Director of Production Operations

Title: Director of Production Operations

Company: RadicalMedia

Location: New York, NY

Reporting to: CEO, Justin P. Barocas

About Radical

RadicalMedia is an award-winning, independent, next generation content company that lives at the intersection of original entertainment, brand marketing and advertising and technology. We are platform where creativity, talent, entrepreneurship, innovation and production converge to redefine storytelling across a spectrum of channels, services and experiences.

About the Role

We are looking for a Director of Production Operations to oversee production. The role is operationally focused and financially driven in service of our exceptional creative product. You will have expertise in all facets of production operations, production finance, post-production workflows, international productions, co-productions, vendor negotiations, and cross-division collaboration. Experience working with and managing union crews and interacting with the unions themselves is mandatory. You'll bring order to pre-production, physical production, and wrap — translating what's happening on set, on location, and in post into numbers leadership can act on. You will run our productions which are so central to our business, as a business itself with a focus on unlocking creative possibilities through diligent budget and resource management, creating efficiency in product and processes, financial accountability to the company, clients, director talent, distributors and other partners. You will be the person division heads, EPs and line producers call before a greenlight, during a scope change, or when a job runs hot, and the person the CEO/CFO calls when they need to know why. You will solve problems and create solutions all day, every day managing the production engine that drives the award-winning work we do. 

Key Responsibilities

•      Sit inside pre-production alongside EPs and line producers — reviewing top sheets, bid decks, and shooting schedules to stress-test budgets before a job is greenlit.

•      Track cost-to-complete in real time across active productions, catching overages at the PO and vendor-invoice level before they become a wrap-out surprise.

•      Own the reconciliation between the production budget (as bid) and the actualized cost report (as shot) — closing out jobs cleanly and explaining variances to EPs in production terms, not just accounting terms.

•      Be the finance voice in scope-change conversations: extra shoot days, location changes, talent upgrades, or post add-ons, and quickly model the cost and margin impact so producers can make the call on the spot.

•      Partner with management/business affairs on crew deal memos, kit rentals, and vendor terms to make sure cost assumptions in the bid actually hold up in the field.

•      Maintain the pipeline forecast (booked, verbal, and pitch-stage business) so leadership has an honest read on the backlog behind each division's numbers.

•      Standardize budgeting and cost-reporting templates across divisions with very different production rhythms — quick-turn commercial spots vs. multi-week unscripted shoots vs. studio development slates.

•      Review production insurance coverage (production package, equipment, E&O, workers' comp) deal-by-deal and flag gaps before cameras roll.

•      Advise on union and guild cost implications during budgeting — crew scale, turnaround penalties, meal penalties, overtime rules — so bids hold up once the shoot actually happens.

•      Work with accounting on job-cost close, accruals tied to in-progress productions, and revenue recognition timed to delivery and wrap.

•      Support finance leadership on high-stakes disclosures and audits when production-level detail is needed to back up the numbers.

Qualifications

•      15+ years working in physical production — advertising, television, film, or content — with real exposure to sets, shoots, and production offices, budgets, union rules and requirements - not just the numbers after the fact

•      Fluent in production-speak: top sheets, cost reports, PO logs, wrap books, deal memos, and the rhythm of pre-production through wrap

•      Strong working knowledge of production insurance (general liability, equipment, E&O, workers' comp, production packages) and how coverage decisions play out on set

•      Solid grasp of union and guild rules relevant to production (e.g., IATSE, DGA, SAG-AFTRA, WGA as applicable) — scale rates, turnaround, penalties — and how they hit the budget

•      Comfortable in the room during a scope change or a hot cost report, giving producers a fast, credible read on the financial impact

•      Strong Excel/financial modeling skills paired with familiarity with production management and accounting systems (e.g., Wrapbook, Pointzero, Sage or similar)

•      A natural translator between production and finance

•      Experience operating in a mid-sized, multi-division shop where every production has its own quirks and the process is still evolving

Benefits:

• Unlimited paid time off
• Strong health benefits plan through Anthem BCBS
• Salary range between $175k - $225k depending on experience