Senior Production Manager

Senior Production Manager

SUBVRT Experience Studio  |  Sydney

Production Department  |  Reports to Head of Production

About SUBVRT

SUBVRT Experience Studio is a Sydney-based creative design and live events agency specialising in experience design, large-scale event production, and spatial/interior projects. We work across brand activations, cultural events, music festivals, and greenfield experiences, delivering work that demands technical excellence, creative sensitivity, and disciplined execution.

The Role

The Senior Production Manager sits within the Production Department and is the primary technical and logistical lead across SUBVRT's project portfolio. Reporting to the Head of Production, this role is responsible for translating approved creative concepts into detailed, executable production plans, and for driving those plans through to flawless on-site delivery.

The Production Department operates as a distinct function within SUBVRT, working in close collaboration with the Producer Team and Creative Department at defined handover points. The Senior Production Manager is the bridge between creative intent and physical reality, ensuring that what is designed can be built, what is planned can be delivered, and what is promised to clients is what arrives on site.

This is a highly technical role that also requires strong leadership, supplier management, and financial discipline. The Senior Production Manager leads Production Coordinators within the department and sets the standard for how SUBVRT produces its events.

Key Responsibilities

Production Planning and Technical Direction

•      Lead the end-to-end production planning process for each project, developing detailed working timelines, technical schedules, supplier briefs, and site documentation from brief handover through to bump-out

•      Provide technical direction and oversight across all stages of production planning and event execution, ensuring every technical element is properly specified, coordinated, and delivered

•      Interpret and interrogate creative briefs from the Creative Department, identifying production requirements, technical constraints, and feasibility considerations before planning commences

•      Develop and manage production critical paths, ensuring all technical workstreams are sequenced correctly and interdependencies are mapped and managed

•      Make confident technical decisions on-site and during planning, knowing when to escalate to the Head of Production and when to resolve independently

•      Contribute to production innovation, researching new technologies, materials, and methods that elevate the quality and efficiency of SUBVRT's delivery

CAD Documentation and Technical Drawings

•      Create, manage, and maintain all CAD drawings and technical documentation across each project, including site plans, floor plans, rigging plots, staging configurations, and structural layouts

•      Ensure CAD documentation is accurate, current, and distributed to all relevant suppliers and site teams in a timely manner

•      Translate creative spatial concepts and design directions into technically precise CAD drawings that suppliers and contractors can work from with confidence

•      Update CAD documentation as designs evolve through the production process, maintaining version control and clear change records

•      Liaise with the Creative Department to ensure technical drawings accurately reflect the approved creative intent without compromise

•      Maintain a library of standard SUBVRT CAD assets, templates, and documentation that can be efficiently adapted across projects

Supplier Management and Negotiation

•      Identify, brief, and manage all production suppliers and contractors across relevant disciplines including AV, rigging, staging, lighting, power, structures, and fabrication

•      Negotiate supplier pricing, scope, and terms to achieve best value without compromising quality, safety, or creative standards

•      Write and issue detailed technical supplier briefs that clearly communicate production requirements, site conditions, specifications, and expectations

•      Build and maintain strong, long-term relationships with SUBVRT's supplier network, treating the supplier base as a strategic production asset

•      Conduct supplier performance reviews and hold external partners accountable to agreed scopes, timelines, and standards

•      Continuously develop and expand the supplier network, identifying new partners and capabilities that strengthen SUBVRT's production offering

Financial Management and Budget Control

•      Lead budget scoping and production cost planning at brief stage, building accurate and detailed production budgets that reflect real-world supplier and logistics costs

•      Manage job cost control throughout the production lifecycle, tracking actuals against budget and flagging variances early

•      Negotiate supplier costs and manage purchase orders to ensure production expenditure stays within approved parameters

•      Deliver all supplier invoices and financial documentation to the Producer Team in a timely and organised manner

•      Identify and escalate scope changes that have cost implications, working with the Producer Team to manage variations through the appropriate commercial process

•      Contribute to post-event financial reconciliation by providing accurate production cost records and documentation

Logistics and On-Site Management

•      Oversee all production logistics including bump-in and bump-out scheduling, transport, equipment movement, crew coordination, and site access management

•      Develop and distribute detailed site schedules, crew call sheets, and logistics plans that give every person on site clarity on their role and timing

