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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for a Traffic Coordinator

💰 $45,000 - $65,000

MarketingAdvertisingProject ManagementMediaCreative Services

🎯 Role Definition

A Traffic Coordinator is the operational heartbeat of a creative or marketing department, functioning as the central point of contact for all project workflows. This role is fundamentally about project logistics and resource management, ensuring that creative projects move seamlessly from briefing to final delivery. They are the "air traffic controllers" for an agency or in-house team, responsible for creating schedules, assigning tasks, tracking progress, and ensuring all stakeholders are aligned and all deadlines are met. By managing the flow of information and assets, the Traffic Coordinator enables the creative team to focus on producing high-quality work while guaranteeing that campaigns and materials are delivered on time and to specification.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Marketing Assistant or Coordinator
  • Project Coordinator
  • Administrative Assistant (within a creative or marketing environment)

Advancement To:

  • Senior Traffic Coordinator / Traffic Manager
  • Project Manager
  • Creative Services Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • Junior Project Manager
  • Media Coordinator
  • Production Coordinator

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Serve as the primary liaison between account management, creative, production, and digital teams to ensure clear communication and cohesive workflow.
  • Meticulously develop, maintain, and manage detailed project schedules and timelines for all creative jobs from inception through completion.
  • Open new jobs and projects within the project management system, ensuring all necessary information, briefs, and specifications are included and accurate.
  • Proactively monitor project progress against established schedules, identifying potential risks, delays, or resource constraints and escalating issues as needed.
  • Conduct daily or weekly status meetings (or "huddles") to review project workloads, prioritize tasks, and communicate next steps to all team members.
  • Manage the allocation of creative and production resources, assessing team bandwidth and assigning tasks based on availability and skill set.
  • Route all creative materials, including concepts, copy, layouts, and proofs, for internal and external review and approval using established proofing tools and processes.
  • Consolidate and clearly communicate feedback from stakeholders to the creative team to ensure revisions are efficient and accurate.
  • Maintain and distribute a daily "hot sheet" or status report that provides a clear, at-a-glance overview of all active projects, their current status, and upcoming deadlines.
  • Act as the gatekeeper for all creative requests, ensuring that they are properly briefed and aligned with strategic priorities before being assigned.
  • Manage the trafficking of final, approved creative assets to various media outlets, publications, and digital platforms, ensuring adherence to strict deadlines and technical specifications.
  • Uphold rigorous quality control standards by proofing final deliverables for accuracy, brand guideline compliance, and technical correctness before release.
  • Organize and maintain a central Digital Asset Management (DAM) system, ensuring all final project files are correctly named, tagged, and archived for easy retrieval.
  • Coordinate with external partners, such as freelancers, photographers, printers, and media vendors, to communicate project requirements and manage timelines.
  • Facilitate project kickoff meetings to ensure all team members understand the project goals, scope, deliverables, and key milestones.
  • Track and report on the volume and lifecycle of projects to help leadership understand team capacity and identify process improvement opportunities.
  • Troubleshoot and resolve any logistical or workflow issues that arise during the project lifecycle, demonstrating a calm and solution-oriented approach.
  • Ensure that the creative team has all the necessary assets, information, and resources they need to begin and complete their work effectively.
  • Build and maintain strong working relationships with all internal departments to foster a collaborative and efficient work environment.
  • Continuously update project management software (e.g., Asana, Workfront, Jira) with the real-time status of all tasks and projects to ensure full transparency.

Secondary Functions

  • Assist in the continual refinement and documentation of internal workflow processes to enhance team efficiency and project throughput.
  • Support the creative and marketing leadership by compiling reports on project volume, team capacity, and workflow bottlenecks.
  • Manage the archival of completed project assets and maintain an organized historical library for future reference and portfolio use.
  • Provide administrative and coordination support for department-wide meetings and initiatives as required.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Project Management Software: High-level proficiency in tools like Asana, Workfront, Trello, Basecamp, or Jira for scheduling, tracking, and reporting.
  • Digital Asset Management (DAM): Experience using and maintaining DAM systems for organizing, tagging, and distributing creative files.
  • Ad Trafficking: Understanding of the process for delivering final ad materials to digital and traditional media channels, including knowledge of ad specs.
  • Creative File Formats: Strong familiarity with common creative file types (INDD, PSD, AI, PDF, EPS) and their uses in a production environment.
  • Office & Collaboration Suites: Competency in Microsoft Office 365 (Word, Excel, Outlook) and/or Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, GCal).
  • Proofing & Annotation Tools: Experience using digital proofing software (e.g., Ziflow, PageProof) or Adobe Acrobat for marking up and consolidating feedback.
  • Scheduling & Calendaring: Ability to create and manage complex, interdependent timelines and team calendars effectively.
  • Creative Production Knowledge: A solid understanding of the creative development lifecycle for print, digital, social, and video projects.
  • Resource Management: Ability to assess team capacity and allocate resources effectively to balance workloads and meet deadlines.
  • Reporting: Skill in pulling data from project management systems to create basic reports on project status and team utilization.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional Organization: A meticulous and systematic approach to managing multiple projects, tasks, and deadlines simultaneously.
  • Impeccable Attention to Detail: A keen eye for accuracy in schedules, briefs, file names, and final deliverables.
  • Clear & Concise Communication: The ability to articulate project status, requirements, and risks clearly to diverse audiences, both verbally and in writing.
  • Grace Under Pressure: An unflappable demeanor and the ability to remain calm, focused, and solution-oriented in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
  • Proactive Problem-Solving: The foresight to anticipate potential roadblocks and the initiative to develop solutions before they become critical issues.
  • Interpersonal Finesse: A natural ability to build rapport and foster positive, collaborative relationships with all team members and stakeholders.
  • Multitasking Mastery: Proven ability to juggle competing priorities without letting anything fall through the cracks.
  • Sense of Urgency: A strong drive to keep projects moving forward and a commitment to hitting every deadline.
  • Adaptability: Flexibility to pivot and adjust schedules as project priorities shift.
  • Accountability: A high degree of personal responsibility for the smooth execution of project workflows.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • An Associate's Degree or equivalent relevant work experience.

Preferred Education:

  • A Bachelor's Degree is highly preferred.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Marketing
  • Communications
  • Advertising
  • Business Administration
  • Project Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 1-3 years of professional experience in a coordination role, ideally within a marketing department, advertising agency, or other creative environment.

Preferred:

  • Direct experience in a role specifically titled Traffic Coordinator or Project Coordinator within an agency setting is highly advantageous. Experience with a formal project management system is strongly preferred.
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