Most people notice operations only when they break. Iris makes sure you never notice them at all.
As Ikaroa's Chief Operating Officer, based in Dubai, Iris Chen builds the infrastructure that lets talented people focus on their best work. She oversees operations across Dubai, London, Abu Dhabi, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. While clients see seamless delivery and teams experience smooth workflows, Iris is designing the systems, processes, and frameworks that make it all possible.
She doesn't believe in operations for operations' sake. Good systems are invisible. They enable, they don't constrain. They scale, they don't bureaucratise. They support creativity, they don't stifle it.
The Approach
Iris spent nearly four years as Senior Operations Manager at Meridian Digital Group in Chicago, managing operations for a digital marketing and content agency serving mid-market clients. It was there she learned that great marketing means nothing if the delivery falls apart.
She moved to New York to take on the role of Director of Operations at Harbour & Co. Creative, where she led day-to-day operations for a team of 35 across a mid-sized creative and digital agency. Nearly four years of scaling that team from a boutique studio to a multi-continent operation.
In January 2024, she joined Ikaroa as COO and relocated to Dubai to lead operations across the company's growing footprint in the UAE, UK, and USA. Over two years in, and the focus remains the same: building the systems that let creative teams do their best work without tripping over process.
A graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (BSc Business Administration, 2012-2016), Iris has recently completed AI leadership programmes at Harvard, bringing a practical understanding of how artificial intelligence is reshaping operations and business strategy.
Her philosophy is pragmatic: build systems one step ahead of where you are now. Not for the company you might become in five years. For the company you will be in twelve months.
What Iris Does
Strategic Execution
Turning ambitious plans into operational reality. Making sure strategy actually happens.
Scaling Systems
Building processes that grow with the business while maintaining quality and culture.
Resource Planning
Capacity management, workload forecasting, and allocation that optimises without burning people out.
Process Design
Creating workflows that embed quality, reduce friction, and make the right thing the easy thing.
Team Infrastructure
Organisational frameworks that clarify roles, enable collaboration, and support growth.
Quality Systems
Ensuring consistent delivery across teams without micromanagement or bureaucracy.
Experience That Matters
Before Ikaroa, Iris held operations leadership roles across creative agencies, consulting firms, and technology services companies. She's navigated rapid growth phases, market downturns, pivots, and the operational chaos of scaling teams.
She knows what works in theory often fails in practice. She's built systems that looked elegant on paper but frustrated teams in reality. She's learned to prioritise what actually helps over what looks impressive.
Her writing on operations leadership has been published on Medium and industry platforms, offering practical insights for leaders navigating growth challenges without the usual consultant speak.
Why Operations Matters
In creative and professional services, operations is often seen as the unsexy back-office function. The thing you need but don't really want to think about.
Iris sees it differently. Operations is what makes great work sustainable. It's the difference between a talented team working heroic hours to deliver one excellent project, and a well-structured organisation consistently delivering excellent work without burning people out.
It's the infrastructure that lets you say yes to the interesting opportunities because you know you can actually deliver them. It's the systems that free creative people from administrative chaos so they can focus on the work that matters.
That's what Iris builds at Ikaroa: the invisible infrastructure that makes exceptional work possible.