Open to Director / Sr. Manager rolesRaleigh–Durham, NC

Cyrus Marshall · Creative Operations LeaderI build the systems a creative team runs on.

At AAA I grew Creative Services from one person to nine and got it delivering on time, 95% of the time.

1→9team built, AAA
95%on-time, 2025
−25%revision cycles
264KTikTok, <6 mo
Move the cursor · then scroll
CM-01 — Case 01–03

Three roles. Same instinct.

Built an in-house creative team and hit 95% on-time delivery

AAA Automobile Club Enterprises, Creative Services Manager, 2021–2026. 1→9 team.

Built the Creative Services function from a department of one into a nine-person team in under two years, then built the systems to run it: a single intake-to-delivery pipeline in Monday.com, platform-specific SLAs worked out with Marketing, and an AI-assisted production line connecting AEM, Adobe Express, and Firefly.

I can stand up an in-house creative function from nothing and keep it accountable to a number, not a vibe.

Took TikTok from zero with a production system that held up

ProCom Products, Director of Multimedia (Creative Services), 2016–2021. 264K <6 mo.

Took TikTok from zero to 264,000 followers in under six months, not by chasing one viral hit but by building a production system an internal team and a managed freelancer roster could actually sustain: organic strategy paired with a paid creator program on a real publishing cadence. Also ran ecommerce content strategy across Amazon and Amazon Live.

I can build high-volume social production systems that hold up against a real calendar, not a pitch deck.

Ran production end to end for Verizon, Morgan Stanley, Travel Channel

Cyrus Marshall, LLC / Artmix, Producer / Director & Commercial Photographer, 2005–2016. 11+ yrs.

Eleven years as a sole proprietor running photography and video production for agency and direct clients, including Verizon Wireless, TD Ameritrade, Morgan Stanley, Travel Channel, Ralph Lauren, and Lilly Pulitzer. Owned concept, budget, crew, and post production end to end.

The operations instincts came from actually running production, not from a course on how to manage people who do.

CM-02 — How the work actually runs

The Creative Operations OS

Every team I've built runs on the same four-stage loop. It's boring on purpose: boring is what makes 95% on-time delivery repeatable instead of lucky.

CM-02 — Change adoption

How I get teams to actually use it.

Every rollout runs through Prosci's ADKAR model: five stages each group moves through, in order. Here's what each one means for a creative team, and what usually gets in the way.

1 / 3
REQ-0142 · sampleQ4 paid social setScoped
SLA 48:00

01Intake

One door in.
  • Triage, scope, and prioritize every request
  • Resource planning against real capacity
  • Present the brief and confirm every part will be met and delivered
  • Communicate status back to the requester

02Production

Creative Design. Templated + AI-assisted.
  • Governed templates and AI (AEM, Adobe Express, Firefly) handle the repeatable work
  • Designers spend their time on the work that isn't

03Approvals

SLA'd review gates.
  • Every review has an owner, an action, and a deadline
  • A missed action stalls the cycle, and stalled review cycles are where project commitments fail
  • Scope set at intake decides how many rounds a project can afford

04Delivery

QC'd and on time.
  • QC'd against the spec sheet before it ships
  • On time, to the right destination
  • Named to convention, traceable back to the brief
1→9team built, AAA
+50%faster delivery
−25%revision cycles
95%on-time, 2025
264KTikTok, <6 mo
Creative briefTemplate
Every request starts here.
Objective
What has to change, in one sentence.
Audience
Who it is for, and what they believe right now.
Single message
The one thing they should walk away with.
Mandatories
Brand, legal, and accessibility must-haves.
Deliverables
Formats, sizes, and specs, locked at intake.
Timeline + SLA
Dates set against real team capacity.
Approvals
One owner per gate, each with a deadline.
Success
How we will know it worked, agreed up front.

Color · tap to copy

Signal · accent → amber
Ember · deep → accent
Dusk · slate → ink

Type

  • AaArchivo 900Display
  • AaIBM Plex SansBody
  • AaIBM Plex MonoLabels

Mark

MARKETING

Day one at a new company: audit the briefs already in use, rebuild them into one intake form, then lock scope at intake so the SLA means something.

