Director of Operations in Webster, New York at MSM

Director of Operations

MSM is woman-owned, experiential agency bringing brands to life through strategy, award-winning experience design, and flawless execution for trade shows, events, environments, and customer engagements. We deliver with genuine passion and a commitment to exceeding customer expectations and creating exceptional customer experiences. Our employees support, promote, live, and breathe a service culture, where we:

• Thrive in a demanding environment

• Build meaningful relationships

• Demonstrate a positive attitude and adapt to change

• Set high standards and strive to exceed

The Director of Operations oversees and optimizes operational workflows for projects, including production planning and resource allocation, ensuring the efficient, high-quality, and timely delivery of tradeshows and events.

As a key leader in the organization, Director of Operations will:

• Establish clear operational direction and standards across warehouse and production
• Inspire others with authentic enthusiasm and passion
• Set and uphold high performance standards across teams
• Have an unwavering commitment to the company’s success

Ideal Candidate Attributes:

The right candidate for this role is more than an operational leader — they are a strategic thinker who thrives on designing and improving scalable systems while keeping the bigger picture in focus. They balance visionary thinking with disciplined execution, ensuring the organization operates at peak efficiency while remaining agile and innovative. The ideal candidate will:

• Think Strategically: See beyond day-to-day operations, connecting tactical decisions to long-term organizational goals and market opportunities.
• Focus on Process Excellence: Naturally identify inefficiencies, create streamlined workflows, and build repeatable, scalable systems without sacrificing creativity or quality.
• Embrace a Big-Picture Perspective: Understand how operations intersect with sales, client services, creative, and leadership to drive the agency’s overall success.
• Lead with Influence: Inspire cross-functional teams through clear communication, empathy, and authenticity while holding high standards.
• Be Decisive yet Collaborative: Make confident, data-driven decisions while ensuring the right stakeholders are engaged throughout the process.
• Adapt and Innovate: Remain resourceful and composed in high-pressure situations, bringing forward innovative solutions to evolving challenges.
• Champion Continuous Improvement: Encourage a culture of learning, iteration, and process refinement that keeps the organization ahead of the curve.

Key Responsibilities:

• Work closely with estimating & procurement to achieve the optimal balance in-house and outsourced production.
• Collaborate with project management and client services to capture project planning data to drive production scheduling decisions.
• Coordinate with project teams to identify opportunities to improve the data captured in CSI and Monday.com to implement process improvement and create better project information workflow.
• Monitor production status and adjust schedules as necessary to meet delivery deadlines.
• Manage external production partners, ensuring adequate vendor resources are available to produce high quality work.
• Use data and KPIs to drive operational decisions, including workload prioritization, staffing adjustments, and outsourcing strategy
• Contribute to budgeting and financial planning for production operations.
• Act as the central point of alignment between Warehouse and Production, ensuring consistent communication, prioritization, and coordination between teams
• Define and enforce clear ownership of cross-functional processes in Operations, ensuring efficient execution when work spans multiple teams

Required Skills and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in operations, data science, business analytics, or a relevant field; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• 7-10+ years in an operations role, including 3+ years leading a team or department, with proven success in data driven organizational change management.
• Proficiency in data sourcing, data interpretation, trend analysis, and optimizing process.
• Technical proficiency with relevant software and systems.
• Success with scaling data-driven workflows.
• Data-driven decision-making skills, ability to translate data insights into operational strategies.
• Excellent critical thinking, communication, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
• Superb people and leadership skills and ability to interact with peers, senior Executives, cross-functional stakeholders, and external third parties.
• Ability to organize people & resources to achieve deadline driven objectives.

Salary range posted for this position is purposefully broad. The initial compensation offered may be outside of this range and will be determined by multiple factors, including the applicant’s job-related skills, relevant experience, and education. This role offers significant opportunities for growth in terms of leadership and compensation.

Compensation Range: $100,000 – $150,000

Location: Rochester, NY (In-Person)