Sr. Production Operations Manager, Live Sports Production

Come be a part of Amazon's dynamic Live Sports Production team. We are looking for an experienced Sr. Production Operations Manager who brings both strategic business acumen and hands-on production expertise to own the end-to-end lifecycle of multiple live sports properties, from initial financial modeling and vendor strategy through boots-on-the-ground execution.

In this role, you will serve as the centralized operational lead for your assigned properties, driving strategic planning across the full project lifecycle. You will lead financial modeling, shape vendor strategy, and manage engagement with third-party Production Service Partners (PSPs), coordinating backend functions including crewing, payroll, travel, and production accounting while maintaining Amazon's operational standards and ensuring productions launch on time and on budget.

Equally critical is your ability to deliver on the ground. You will work in lockstep with internal crewing, editorial, and technical workstreams to ensure each event or studio show is properly resourced, and will partner directly with PSPs to establish best practices, define operational standards, and ensure alignment across the vendor landscape. You will drive production readiness across all operational workstreams, ensuring each event is prepared for a clean launch and seamless restart.

This role requires deep knowledge of remote, event, and studio production operations, including broadcast positions, industry standard rates, vendor engagement models, and production service agreements. You will be responsible for issue spotting, driving decision making, and escalating matters that carry risk to the Global Head of Production Operations. Our production operation is purpose-built around the needs of an expanding, multi-sport live portfolio rather than modeled after a traditional broadcast network structure. We are defining and building as we evolve, and this person must be excited to roll up their sleeves and help establish the systems, relationships, and workflows that will scale with us.

The successful candidate is a self-starter who thrives in an entrepreneurial environment. You can juggle competing priorities across multiple productions with autonomy, react with urgency when situations demand immediate attention, and bring a proven track record of end-to-end ownership in a fast-paced, evolving business.

Key job responsibilities
• End-to-End Property Lifecycle Management: Own and manage the full project lifecycle for assigned properties, from projected business scope and production roadmap development, through execution and ongoing supervision of day-to-day live event and studio production, to post-mortem and financial reconciliation. Develop milestones, launch schedules, and workback timelines to ensure successful delivery of property launches and season restarts. Lead property transition planning for returning seasons, ensuring operational continuity, vendor re-engagement, and incorporation of prior-season learnings into the restart roadmap.

• Business Strategy and Vendor Management: Develop a deep understanding of organizational business objectives and production priorities to drive vendor evaluation, selection, and strategic recommendations that optimize cost, quality, and scalability across assigned properties. Shepherd the vendor selection process through RFPs and serve as the primary point of contact for vendors defining scope of work, deliverables, and engagement standards. Partner with Legal and Production Finance on contract terms, rate frameworks, and commercial agreements, and monitor vendor performance to ensure accountability against operational standards.

• Budget and Financial Management: Create and manage production budgets from initial scoping through execution. Work closely with Production Finance to track and reconcile all production costs, ensuring external vendors and the production team are aware of overall spend. Coordinate fee reconciliation and payment processing with third-party vendors to ensure accuracy and timeliness. Lead regular financial status updates to senior leadership, flagging variances and recommending corrective action.

• Crewing Coordination via PSPs: Ensure assigned properties are properly staffed by coordinating crew deployment through third-party vendors. Establish consistent frameworks for how Above-The-Line (ATL) and Below-The-Line (BTL) personnel are engaged across productions. Partner with the centralized crewing function to maintain visibility into crew availability, prevent scheduling conflicts, and ensure alignment with creative and editorial vision. Support rate structure consistency and market-competitive positioning across comparable roles.

• On-Site Event Operations and Health & Safety: Oversee on-site event production operations, including venue logistics and coordination with league and arena broadcast groups. Ensure Health & Safety protocols and risk management standards are maintained across all production environments. Work with vendors and internal teams to identify and mitigate operational risks in advance of air, and maintain contingency plans for live production scenarios.

• Labor and Workforce Compliance: Navigate both union and non-union production environments. Ensure third-party PSPs adhere to all applicable labor regulations and collective bargaining agreements. Work closely with Amazon's internal legal and labor teams to stay current on regulatory requirements, workforce compliance standards, and crew classification guidelines across domestic and international markets. Advise on compliance considerations as they arise, including jurisdictional rules and engagement terms.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with Amazon teams including Editorial Production, Technical Operations, Business Development, Production Finance, Accounting, and Legal to operationalize properties and drive synergy. Align regularly with production teams across regions to share best practices and integrate new learnings. Support the Global Head of Production Ops in implementing operational strategy across all Prime Video Live Sports properties.

• Escalation and Risk Management: Proactively identify issues and blockers, providing timely solutions to resolve them. Exercise sound judgment in issue spotting and decision making, escalating to senior leadership when matters carry risk or require broader organizational alignment. Lead regular status updates on project timelines, budgets, and production readiness.

• Operational Process Improvement and Scalability: Seek continuous improvements in execution of existing productions. Recommend changes to operational strategy, seek alignment with stakeholders, and implement at regular intervals. Own and leverage internal production management tools to maintain full visibility into productions, track resource deployment, and surface issues. Contribute to frameworks, SOPs, and systems that enable the team to scale with increasing property volume and complexity.

About the team
The Production Operations team is responsible for delivering high-quality event and studio productions on all global live sports properties to Prime Video customers worldwide. We drive production excellence through purpose-built processes and scalable operational frameworks that empower the team to work more efficiently and grow with increasing demand.

Basic Qualifications

- 6+ years of budgeting, scheduling and cost reporting experience
- Experience as a producer, production manager, line producer or in production risk management
- 6+ years of creative role understanding consumer trends and creating content experience
- 8+ years of experience in live sports production operations, production management, or operational planning, including hands-on, boots-on-the-ground execution across remote, studio, and event productions. Proven experience managing the end-to-end lifecycle of multiple simultaneous live sports properties, from initial scoping and financial modeling through production execution and post-season reconciliation. Strong command of production processes including vendor management, budgeting, roadmap development, and complex cross-departmental problem solving at scale. Track record of working with third-party production companies, including vendor selection, rate negotiation, and contract management; experience defining service requirements and ensuring commercial terms are captured in production service agreements and statements of work. Experience with both union and non-union crew across live productions, with a working knowledge of applicable collective bargaining agreements and labor guidelines. Experience reviewing and interpreting production service agreements, statements of work, and commercial contracts, with the ability to issue-spot and escalate matters that carry risk to the broader organization

Preferred Qualifications

- Experience leading large projects and facilitate group meetings
- Experience working for a production company, studio, or television network

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.

USA, CA, Culver City - 98,300.00 - 160,000.00 USD annually