ZooLab Producer
About The Role
ZooLab is Blue Zoo Animation Studio’s Visual Development department, delivering concept, character and environment design, proof-of-concept development, animatic production and wider visual development support across Development, Long Form, Short Form, Digital and third-party projects.
As ZooLab Producer, you will lead the production and operational running of the ZooLab department, owning planning, scheduling, budgeting and delivery across multiple concurrent projects. You will ensure teams are appropriately resourced, priorities are clearly defined, and work is delivered on time, within budget and to a high creative standard.
You will report into the Studio Director of Productions, working in close partnership with the Head of Production and ZooLab creative leadership.
The role sits at the intersection of early development and pre-production through to handover into full production, ensuring continuity of schedule and resource planning across stages. You will also act as a key point of contact for external clients, managing communication, feedback, schedules and delivery expectations across ZooLab-led work.
The successful candidate will need to be based in the UK and will require the right to work in the UK. The opportunity will be offered on a 12 month fixed term contract, full time (PAYE). Please note that this vacancy can close early if we receive a high number of applications.
Day to Day:
- Ownership of the scheduling, staffing plans and resource allocation across ZooLab, ensuring effective capacity planning across multiple concurrent productions and client projects.
- Track workload, utilisation, budgets, staffing risks and future demand, providing clear reporting to production leadership.
- Coordinate and support freelance or internal hiring requests in collaboration with People & Talent.
- Lead planning and delivery across projects in collaboration with the ZooLab creative lead, from briefing through to final output, including schedules, milestones and deliverables.
- Act as the central production point of contact between artists, creative leads, production teams and clients.
- Drive prioritisation across competing demands, ensuring alignment with studio and production priorities.
- Manage scope, schedule and resource changes, proactively identifying risks and driving solutions.
- Facilitate and manage client communication, feedback cycles and delivery expectations on external work.
- Support early setup of selected Long Form pre-production or development cycles, including schedules, workflows, staffing structures and delivery planning.
- Ensure clear documentation of plans, decisions, risks and production status, supporting smooth handover into Production Manager or Line Producer ownership.
- Escalate risks, conflicts and resourcing issues early, with clear options and recommended solutions.
- Work closely with creative leadership and production teams to balance creative ambition with operational and delivery constraints.
- Maintain strong communication across departments, ensuring alignment between creative, production and studio priorities.
About You
Must Have:
- Significant production experience in animation, VFX, games or a similar creative production environment.
- Proven experience managing schedules, budgets, resources and multiple concurrent projects.
- Experience in production tracking tools such as ShotGrid, ftrack or similar.
- Strong stakeholder management and communication skills across creative and production teams.
- Ability to influence, align and drive outcomes without direct authority.
- Excellent problem-solving skills with a proactive, solution-led mindset.
- Calm, structured and effective under pressure with strong prioritisation skills.
- Experience working with evolving creative briefs and iterative development workflows.
- Strong understanding of visual development and pre-production processes.
- Ability to balance creative ambition with production realities, schedules and budgets.
Bonus Points:
- Experience supporting early-stage Long Form production setup.
- Experience managing fast-paced work and evolving scope.
- Experience supporting workforce planning, recruitment or department structuring.
About Us
Blue Zoo is a leading animation studio in the UK, with a world-class reputation as the go-to place for creating bold, fun and characterful animation. Established in London in 2000, the studio has grown to become the largest dedicated CG animation studio in the UK, picking up a shelf full of BAFTAs, an Annie and an Emmy along the way!
We couldn’t be prouder that Blue Zoo is the first major animation studio in the world to receive B Corp certification. We’ve been independently certified by B Lab, a non-profit organisation who award the B Corp certification. The certification verifies companies who are working to improve the lives of employees as well as industries as a whole. The certification process involves over 170 rigorous metrics to improve the lives of our staff, customers, suppliers, and the local community, ensuring we are not just saying we are ethical with empty gestures, but independently evidencing it.
We are going through an exciting period of growth and are building a studio that is full of amazingly talented, happy artists, making work they are proud of, which in turn makes a small contribution to a happier world. Blue Zoo believes that a healthy balance in our lives - whatever our situation - is key to supporting the wellbeing of our staff. We offer flexible working to support this.
We look for people who have expertise, enthusiasm and are motivated to make things better. You’ll work alongside a talented and diverse group of people who respect each other's differences and seek to understand and embrace fresh perspectives.
What we’ve got for you:
- Winner of Broadcast Best Places to Work in TV 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024, 2025 & 2026.
- Inclusive self-funded shorts programme.
- Many fun in person and remote social events throughout the year.
- Bi-monthly employee feedback and engagement programme.
- Comprehensive benefits package, including loads of discounts and offers.
- Online wellbeing programme.
- Profit share (for employees who have been with us for 2+ years).
Blue Zoo is committed to creating and nurturing an inclusive studio that promotes and values diversity and invites everyone to ‘bring their whole selves’ to work. We believe that companies that truly embrace and value diversity, and create an environment where everyone from any background can do their best work, are better companies.
To be engaged our people have to feel included and valued. We work hard to build and nurture a culture where inclusiveness is embedded in the way we work, not just an initiative. We strive to engender a studio community that feels a deep sense of pride and commitment that transcends any role, department or level and works together to produce excellent and engaging work.