Managing Director | Stockholm

About the position

As Managing Director at Goodbye Kansas, you will be an important part of the Management team at our headquarters in Stockholm, including the Global Management Team. As Managing Director, you will carry significant duties and responsibilities both internal and external to Goodbye Kansas. You will be in the central position of leading the Stockholm studio on a day-to-day basis through internal communication, building culture, facilitation of public relations, resolving of facility issues and guiding studio events.

You will report to the Group CEO, while the Executive Producers Group, Operations Team, Head of Animation & VFX, Art Department and the Motion Capture & Scanning Departments will be directly reporting to you. You will also work closely with HR, IT, R&D and Marketing, as well as liaise with the group CEO and other studio locations to develop long term strategic business plans. You will further improve and help manage Goodbye Kansas HQ by overseeing all production operations, artist utilisation, recruiting, career development, technology, training, overhead and project budgets as well as facilities operations in Stockholm.

This position is for our studio in Stockholm and if you are applying from abroad, you must have the ability to relocate to Sweden, notwithstanding the current travel and health authorities’ advisories.

What we offer

- A fun, creative, international and inclusive environment.
- Opportunities for personal growth, a wide variety of projects and experienced co-workers that collaborate and share knowledge.
- Flexible working hours encouraging work-life balance.
- Pension (tjänstepension) and Promotion of Health & Fitness allowance (friskvårdsbidrag).
- A modern and newly built office in Hammarby Sjöstad that is sustainable - designed for Goodbye Kansas and the environment.


Responsibilities

- Strategy & Budget(s)
- Managing the Stockholm studio P&L, plan and manage the annual operating budget and work with Finance to produce quarterly forecasts, manage overhead costs and approve budgets for all Stockholm departments.
- Responsible for overseeing all department budgets, liaising with the CFO on department budgets and play a key role in the decision making of budgets.
- Liaise with the group CEO and other studio locations to develop long term strategic business plans.




- Project(s) & Bidding
- Participating in the bidding process and strategising on the operational approach for all projects.
- Working with the Executive Producers, being involved with business development and building of client relations, which will lead to changes and improvement in workflow design and expansion.
- Working with the Executive Producers on certain projects, responsible for ensuring the determination of an optimal course to achieve the Client’s vision.
- Liaising with clients and vendors, as needed.
- Overseeing the analysis of post-project data through post-mortems and end of show reports, and ensures all appropriate documentation is made available to the management team.


- Collaboration, Decision making & Communication
- Forming a partnership with the Executive Team, the Operations Team and Supervisors you are responsible for the day to day decision making and management of the studio.
- Day to day decision making in the context of good business practice and profitability
- Enhancing the day to day connection between Management, Creative, Production, technical and all other departments.
- Chair & organise various meetings, as required.


- Staff, Company Culture & Work Environment
- Ensuring the workplace is a safe environment for employees, clients and others (in collaboration with HR).
- Fostering a culture of accountability and trust within the dynamics of a sustainable business, as well as working with others to further develop the Goodbye Kansas culture.
- Promoting a positive and productive work environment and leads collaborative efforts across the facility as well as between projects.
- Together with the group CEO and HR Manager, implementing change management (improved policies and processes) and compensation strategies, ensuring compliance as well as suggesting new policies (in collaboration with HR).
- Contributing to HR & Talent Acquisition by assisting in the qualifications & approval of new key hires.


- Direct Reports & Indirect Reports
- Responsible for career development, performance evaluation, performance management, mentoring, and coaching for all direct reports and participates in mid-show, end of show, and annual review process (in collaboration with HR).
- Acting as an escalation point for Supervisors, Production Management, and Artist Management to resolve the matter at hand.
- Working closely with the Head of Production to oversee schedules of deliverables and accurate resource requirements for projects, creating status reports and updates for project delivery.
- Directly managing the Executive Producers Group, Head of Production, Head of VFX, Head of Animation, Head of Creative, Head of Motion Capture and Head of Scanning.


- IT, Pipeline & Development
- Working closely with the CTO & Head of Pipeline to ensure technical execution at an operational level.
- Assists the CTO in determining the long term technological vision and R&D strategy of the company.
- Partnering with IT and Pipe & Development department and Supervisors to determine internal software development requirements and appropriate use of vendor applications.
- Anticipating facility challenges and identifies solutions, maintaining an ongoing focus on optimisation and efficiency.




Requirements and Personal Qualities

- Minimum 10 years of work experience with a strong understanding of visual effects techniques, bidding and scheduling and artist management.
- Experience in VFX (film or TV series) and/or Games Cinematics productions.
- Experience in Motion Capture & Scanning is a big plus.
- Excellent communicator and able to bring your well informed points across in a collaborative manner.
- Great people manager, mentor and collaborator with a proven track as a leader in a global organization.
- Genuine interest in ensuring the long-term success of the Stockholm studio.
- Work experience of team based productions.
- Working knowledge of the R&D processes.
- Flexibility and ability to travel for work as needed, respecting any current travel advisories.
- A strategic mindset and ability to make hard decisions when needed.
- You will handle a lot of sensit...