to escalate issues appropriately.
- The ability to identify the root cause of an issue, creatively determine a solution and articulate the recommendation in a clear and concise manner.
- Ability to work effectively and reliably under the pressure of tight deadlines.
- Adaptability to changes in priorities, tools and workflows.
- Leadership and the ability to bond with and develop a strong team.
- Emotional intelligence and the ability to respond appropriately and diplomatically to challenging situations.
- Skill at building and maintaining positive relationships with clients and internal teams.
- Deep understanding of localization practices for subtitling and dubbing.
- Working knowledge of industry-standard localization tools, methods and elements.
- Familiarity with technical specifications such as aspect ratios and framerates.
- Thorough understanding of SDI's operational resources and ability to apply these effectively to fulfil customer orders.
- Positive thinking, enthusiasm and willingness to learn.
- Ability to understand, communicate and exemplify SDI culture and values.
- Solid experience with Microsoft Office tools.
Education & Qualifications:
- BA/BS required. Educational background in communications, film, literature, linguistics or cultural anthropology strongly preferred.
- Minimum of 3-5 years of mid- to senior-level project management experience within the entertainment industry.
- Minimum of 2 years’ experience in a supervisory role. • Fluency in non-English languages is a plus.