•      Act as the senior production presence on-site during events, maintaining authority and clear communication across all technical crews and suppliers

•      Anticipate and resolve on-site production issues quickly and calmly, applying practical problem-solving to protect both the creative outcome and the delivery timeline

•      Ensure bump-in and bump-out are executed to schedule and within the agreed site access parameters

•      Conduct thorough post-event production debriefs and contribute learnings to the broader Production Department

Risk and Safety Management

•      Embed risk and safety thinking into every stage of the production planning process, treating WHS compliance as a baseline and site safety as a genuine priority

•      Develop and maintain risk registers, site safety plans, induction systems, and emergency procedures for all events

•      Ensure all on-site crew, suppliers, and contractors have completed appropriate site inductions and are operating within agreed safety frameworks

•      Oversee site and equipment safety throughout bump-in, event operation, and bump-out, identifying and addressing hazards proactively

•      Stay current with WHS legislation, industry codes of practice, and permit requirements relevant to large-scale outdoor, indoor, and greenfield events

•      Lead the completion and submission of all safety documentation required by venues, councils, or regulatory bodies

Collaboration with the Producer and Creative Teams

•      Work closely with the Producer Team as the primary production contact, providing regular updates on technical progress, costs, and risks across each project

•      Attend and contribute to project meetings, bringing a clear and informed production perspective to planning discussions

•      Liaise with the Creative Department at key production milestones to ensure technical execution remains faithful to the approved creative direction

•      Provide practical production input during the creative development phase where feasibility, structural requirements, or technical constraints need to be considered early

•      Deliver all required production documentation to the Producer Team within agreed timeframes, including supplier quotes, technical drawings, risk registers, schedules, and invoices

Team Leadership and Development

•      Lead, manage, and develop Production Coordinators within the Production Department, setting clear expectations and creating conditions for them to do their best work

•      Allocate and manage the workload of Production Coordinators across the project portfolio, matching resource to project demands

•      Mentor Production Coordinators through project journeys, building their technical knowledge, supplier relationships, and production management capability

•      Model SUBVRT's standards for technical rigour, professionalism, and safety across the Production Department

•      Contribute to onboarding new production team members and to the ongoing capability development of the department

What You Bring

Experience

•      5 to 8 years of experience in a senior production management or technical production role within a live events agency, production company, or experiential environment

•      Demonstrated experience managing complex, large-scale event productions across a range of formats including festivals, greenfield events, corporate events, and brand activations

•      Proven track record managing production budgets and supplier networks independently

•      Hands-on experience creating and managing CAD documentation for live event production environments

Skills and Capabilities

•      Strong technical knowledge across live event production disciplines including AV, lighting, staging, rigging, power, structures, and site infrastructure

•      Proficient in CAD software relevant to event production environments; able to produce, read, and manage technical drawings to a high standard

•      Excellent project planning and logistics management skills with a systematic, detail-oriented approach

•      Skilled negotiator with experience managing supplier relationships and commercial terms across multiple concurrent projects

•      Strong financial literacy including budget scoping, cost tracking, and production reconciliation

•      Solid WHS knowledge with practical experience developing and implementing safety plans for large-scale outdoor and indoor events

•      Clear communicator, written and verbal, with the ability to brief suppliers, liaise with creative teams, and report to the Producer Team with equal clarity

Personal Attributes

•      Technically sharp and detail-oriented, with a genuine pride in the precision and quality of production delivery

•      Calm under pressure and decisive on-site, with the confidence to direct crews and resolve problems without escalating unnecessarily

•      Collaborative by nature, working constructively across the Producer Team, Creative Department, and external suppliers

•      High ownership mentality; you treat every production as if your name is on it

•      Proactive problem-solver who anticipates issues before they surface and brings solutions, not just problems

•      Committed to safety as a genuine value, not a compliance exercise

What We Offer

•      A technically demanding and creatively stimulating production environment with genuine variety across project types and scales

•      A specialist agency with a strong reputation in large-scale experiential and festival work, where production quality is genuinely valued

•      A senior role with real autonomy within a structured and growing Production Department

•      Exposure to high-profile projects across festivals, greenfield events, brand activations, and spatial design

•      Competitive salary commensurate with experience