Sr. Manager: Production Services & Partnership Operations (Nat Geo)

The Senior Manager, Production Services & Partnership Operations serves as the dedicated operational and production lead for the Rolex partnership, providing accountability, and oversight for the planning, coordination, quality control, and delivery of integrated content initiatives across National Geographic. The role manages a complex portfolio of short-form video, photography, editorial, social, marketing, and related assets produced by multiple cross-functional teams, ensuring alignment with partnership objectives, brand standards, and business priorities.

Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Production Services & Operations, this position works from within National Geographic Production Services & Operations and serves as the primary day-to-day liaison with internal Sr. Team members from Editorial, Social, Marketing and Rolex's production and promotions teams. The role executes Rolex's promotional plan and partnership deliverable requests into clear, integrated delivery schedules for National Geographic and third-party production teams to execute, and drives collaboration, stakeholder alignment, issue resolution, and seamless execution across all phases of production.

The Senior Manager manages each partnership asset from initial Rolex request through approved delivery for use across the Rolex ecosystem, including television, Disney+, social, editorial, and marketing assets. The position ensures partnership commitments are delivered on schedule, within approved scope and budget parameters, and in compliance with all technical, legal, rights, brand, editorial, usage, and quality requirements.

Through strong operational leadership and cross-functional influence, the role enables high-quality delivery while protecting National Geographic's editorial independence and fostering a productive strategic partnership between National Geographic and Rolex.

Responsibilities:

• Serve as the day-to-day Production Services & Operations liaison with Rolex’s production and promotions teams, translating partnership commitments, promotional plans, and creative requests into clear scopes, budgets, responsibilities, workback schedules, and delivery milestones.
• Own each partnership asset from initial Rolex request through final approved delivery and acceptance across television, Disney+, social, editorial, marketing, photography, and other agreed formats.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams throughout the production lifecycle, ensuring clear ownership, timely handoffs, aligned priorities, documented decisions, and consistent follow-through across concurrent workstreams.
• Maintain centralized specifications, technical requirements, naming conventions, metadata standards, review processes, delivery methods, and acceptance criteria; oversee asset intake, tracking, version control, quality control, packaging, secure transfer, and final delivery.
• Lead regular production meetings, maintain the master tracker, document decisions and action items, and provide concise reporting on progress, budget, asset readiness, risks, on-time delivery, asset utilization, usage compliance, and platform performance.
• Identify production, resource, schedule, budget, technical, legal, rights, brand, editorial, and delivery risks early; develop mitigation plans and escalate material issues appropriately.
• Manage approved production budgets, estimates, forecasts, purchase orders, invoices, vendor scopes, and external production resources within established authority.
• Interpret, document, and manage the approved content usage framework, including eligible assets, channels, formats, usage periods, permitted modifications, and required approvals; maintain complete approval and usage records.
• Protect National Geographic’s editorial independence throughout briefing and approval workflows by identifying requests that could influence storytelling and escalating them early to the appropriate National Geographic leader.
• Partner with Production, Editorial, Social, Marketing, Photography, Post-Production, Content Operations, Engineering, Asset Management, Finance, Legal, Business Affairs, Rights & Clearances, Corporate Brand, Brand & Franchise, Standards & Practices, Security, and other stakeholders to confirm requirements, rights, and approvals before assets are used.
• Develop and maintain the partnership operating guide, including request intake, turnaround expectations, roles and responsibilities, approval paths, decision rights, escalation processes, and repeatable tools that improve quality, efficiency, transparency, and account continuity.

Basic Qualifications:

• Minimum 8 years of progressively responsible experience in editorial production, marketing production management, integrated production, content operations, creative operations, account delivery, or related field.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, high-visibility, multi-platform projects from initial brief and planning through production, review, approval, delivery, and final acceptance.
• Strong knowledge of video and photography production, post-production, technical deliverables, media asset management, version control, metadata, quality control, and delivery workflows.
• Working knowledge of content development and delivery across television, streaming, social, editorial, print, and marketing platforms, with the ability to ask the right production, technical, editorial, and delivery questions.
• Experience developing and managing production schedules, workback plans, estimates, budgets, forecasts, vendor scopes, trackers, and concise leadership reporting.
• Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage concurrent workstreams, competing priorities, dependencies, and approval paths while maintaining accuracy and follow-through.
• Polished client-service and relationship-management skills, with experience serving as a trusted point of contact and building rapport with external partners, agencies, brands, senior stakeholders, or premium global clients.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, facilitation, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to influence through trust and persuasion, create accountability, and drive decisions across a matrixed organization without direct authority.
• Sound judgment and the ability to resolve ambiguity, identify practical solutions, and escalate material production, editorial, or business risks appropriately.
• Strong understanding of content rights and usage, including ownership, territories, platforms, formats, terms, permitted modifications, and approval requirements.
• Sound editorial judgment and working knowledge of documentary and news ethics, with the ability to identify potential concerns early and escalate them appropriately.
• Ability to create practical trackers, templates, checklists, and operating tools that improve clarity, adoption, accountability, and follow-through.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and familiarity with project management, production-tracking, review-and-approval, digital asset-management, and secure file-delivery systems.
• Ability to handle confidential and commercially sensitive information with discretion.
• Candidate must live within a reasonable distance of the National Geographic office at 1145 17th St NW, Washington, DC 20036. The role requires someone onsite 4 days a week.
• Occasional travel may be necessary.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience supporting a high-profile brand partnership, sponsorship, agency account, premium global client, or luxury brand.
• Experience coordinating integrated deliverables across television, streaming, digital, editorial, social, marketing, and photography teams.
• Familiarity with content rights and clearances, legal review, brand standards, technical compliance, and secure media delivery practices.
• Experience working within a network, studio, publisher, agency, brand, or similarly complex global media organization.
• Experience managing external production companies, creative agencies, post-production facilities, photographers, or other specialized vendors.
• Experience establishing content usage frameworks, approval records, partnership governance, delivery performance reporting, or cross-platform asset utilization tracking.

Required Education:

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience.

Preferred Education:

Degree in film or television production, communications, journalism, business, project management, or related field.

PAY TRANSPARENCY

The hiring range for this position in Washington, D.C. is $106,600 to $143,000 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.

This position is with National Geographic Partners PAY SVC, which is part of a business we call National Geographic.

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National Geographic Partners PAY SVC is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Disney champions a business environment where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a constantly evolving world.

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