Operations Engineer & Project Associate [AQ-12437]

About the role

Aquent is a global leader dedicated to connecting exceptional talent with the world’s most innovative brands. This is an extraordinary opportunity to join our internal team as a pivotal force in shaping the operational future of a dynamic organization. You will actively build, optimize, and lead strategic initiatives that directly enhance efficiency and capabilities across critical functions like sales and talent acquisition. Your work will include implementing cutting-edge AI and automation solutions, driving tangible change, and enabling leadership and teams to achieve unprecedented levels of success.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage key business initiatives from start to finish, coordinating cross-functional resources, establishing clear timelines, and ensuring successful project delivery.
• Identify operational bottlenecks, then design, build, and deploy automated workflows and customized AI agents to eliminate manual tasks and significantly increase staff bandwidth.
• Conduct qualitative and quantitative deep dives into data to assess the business impact of new initiatives. Develop frameworks to test new processes, analyze feedback and results, and pragmatically recommend course corrections.
• Embed within various internal teams to drive the successful adoption of new systems. Leverage strong communication and interpersonal skills to manage the human side of behavioral and operational change effectively.
• Keep leadership organized, proactively anticipate project roadblocks, and independently drive solutions forward without requiring extensive guidance or frequent course-correction.

Requirements

• Strong Academic Achievement: A stellar academic track record demonstrating high cognitive ability, logical reasoning, and intellectual curiosity (open to backgrounds in Business Analysis, Engineering, Computer Science, Economics, or similar fields).
• Demonstrated Leadership: Proven experience leading initiatives from start to finish, whether through professional projects, university/extracurricular activities, or organizing out-of-work initiatives.
• Hands-on AI & Automation Literacy: Proven capability in working with modern AI platforms, systems, and APIs. You must be able to demonstrate how you have built your own AI agents, prompts, or automated workflows to solve real problems.
• Communication, Influencing & Change Management: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills. You must be able to clearly articulate complex ideas, build rapport across different teams, and influence behavior to drive adoption of new ways of working.
• Systems Thinking & Engineering Mindset: You naturally view businesses as a series of interconnected systems, excelling at breaking down complex problems into structured, repeatable processes.
• Pragmatic & Analytical: Highly analytical with a business-first lens, extracting actionable insights that drive significant business impact.
• Resourceful & Autonomous: A curious, tech-forward self-starter who proactively researches, tests, and builds solutions when faced with unfamiliar tools or vague problems.
• High Emotional Intelligence (EQ): Strong leadership and influencing skills to effectively collaborate with diverse teams, build trust, and manage friction during operational shifts.
• Obsessively Organized: Methodical and detail-oriented, bringing order to chaos and naturally keeping projects moving forward.

Nice-to-Have

• Familiarity with the staffing, recruitment, or professional services industry.
• Experience in a Business Analyst, Operations Coordinator, or technical project management role.

About Aquent Talent

Aquent Talent connects the best talent in marketing, creative, and design with the world’s biggest brands. Our eligible talent get access to amazing benefits like subsidized health, vision, and dental plans, paid sick leave, and retirement plans with a match. We also offer free online training through Aquent Gymnasium.

Pay

Compensation Range: $27 – $35 hourly. The range provided is our reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role. The actual amount may be higher or lower, based on factors such as experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, and location.