Department Manager

Description

Weta Digital is looking to hire a Department Manager to join our growing Production team. We are keen to talk to experienced production candidates who have a track record of handling large teams working on challenging projects.

Job Description:
The Department Manager is responsible for overseeing all scheduled work, managing the department crew and production team. The role is primarily planning and resource-based, entailing the close management and support of crew and the oversight on all department deliverables. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Maintain an overview of department schedule and manage resource requirements, working with VFX Producers, Production Managers and central production
• Ensure weekly departmental progress reports are delivered to Show Production in the form of tasks completed, resource plan updates and schedule updates
• Along with Department HoD ensure any planned development work related to the dept tools or pipeline is factored into any show milestones
• Forecast resource requirements for the department – identifying key shortfalls and anticipating surplus crew scenarios
• Working with HoD to identify areas where development of crew skill-sets can benefit current or upcoming projects.
• Approve artist leave and formulate coverage plans for any artist absence to ensure project targets are not compromised.
• Oversee department recruitment strategy. This includes identifying candidates with HoD and key Leads, establishing hiring windows and targeting candidates within that timeframe. Working with crew services to update job descriptions and maintain a good knowledge base of industry-wide crew trends and project plans.

Needs to know and have:

• Strong communication skills – with an ability to deal with a wide range of different groups, including internal Dept prod team, Show production groups and central production team.
• Effective in crew management, including fostering career development within the team and casting tasks to strengths from available resource pool
• Proven scheduling experience, with a working knowledge of Filemaker/Shotgun a plus
• Concise and comprehensive approach with written communication
• Strong leadership qualities, with a confidence to front department plans and form solid partnership with Dept HoD.