Agency manager

The role sits in the roles table under Teams & Members, where owners and admins assign it. Upwork summarises it as extending offers, creating contracts and tracking onboarding progress, and lists four permissions: send offers and create contracts, track onboarding progress, invite talent to Upwork and review offers, and request approvals for hiring.

Read it as a company role. The same roles table serves companies that hire, which is why its wording talks about offers, onboarding and hiring approvals. Upwork does not publish a separate agency version of the table.

What it is not.

• It is not Account admin. Upwork states that an agency manager cannot manage exclusive members' rate, visibility or earnings privacy "unless they also have the Account admin role". The wording assumes roles can be combined on one person.
• It is not the same label as business manager. Upwork's proposals article uses business manager for the person who submits, edits and withdraws proposals and accepts or declines offers for any member; the roles table has no role by that name.

Where agency manager does decide something. Upwork's agency FAQ says only agency managers can start an agency project in Project Catalog, choosing the agency as the billing account. A member who is not exclusive can still create a project as an individual freelancer. Upwork's overview of agencies also says they are run by an owner or manager who handles client communication, assigns work to members and manages contracts and payments.

Not the same axis as exclusivity. Whether someone is a manager and whether they are an exclusive agency contractor are separate settings, and one tells you nothing about the other.