Position Overview The Operations Manager serves as the primary project manager for WeebCon, an Anime Convention based in Grapevine Texas, and is responsible for overseeing the planning, coordination, and execution of the convention as a whole. This position maintains a comprehensive view of the entire WeebCon project, ensuring that departments, teams, vendors, contractors, and leadership remain aligned with organizational priorities, deadlines, budgets, and operational requirements. Rather than directly performing every operational function, the Operations Manager is responsible for ensuring that each function has an owner, each deliverable has a deadline, dependencies between departments are identified, and projects are progressing according to plan. The Operations Manager acts as the central point of operational coordination between the CEO and WeebCon's various departments and is expected to identify problems, delays, and resource needs before they interfere with the successful execution of the convention. During the convention itself, the Operations Manager transitions into a senior event command role, overseeing organization-wide execution and coordinating department leadership in response to changing operational needs. Core ResponsibilitiesConvention-Wide Project Management Maintain the master project plan for WeebCon from the beginning of the planning cycle through post-event closeout. Establish and maintain organization-wide deadlines, milestones, deliverables, and dependencies. Track progress across all major departments and workstreams. Ensure that every major project, activation, program, operational requirement, and event deliverable has a clearly assigned owner. Regularly evaluate whether departments are on schedule and identify areas at risk of falling behind. Coordinate projects that require participation from multiple departments. Identify operational bottlenecks and work with department leads to resolve them. Maintain visibility into the overall readiness of the convention. Escalate significant delays, risks, budget issues, or operational concerns to the CEO. Translate executive decisions and organizational priorities into actionable projects, assignments, and timelines. Department Oversight & Coordination Provide operational oversight and project coordination across WeebCon's major functions, including: Convention Operations Programming Guest Relations Guest Booking Exhibitors and Artist Alley Marketing Creative and Design Social Media Activations and Experiences Registration and Ticketing Staffing and Volunteers Venue Operations Security and Crowd Management Production and A/V Merchandise Sponsorships and Partnerships Transportation and Hospitality The Operations Manager is not expected to replace the department leads or personally execute each department's responsibilities. Instead, the position is responsible for ensuring those departments remain coordinated, accountable, and aligned with the overall convention plan. Meetings & Accountability Conduct regular operational meetings with department leads. Maintain clear action items following meetings and ensure responsibilities are assigned. Follow up on incomplete or delayed deliverables. Establish systems for department leads to report progress, obstacles, and upcoming needs. Maintain a central view of open projects and priorities. Ensure decisions requiring executive approval are identified and presented to the CEO in a timely manner. Reduce situations where projects stall because teams are waiting for information, approvals, assets, or another department. Hold department leadership accountable for agreed-upon deadlines and deliverables. Timeline & Deliverable Management Develop and maintain the master convention production calendar. Work backward from convention dates to establish appropriate internal deadlines. Track critical deadlines involving vendors, venue requirements, contractors, guests, exhibitors, marketing campaigns, production, staffing, and programming. Identify dependencies between projects and departments. Adjust timelines when circumstances change while protecting critical event deadlines. Ensure long-lead projects are initiated early enough to be completed before the convention. Maintain a clear understanding of what must be completed at 12 months, 9 months, 6 months, 90 days, 60 days, 30 days, and final event week. Operational Planning Coordinate development of convention-wide operational plans. Ensure departmental plans are compatible with venue requirements and the overall event schedule. Review operational needs involving space, equipment, staffing, logistics, access, credentialing, transportation, loading, storage, and guest services. Help identify required vendors and outside resources. Coordinate planning between internal teams and external partners. Ensure necessary contingency plans are developed for significant operational risks. Budget & Resource Coordination Working alongside the CEO and accounting/finance functions: Maintain awareness of departmental budgets and major planned expenditures. Ensure department leads understand their approved budgets and purchasing limitations. Identify projects that are likely to exceed their allocated resources. Coordinate major purchasing and vendor requests requiring executive approval. Help prioritize resources when multiple departments have competing needs. Monitor operational decisions for potential financial impact. Ensure material budget issues are brought to the CEO before commitments are made. The Operations Manager does not replace the company's accounting or bookkeeping functions but should maintain sufficient financial visibility to manage the project responsibly. Event Readiness As the convention approaches, the Operations Manager is responsible for maintaining an organization-wide readiness assessment.

This includes confirming that:

Departmental plans are complete. Required staff and contractors have been assigned. Vendors are confirmed. Equipment and production requirements are accounted for. Guest and talent logistics are coordinated. Programming schedules are finalized. Exhibitor and Artist Alley operations are prepared. Registration and credentialing systems are ready. Staffing plans and schedules are complete. Security and crowd-management plans are established. Signage and wayfinding requirements are accounted for. Marketing deliverables tied to the event have been completed. Venue requirements and deadlines have been satisfied. Department leads understand their responsibilities during move-in, show days, and move-out. Emergency contacts and escalation procedures are established. On-Site Convention Leadership During move-in and the convention itself, the Operations Manager serves as one of WeebCon's senior operational leaders.

