How to… hire your first Producer
We’re at our best when we are sitting across a metaphorical small round table, warm beverages in hand, giving advice to people we want to help succeed. (It’s Cawfee Tawk, bubbelehs. Advice like buttah.) Do you have a question? Send it over!
Question:
We’ve never had a "Producer" function within our startup's creative team, and as we push company scale and product excellence, we’re feeling the impact of not having that role on both process and quality. What are key considerations we should have in mind while architecting this new-to-us function and hiring our first Producer?
NoCo Answer:
It sounds like you’ve arrived at a critical stage for adding this role. Usually, when in startup mode, founders and principals are doing a lot of the Producer’s role themselves, with other early hires filling in many gaps. It’s scrappy, it’s lean—and it makes sense that practitioners are producing their own work. An org might even freelance Producers a bit before a first full-time hire. However, there comes a time when the first Producer hire is not only optimal but necessary, and there’s a massive opportunity cost if you miss this window.
When that window of time comes for a growing org to make the first Producer hire, look for a Producer who will establish the standard of excellence (as noted in our article about building the Integrated Producer Model).
“Respect starts (in part) when an org models the excellence of the role with a very senior, very capable person that shows and proves the positive impacts”
The first Producer should be an experienced, senior practitioner, someone who will do the doing for a while, as well as model what the function can be, in an aspirational way. This hire should still love being a Producer, being in the weeds with the team and stakeholders to deliver work at the highest quality. They should be experienced, but not so senior or interested in / ready for leadership that they will hate detailed delivery week after week.
We have found that leaders from other disciplines, from Product Engineering to Creative Direction, are often the ones needing to make this first hire—but they don’t necessarily know what to look for or how to hire The Best Producer™. Let’s break down the proof-points and process a bit:
What does an experienced Producer look like?
In short, they are like a decathlon athlete. They have range and they have stamina alongside speed.
They’ve done most types of projects many times (and especially every type of project your team/org is expected to regularly put out).
They can handle bleeding-edge projects by using the scaffolding of their past experience.
They navigate ambiguity with calm confidence and demonstrate resilience.
What does hiring for a senior Producer look like?
Look for evidence, not potential. Include a case study presentation in the interview process, just as you would for a designer or product marketer. Ask Producers to show explicit evidence that speaks to the type of work and teams/relationships you’ll need them to lead.
Don’t guess. Bring an expert into the hiring process who understands the competencies for the Producer role. They should participate in interviewing and selection recommendations. (You can consult an outside expert for this to make the first hire.)
Don’t go by brands on a resume or vibes. While those can be shiny objects in interviews, clear evidence and strong references are the only way you’re going to get insight into whether a candidate is the strong Producer you need.
Last piece of advice: Be expansive. Once you get them in the door, don’t squeeze the life out of a good producer. This often happens to producers by being overloaded with too much or underestimated with too little. You’re not hiring an entry-level Project Manager; Producers (and related roles, such as Design Ops) do so much more than take notes, schedule meetings, and track to-dos.
If you’re a leader from a different area of expertise, don’t have a fixed idea of the “how”—leave that to the Producer expert(s) you hire to do the job. Your job is to understand why your org needs the Producer model and, specifically, what critical problems adding the Producer function will solve. In other words, outline the goals (maybe even diagram the from-to), make the problems clear—and leave it to the expert to know how to get there.
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