  1. A 01 · Awareness

    See what today costs.

    • Informal intake hides its cost: unclear priorities, no status, hours lost chasing answers.

    What gets in the wayRequesters who think the current way works fine.

  2. D 02 · Desire

    Want it, not just accept it.

    • Creatives need proof it protects their focus. Leaders need to know what control they keep.

    What gets in the wayChange handed down instead of built with them.

  3. K 03 · Knowledge

    Know the new rules.

    • One intake path. Priorities, review owners, and SLAs written down.

    What gets in the wayNot knowing the new way well enough to explain it.

  4. A 04 · Ability

    Do it on real work.

    • Pilot on live projects. Measure real use, not training completion.

    What gets in the wayUnderstanding a process is not the same as running it.

  5. R 05 · Reinforcement

    Make it stick.

    • Visible sponsors, tracked adoption, and named owners after launch.

    What gets in the wayOld habits return once the rollout team leaves.

Prosci Certified Change Practitioner

Applying the Prosci ADKAR Model to Creative Operations Transformation

The capstone from my Prosci Change Management Certification: a change strategy for a prospective creative operations transformation. I reframed it from a software rollout into an adoption problem, then used the Prosci 3-Phase Process to turn early discovery into a structured case for change, group-specific ADKAR barriers, the roles required for success, and a phased path from discovery to sustained adoption.

Key insightConfiguring a platform creates technical capability. Value only shows up once people understand the change, choose to participate, learn the new model, can perform it in real work, and get consistent reinforcement.
Completed certification artifact, based on a prospective initiative · readiness, barriers, and milestones are hypotheses, not measured results · organization and participants anonymized
CM-03 — CM Marketing

What I take on.

Alongside the full-time search, I take on a small number of clients through CM Marketing, sized for teams without an in-house creative ops function yet.

(01)

Creative Operations Systems

The intake-to-delivery pipeline your creative team is missing, built the way change actually sticks: structured discovery before any tool gets chosen, then SLAs and review gates mapped to how your team works today.

(02)

AI-Enabled Production

Governed AI built into a real production pipeline, with a human signing off on everything before it ships. Built and run inside an enterprise team, not just a demo.

(03)

Process Improvement Pilots

We take one workflow that's costing you time, map how it really runs, then pilot a fix with the right tools connected properly. You keep what works.

CM-04 — About

Who I am and what I'm building

Eleven years behind the camera. Ten more building the systems around it.

Production2005–2016

Eleven years running my own photography and video production business in New York: concept, budget, crew, and post for agency and direct clients across lifestyle, fashion, finance, and entertainment. I was the whole operation, from client development and scoping to vendor negotiation and final delivery. That's where the operations instinct comes from.

Creative Operations2016–2026

At ProCom Products I directed multimedia and content strategy for ecommerce and social, taking TikTok from zero to 264K followers in under six months. At AAA Automobile Club Enterprises I built Creative Services from one person to nine, put intake-to-delivery in Monday.com, and reached 95% on-time delivery in 2025 with 25% fewer revision cycles.

Now · CM MarketingNow

I moved my family from Southern California to North Carolina, and I'm using the transition to sharpen the toolkit while I interview for Director and Senior Manager creative operations roles: Prosci certification in change management, AI production work through CM Marketing, and a short list of clients who need the systems above.

CM-05 — The content

The content

Twenty years behind the camera, chasing the same thing creative ops chases now: a repeatable system that delivers what the client expects, every time.

    CM-05 · Broadcast + campaigns ·
    CM-06 — Contact

    Build the thing that runs without you standing over it.

    Call 323-309-5719
    Cyrus Marshall
    Cyrus Marshall
    Creative Operations Leader · Raleigh–Durham, NC
    323-309-5719Call or text cyrus@cyrusmarshall.comEmail linkedin.com/in/cyrus-marshallLinkedIn