Responsibilities include:

Overseeing convention-wide operational execution. Maintaining communication with department leads throughout each show day. Coordinating responses to operational problems that involve multiple departments. Reallocating staff or resources when necessary. Monitoring schedule adherence and event readiness. Ensuring critical issues are escalated appropriately. Coordinating with venue personnel and key vendors when necessary. Maintaining awareness of crowd conditions, guest operations, programming, exhibitors, registration, production, and other major event functions. Supporting department leads when unexpected issues arise. Helping leadership prioritize competing operational needs in real time. Ensuring decisions made during the event are communicated to everyone affected by them. The Operations Manager should maintain a command-level view of the convention rather than becoming unnecessarily absorbed in individual frontline tasks. Risk Management & Problem Solving Proactively identify potential operational failures before they become emergencies. Maintain awareness of critical dependencies throughout the planning process. Develop contingency plans for high-impact operational risks. Determine which problems can be resolved at the departmental level and which require executive involvement. Coordinate rapid responses to unexpected operational issues. Document significant issues and recommend process improvements for future conventions. Post-Convention Responsibilities Coordinate departmental post-event reports and debriefs. Track outstanding vendor, contractor, operational, and administrative closeout items. Document operational successes, failures, and lessons learned. Maintain a centralized list of recommended changes for the following convention year. Update internal processes and project templates based on event performance. Assist leadership in establishing the next convention's initial timeline and priorities. Leadership Expectations The Operations Manager is expected to: Maintain a complete understanding of the status of the WeebCon project. Communicate clearly and consistently with leadership and department heads. Create accountability without unnecessarily micromanaging department leads. Recognize when intervention is necessary and when a department should be allowed to operate independently. Be comfortable pushing for decisions and deliverables when deadlines are approaching. Anticipate problems rather than waiting for them to become emergencies. Remain calm and decisive in a fast-moving live-event environment. Protect the CEO from having to personally track routine project management while ensuring leadership remains informed about significant decisions, risks, and developments. QualificationsPreferred Experience Experience in project management, event management, convention operations, live entertainment, hospitality, experiential events, or a comparable operational environment. Experience managing complex projects involving numerous simultaneous workstreams. Experience coordinating multiple department heads, vendors, contractors, or stakeholders. Experience building and managing project timelines. Experience managing deadlines and holding teams accountable for deliverables. Experience working in a fast-paced environment with immovable event or launch dates. Experience specifically within conventions, festivals, trade shows, conferences, live entertainment, esports, gaming, anime, or large-scale fan events is highly desirable. Skills The ideal candidate will demonstrate strong: Project management Organizational leadership Operational planning Time management Delegation Written and verbal communication Cross-functional coordination Prioritization Conflict resolution Vendor coordination Risk identification Problem solving Decision making Documentation and process development Fandom for Anime & Manga The candidate should also be comfortable learning and utilizing project-management, communication, scheduling, and documentation platforms used by WeebCon. Authority & Decision-Making The Operations Manager is empowered to manage approved projects, establish internal deadlines, coordinate department activities, request status updates, call operational meetings, identify required corrective actions, and hold team members accountable for assigned responsibilities. Major strategic, financial, contractual, personnel, or brand decisions remain subject to CEO approval unless authority has been specifically delegated. Within approved plans and budgets, the Operations Manager should be capable of making routine operational decisions independently without requiring constant executive approval. Measures of Success Success in this position will be measured by the Operations Manager's ability to ensure that: Major convention projects are completed on schedule. Department heads understand their responsibilities and deadlines. Cross-department dependencies are identified and managed. Leadership has reliable visibility into the status of the convention. Operational problems are identified early. Important tasks do not fall through organizational gaps. Departments are communicating effectively with one another. Event readiness improves steadily as the convention approaches. The convention executes successfully despite the complexity and inevitable changes associated with a large live event. Post-event lessons are documented and incorporated into future planning. Role Summary The Operations Manager should ultimately be able to answer, at virtually any point during the planning cycle: What needs to happen? Who is responsible for it? When is it due? Is it on track? What is preventing it from being completed? And what needs leadership's attention? The role exists to ensure that WeebCon operates as one coordinated project rather than a collection of independent departments.

Pay:

From $40.00 per hour Expected hours: No more than 25.0 per week

Work Location:

Hybrid remote in Grapevine, TX 76051