Traffic Manager @ Oval

Your mission

To strengthen our team, we are looking for an organized and proactive Traffic Manager who helps us deliver optimally. As Traffic Manager at OVAL, backed by a strong European mandate, you are the linchpin in the organization responsible for resource planning, staffing, and optimal deployment of the entire Shared Delivery Capability (Strategy, Creation & Content, and Production) across all Client Clusters and countries, for both pitches and project delivery.

In this role, you are responsible for the planning, coordination, and progress of projects when it comes to capacity planning. The project lead from the Account Team remains responsible for scope, timing, quality, budget, and project result; you coordinate the required capacity and staffing. You monitor deadlines, distribute capacity optimally, improve processes, and ensure smooth communication between teams and external forces. You not only keep an eye on operational efficiency but also on financial optimization. Thanks to your insight and structure, our expertise teams can fully focus on what they do best while keeping costs within budget.

Your Responsibilities

• You are part of the Shared Back Office (S.BO) of OVAL, reporting directly to the COO, and building strong relationships across the team in 4 countries to ensure optimal communication.
• You coordinate creative, strategic, and production requests regarding capacity and expertise planning.
• You balance internal capacity and external support based on an overall view within OVAL, and advise leads, MDs, and P&C on capacity adjustments and hiring needs.
• You hold responsibility for preparing, monitoring, and adjusting resource planning, taking deadlines, availability, and priorities into account. You leverage planning tools and automation to keep capacity planning efficient and up to date, enabling you to make adjustments independently where needed.
• You handle staffing in close consultation with Account Teams and S.DC leads, considering expertise, availability, language, and project economics. Unresolved resource conflicts are escalated to the relevant MD and COO. People management and evaluations remain with hierarchical managers.
• You think and look ahead, enabling you to monitor progress and identify potential bottlenecks in a timely manner.
• You track billability, utilization, and cost efficiency of shared capacity and propose improvements, recognizing the difference between unutilized capacity and intentionally scheduled time (such as pitches and training).
• You report to management on capacity, utilization, and risks in resource planning.
• You maintain clear communication with all involved teams and stakeholders.
• You support administrative and process guidance around resource planning and staffing.
• You act as an operational TeamLeader Champion to ensure common planning processes, reliable data, and user adoption, working closely with Finance and under the coordination of the COO.
• You identify and implement improvements to make processes and workflows more efficient.

Your profile

• You have at least 5 years of agency experience and 3+ years in a similar role (traffic, planning, or project coordination), preferably in a creative environment, with proven experience in capacity planning across multiple teams; international experience is a strong asset. You have sufficient seniority, persuasiveness, and interpersonal skills to collaborate effectively with various leads and MDs.
• You are available for at least 32 hours per week.
• You possess excellent organizational and communication skills and are strong in stakeholder management.
• You have experience with project management and planning tools (such as TeamLeader, Trello, or similar) and with introducing and improving shared processes.
• You are stress-resistant and maintain structure and composure, even under time pressure.
• You have a proactive and solution-oriented attitude. You spot opportunities and seize them.
• You possess analytical capabilities. You can think ahead and forecast bottlenecks.
• You are business savvy. You maintain a financial focus when deploying and entering external collaborations, searching for the best balance of quality, costs, and ROI.
• You are an optimistic team player who builds connections and fosters collaboration across all offices.
• Fluent in English and Dutch or French (suitable for candidates in NL, BE, and FR). German is a plus.

Why OVAL?

• A key role within a dynamic and creative organization with offices in four countries.
• Great brands to work for as clients, such as Bol., Fundis, BMW & Mini, Nintendo, and Google.
• A culture built on entrepreneurship, connection, and empathy.
• A good salary.
• Space to innovate and develop yourself.
• The friendliest team with colleagues across 4 different countries. Are you ready to bring structure, overview, and flow to our (creative) processes? Then we look forward to receiving your application!