Hi, I’m
Michelle Henderson
Asset Solutions Director
City of London
Summary
Innovative Asset Solutions Director with over 9 years of experience in optimizing digital asset workflows and production operations. Recognized for bridging technical and creative domains to deliver measurable efficiency improvements across global teams. Proven track record of implementing strategic solutions that enhance content lifecycle management while driving sustainability initiatives. Skilled in leading cross-functional teams, managing complex system integrations, and developing standardized processes that align with business objectives.
Overview
11
years of professional experience
Work History
Hogarth Worldwide
Asset Solutions Director, EU
04.2024 - Current
Job overview
- Lead a team of five specialists managing asset ingestion, sharing, quality control, and digital rights management across global markets
- Spearhead the refurbishment of cross-client systems with innovative solutions to improve productivity and efficiency
- Drive education and adoption of new asset systems tailored to specific agency and client needs
- Test and troubleshoot systems pre-deployment, providing critical feedback and improvements to developers
- Standardize tool usage across agencies, regions, and 3rd party partners based on client requirements
- Collaborate with System Engineers to implement and deploy file system upgrades across the agency
- Optimize storage usage through testing and deployment of advanced storage management solutions
Hogarth Worldwide
Head of Asset Solutions, EU
01.2021 - 03.2024
Job overview
- Successfully established and managed the Asset Desk for the EMEA region, hiring and training a dedicated team
- Implemented a comprehensive digital rights management strategy across markets, agencies, and 3rd parties
- Drove education and adoption of new asset systems, ensuring developers received necessary feedback for continuous improvement
- Created and deployed standardized workflows for asset ingestion, metadata application, and quality control
- Collaborated with global teams to ensure consistent asset management practices across regions
- Developed and implemented metrics-based reporting to demonstrate efficiency improvements and ROI
Makerhouse (WPP and Hogarth)
Asset Manager
09.2017 - 01.2021
Job overview
- Managed the complete lifecycle of inbound media assets, including storage, maintenance, and sourcing requests
- Led the implementation of a new server infrastructure from investigation through troubleshooting
- Established comprehensive taxonomy and metadata schemes for agency-wide adoption
- Defined and enforced naming conventions and folder structure templates across the agency
- Performed data wrangling, quality control, and checksum verification during live shoots
- Continuously reviewed technical and production workflows, implementing improvements to streamline processes
- Provided first-line technical support for creative services, EMEA, and global departments
- Acted as technical translator between various departments to facilitate system adoption
Robinson Distribution LTD
Office Manager and Internal Sales Manager
02.2015 - 07.2017
Job overview
- Managed office operations, customer service, and internal sales processes
- Organized filing systems and maintained records in alignment with company policies and data security protocols
- Processed invoices and financial data with strong attention to detail
- Improved office efficiency by establishing streamlined workflow processes and monitoring productivity
Education
University of Pretoria
Bachelor of Arts from Visual Culture Studies
01.2015
University of Cape Town
Certificate of Higher Education from Copywriting for Online Marketing
01.2015
Skills
- Asset Management Systems: Bynder
- Asset Management Systems: Marcombox
- Asset Management Systems: Iconik
- Workflow Management: Frameio
- Asset Management Systems: Lucidlink
- Asset Management Systems: Orange Logic
- Production Tools: Adobe Creative Suite
- Production Tools: Jira
- Production Tools: Smartsheets
- Data Management: Data wrangling
- Data Management: QC processes
- Data Management: MD5 verification
- Data Management: Metadata standards
- Workflow Design: Process mapping
- Workflow Design: Optimization
- Workflow Design: Automation implementation
- Rights Management: Usage tracking
- Rights Management: Contract compliance
- Rights Management: Renewal coordination
Accomplishments
- Successfully merged asset management and business affairs operations, creating streamlined workflows and clear career progression paths
- Implemented asset request process that saved approximately 20 hours per week in manual processing time
- Drove the migration of all hi-res clean stills assets onto Marcombox, improving asset discoverability by 40%
- Consistently rated 'Exceeds Expectations' or 'Exceptional' in annual performance reviews across leadership, critical thinking, and innovation metrics
- Recognized by clients for exceptional collaboration with Ford partners on asset management initiatives
- Supervised team of 5 local staff members and 3 offshore team members
Languages
English
Afrikaans
Leadership Initiatives
- Space Makers ERG Co-Chair | 2022-01-01 - March 2024|
Founded and lead Makerhouse's employee resource group focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion Developed brand identity, mission statement, and strategic integration with broader WPP ERG initiatives Organized workshops and events to promote inclusive workplace practices and cultural awareness Collaborated with HR and leadership to implement DE&I initiatives into day-to-day operations
- EU Assets Email Initiative |2023-01-01 -2023-12-31|
Conceptualized and implemented a centralized email system (euassets@hogarth.com) for asset requests
Streamlined communication between clients, 3rd parties, and WPP agencies for asset-related queries
Processed over 5000 queries since launch, significantly improving response times and client satisfaction
Integrated the system with 9 additional internal and client facing platforms to enhance workflow efficiency
- Ford Pro Creative Library |2022-01-01 - 2023-12-31|
Led the development of a searchable, royalty-free product asset library for global creative teams
Collaborated with Studio Resource to review and prepare data with enhanced tagging for searchability
Implemented pre-cleared usage rights as part of global usage on any media platform
Created 26 'Mash Up' assets across Global Markets for Ford in the first12 months, driving significant cost savings
Training
- Line Management & Leadership Development (Hogarth Internal and IPA Certified)
- Adobe Max Conference - Production Workflows and Best Practices
- Digital Rights Management Certification (IPA Certified)
- Change Management and Process Improvement
Timeline
Asset Solutions Director, EU
Hogarth Worldwide
04.2024 - Current
Head of Asset Solutions, EU
Hogarth Worldwide
01.2021 - 03.2024
Asset Manager
Makerhouse (WPP and Hogarth)
09.2017 - 01.2021
Office Manager and Internal Sales Manager
Robinson Distribution LTD
02.2015 - 07.2017
University of Pretoria
Bachelor of Arts from Visual Culture Studies
University of Cape Town
Certificate of Higher Education from Copywriting for Online Marketing
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