How To Become A Creative Services Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a creative services manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Yash Egami

A creative service manager is in charge of directing creative output for a brand from the initial concept stages through to production. You are in charge of helping, reviewing, and developing service proposals. You are also expected to meet with the management team to discuss needs by facilitating creative projects kickoffs. Additionally, you are to lead your creative team by providing brainstorming sessions of creativity. You must encourage, push, and supervise your team members to ensure the effectiveness of workflow. For any activities that involve creative production, you must oversee daily tasks in case of issues that could slow down the process. You are also in charge of suggesting changes to workflow to improve productivity and cut costs. Other responsibilities include providing drafts to stakeholders and clients and spot-checking client bills to ensure accuracy.

The essential skills of a creative service manager are excellent storytelling, attention to detail, the ability to work without supervision, efficient organization, and excellent communication skills. The average salary of a creative service manager annually is $78,000. Creative Services Manager must have a bachelor's degree in Graphics Design, Communication, Fine Arts, or other related fields.

What general advice would you give to a creative services manager?

Yash Egami

VP, The One Club

A recent Forrester report says that the ad industry will lose 50,000 jobs through 2021, with 35,000 of them already lost since the pandemic. The traditional ad agency model was already in trouble, with many brands hiring away talent and creating their own in-house agencies. Add to that the recent reckoning with the Black Lives Matter movement, and what we're seeing is an industry that is being forced to go through monumental change in order to survive.

While traditional roles like art director or copywriter are on the decline, the good news is that, in an effort to reinvent themselves, agencies are seeking creatives with digital skills like UX design and programming. The rise of in-house creative departments has also meant more opportunities for job seekers within brands rather than agencies. And because of the demand for more diversity from clients and those within advertising, recruiters are making more of an effort to hire multicultural talent.

At The One Club for Creativity, we've been at the forefront of change in the industry through our diversity and inclusion, professional development and gender equality programs. We recently hosted our annual multicultural career fair, "Where Are All the Black People?" that brought together thousands of diverse talent with 40 agencies and companies looking to hire. We launched One School, a free online program for Black creatives who want to get into the industry but don't have a portfolio or the economic means to afford to go to ad school. And we're working on upskilling courses for professionals who want to reinvent themselves or keep up with the changing demands of our industry.

So if you're a recent graduate who specializes in art direction, our advice would be to keep an open mind about what kind of company you want to work for and think about expanding your skillset to include digital skills so that you can future-proof your career. Where you are isn't as important because, since the pandemic, agencies have become more comfortable with working remotely and they are more open to having a workforce not centered on the traditional agency hubs, like New York or Los Angeles.

ScoreCreative Services ManagerUS Average

Salary

6.1

Avg. Salary $78,567

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.5

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 8.15%

Black or African American 3.04%

Hispanic or Latino 8.67%

Unknown 5.32%

White 74.58%

Gender

female 50.94%

male 49.06%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.5

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a creative services manager

Explore creative services manager education requirements

Most common creative services manager degrees

Bachelor's

79.1 %

Associate

11.5 %

Master's

6.4 %

Start to develop specific creative services manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Graphic Design	11.60%
Project Management	7.26%
Photography	6.59%
Video Production	6.15%
Digital Marketing	5.55%

Complete relevant creative services manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New creative services managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a creative services manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real creative services manager resumes.

Research creative services manager duties and responsibilities

Achieve thorough, accurate and edit proofreading for all package designs and cage instructions.
Initiate RFP process for agency selection and manage all advertising agency activities.
Review HTML code to ensure compatibility with major email clients and adherence to creative guidelines.
Design and oversee creation of HTML email blasts, web newsletters and web landing sites.

Prepare your creative services manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your creative services manager resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a creative services manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable creative services manager resume templates

Build a professional creative services manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your creative services manager resume.