Head of Traffic

IMA is a creative agency that builds brands people want to be part of. We are seeking an experienced, strategic Head of Traffic to join our Operations team. This role will lead traffic management across the agency, ensuring projects are delivered on time, on budget and to a consistently high standard. You will own resource planning, process development and cross-team coordination to enable creativity to thrive within operational guardrails.

What You’ll Get From Us

• Career Growth: A senior leadership position with scope to shape agency-wide delivery practices within an award-winning, people-first creative agency.

• Recognition: A values-led culture where strategic contribution is recognised and supported.

• Autonomy & Support: Ownership of traffic, resourcing and process improvement with the backing of a collaborative leadership team.

• Real Impact: A visible role that directly improves delivery reliability, team wellbeing and client satisfaction.

• Our Culture: A people-first environment where we challenge, grow, and deliver together.

The Role

As Head of Traffic, you will lead and evolve the agency’s traffic function. You will develop and maintain robust resourcing frameworks, prioritisation processes and delivery schedules while working closely with Studio, Account, Production and People teams. This role requires a pragmatic, data-informed approach, excellent stakeholder management and a passion for improving how work flows through a busy creative agency.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategy & Leadership: Define and implement traffic strategy, setting standards, KPIs and operating rhythms to improve predictability and throughput.

• Resource Planning: Build and maintain capacity models, manage allocation of internal teams and external suppliers, and anticipate resourcing gaps.

• Scheduling & Prioritisation: Own the end-to-end scheduling process, facilitate prioritisation conversations and ensure clear, realistic timelines across projects.

• Process Improvement: Identify bottlenecks and introduce scalable processes, tools and governance to increase efficiency while protecting creative time.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Act as a central point of contact between Creative, Account Services, Production and People to align objectives and resolve conflicts.

• Reporting & Insights: Produce regular delivery and capacity reports, use data to forecast demand and inform senior decision-making.

• Team Development: Lead and mentor traffic coordinators and planners, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and service excellence.

• Risk & Escalation Management: Proactively identify delivery risks, present mitigation plans and manage escalations to protect timelines and quality.

• Financial & Commercial Management: Monitor resource allocation to ensure projects are delivered within budget and scope. Manage freelance spend and resource-related costs, providing regular utilisation and capacity reporting. Identify commercial risks and opportunities to improve operational efficiency and profitability.

What We Are Looking For

The Essentials (Must-Haves):

• Experience: Proven track record managing traffic, resourcing or project delivery in a creative, agency or production environment at a senior level.

• Organised: Exceptional organisational skills with the ability to prioritise, run concurrent processes and meet tight deadlines.

• Analytical: Comfortable working with capacity planning tools and utilisation data, leveraging insights to drive resourcing decisions, forecasts and operational performance.

• Stakeholder Management: Strong communicator able to influence across all levels and disciplines with diplomacy and clarity.

• Systems Skills: Advanced proficiency in Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel, including reporting, forecasting and capacity planning. Practical experience with project management, resource planning or traffic systems (e.g. Workfront, Monday, Float, TeamGantt or equivalent), and competent with Microsoft Office / Google Workspace.

• Discretion: Ability to handle confidential commercial and resourcing information professionally.

• Right to Work: The legal right to work in SA, with flexibility for occasional out-of-hours collaboration when required.

The Desirables (Nice-to-Haves):

• Experience leading small teams and developing traffic or delivery capability across multiple disciplines.

• Familiarity with agency finance and budget management processes.

• Knowledge of agile or hybrid delivery methods applied to creative production.

Our Values

• Curiosity: We explore it.

• Courage: We challenge it.

• Commitment: We run with it.

These principles shape how we work - with each other, with clients, and with the world.

Apply Now

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. If this role sounds like a good fit, we’d love to hear from you.

We are an equal opportunity employer. Preference will be given to suitably qualified candidates from designated groups in line with the company’s Employment Equity Plan.