Program Manager, Creative Operations

We're transforming the grocery industry

At Instacart, we invite the world to share love through food because we believe everyone should have access to the food they love and more time to enjoy it together. Where others see a simple need for grocery delivery, we see exciting complexity and endless opportunity to serve the varied needs of our community. We work to deliver an essential service that customers rely on to get their groceries and household goods, while also offering safe and flexible earnings opportunities to Instacart Personal Shoppers.

Instacart has become a lifeline for millions of people, and we’re building the team to help push our shopping cart forward. If you’re ready to do the best work of your life, come join our table.

Instacart is a Flex First team

There’s no one-size fits all approach to how we do our best work. Our employees have the flexibility to choose where they do their best work—whether it’s from home, an office, or your favorite coffee shop—while staying connected and building community through regular in-person events. Learn more about our flexible approach to where we work.

Overview

We're seeking an experienced Program Manager, Creative Operations to be a part of the operational backbone of Instacart's Creative Studio. This is a pivotal role responsible for ensuring our creative engine runs smoothly, efficiently, and at scale. You'll be the bridge between creative excellence and operational rigor—building systems, optimizing workflows, and enabling our creative team to focus on what they do best: creating exceptional work that turns creativity into a competitive advantage for Instacart.

As the Program Manager, Creative Operations, you oversee critical operational functions across the Creative Studio, including creative resourcing, tooling strategy, business management, and program management for complex, creative-driven campaigns. This role is instrumental in bringing structure, industry best practices, and operational excellence to a fast-paced, cross-functional creative environment.

About the Job

Creative Project Management

• Lead program management for complex creative campaigns requiring coordination across multiple creative disciplines (design, video, copy, photography) and cross-functional workstreams
• Provide hands-on program management for the Creative Studio's largest, cross-functional projects where creative deliverables are on the critical path
• Manage programs requiring creative-specific vendor coordination and complex resource allocation, leveraging Creative Operations' specialized vendor relationships
• Optimize creative team efficiency and protect their ability to focus on core creative work through strategic capacity planning and resource allocation
• Develop frameworks for balancing in-house talent, agency support, and project-based contractors

Creative Studio Business Operations

• Support financial tracking and expense management for the Creative Studio
• Help forecast expenses in partnership with the Executive Creative Director and Head of Production
• Assist in projecting the cost to execute creative projects, taking into account the blended rate of in-house talent, agency support, and project-based contractors
• Support operational systems and processes that give Senior Marketing Leadership and Finance clear visibility into creative expenses
• Develop frameworks for balancing in-house talent, agency support, and project-based contractors

Operational Excellence

• Own and continuously improve end-to-end operational processes for creative work within your domain (e.g., Commercial Marketing, Consumer Marketing, and/or Brand Systems)
• Drive alignment, visibility, and accountability across the lifecycle of creative projects: from intake and prioritization through delivery and deployment
• Build and maintain dashboards, trackers, and project management tools that enable transparency across teams and functions
• Identify opportunities to scale and streamline systems and workflows across the Creative Studio

Culture and Team Engagement

• Partner with the Executive Creative Director and Head of Creative Operations to foster a positive, collaborative Creative Studio culture
• Support whole-team culture initiatives, including meeting cadences, conference attendance, and professional development opportunities
• Foster a team environment that values collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement

About You

Minimum Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in Creative Operations, Project Management, Production Management, or Studio Operations, ideally within a fast-paced consumer brand, tech company, or in-house creative organization
• Proven track record managing complex, high-volume creative workflows across digital and physical channels (performance marketing, brand campaigns, product launches, retail)
• Deep hands-on experience with project management platforms (e.g., Workfront, Asana, Monday.com, Airtable) and creative collaboration tools
• Demonstrated experience with creative resourcing, capacity planning, and vendor management
• Strong understanding of creative disciplines (design, video, copy, photography) and how they intersect in campaign execution
• Experience managing creative budgets, vendor relationships, and resource optimization
• Experience with Monday.com

Preferred Qualifications

• Exceptional stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills—able to partner effectively with Marketing, Creative, Production, and Finance teams
• Process-oriented mindset with the ability to design, document, and implement scalable workflows that serve creative teams
• Strategic thinker who understands when to apply operational rigor vs. when to enable creative flexibility
• Strong problem-solving skills with a bias toward action and continuous improvement
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable navigating ambiguity in a dynamic, fast-paced environment
• Excellent communication skills—able to translate between creative and business stakeholders

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