Photography Director, The Cut

Vox Media Group
New York, NY
On-site

Who this role is best for

A natural match if you have 10+ years of visual production experience and a deep understanding of photography and art direction.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with 10+ years of visual production experience and a proven track record in managing creative teams.
    — “at least ten years of experience in visual production and a deep understanding of photography, art direction, and visual storytelling”
  • Individuals who are deeply attuned to cultural trends and have a clear vision for The Cut's visual identity.
    — “You should have impeccable visual taste, big ideas on how to expand the visual language of The Cut, and a passion for storytelling”
  • Candidates who can balance creative direction with administrative and budgetary responsibilities.
    — “Track and maintain the overall photo budget, setting and assigning individual project budgets to team members”

Things to consider

  • The role may require travel for assignments and shoots, which could impact work-life balance.
    — “Ability to travel on occasion for assignments and shoots”
  • The position demands a high level of collaboration across multiple teams, including sales, partnerships, and web.
    — “Collaborate with sales, partnerships, editorial, web, social, and video teams”

How to stand out

  • Highlight your ability to turn editorial ideas into visually compelling narratives.
    — “partnering with editorial teams to turn ideas into compelling visual narratives”
  • Showcase your experience in managing and mentoring a photo team effectively.
    — “lead and mentor the photo team, guiding them to deliver strong results”
  • Demonstrate a strong network of photographers, agencies, and creatives in your portfolio.
    — “an enviable book of contacts across agencies, photographers, and creatives”
  • Emphasize your ability to track budgets and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
    — “manage many projects and deadlines at once in a fast-paced environment”
  • Include examples of visual research and curation of photographers with visual boards.
    — “conduct deep visual research and curate lists of photographers accompanied by visual boards”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • setting and leading visual strategy
  • managing photo shoot production
  • maintaining the overall photo budget
Typical background
10+ years of experience in visual production, photo editing, or a related field

Skills & requirements

Required

Visual ProductionArt DirectionPhotographyVisual StorytellingProject Management

Preferred

Video ProductionSocial MediaPrint Production

Stack & domain

Visual ProductionPhoto EditingStrong Editorial JudgmentExceptional Leadership SkillsManaging Many Projects And DeadlinesPhotographyArt DirectionVisual Storytelling

About the role

Original posting from Vox Media Group via Greenhouse

PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR, THE CUT 

WHO WE ARE

New York Magazine and The Cut are part of Vox Media, the leading modern media company. We guide our audience from discovery to obsession. We inspire essential conversations about what’s now, what’s next, and what’s possible.

As a community of journalists and storytellers, business professionals, creators and technologists, we believe it is a moral and business imperative to amplify voices: to cultivate diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout our organization and media. This applies to our candidates, our teams, our storytelling, our creative work, and our platforms, products, and partnerships.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

The Cut is looking for a Photo Director to set and lead our visual strategy across digital, social, video, and print. The ideal candidate will have at least ten years of experience in visual production and a deep understanding of photography, art direction, and visual storytelling, along with an enviable book of contacts across agencies, photographers, and creatives. This role requires strong editorial judgment, exceptional leadership skills, and the ability to manage many projects and deadlines at once in a fast-paced environment. You will report to Lindsay Peoples, Editor-in-Chief of The Cut and work closely with her to uphold and advance the visual identity of The Cut, while partnering with editorial teams to turn ideas into compelling visual narratives. You will also lead and mentor the photo team, guiding them to deliver strong results while nurturing their craft and creative sensibilities.

We're looking for someone who obsessively follows culture (from politics to fashion to celebrity) and knows what makes a Cut story. You should have impeccable visual taste, big ideas on how to expand the visual language of The Cut, and a passion for storytelling.

WHO YOU ARE

Responsibilities & Qualifications

Set the visual strategy for The Cut across print, digital, social, and video

Provide clear visual direction, constructive feedback, and support to the photo team

Spearhead all aspects of photo shoot production, from commissioning teams and liaising with vendors to ensuring each shoot is successful and on budget

Track and maintain the overall photo budget, setting and assigning individual project budgets to team members and communicating clearly with editorial leadership and finance partners on all active projects

Manage workflow, including assigning work, overseeing workloads, and maintaining visual quality

Manage photo research, image selection, credits, and CMS upload and publication

Conduct deep visual research and curate lists of photographers accompanied by visual boards

Develop and maintain strong relationships with the editors across The Cut to understand their visual needs and orchestrate projects accordingly

Regularly pitch ideas for new photographers, essays, and photo-driven stories

Develop and maintain relationships with photo agencies, independent photographers, stylists, and studios

Ensure contracts, photo fees, and usage rights are in place for all images, whether produced or researched, and that all photography meets ethical standards and adheres to copyright law

Collaborate with sales, partnerships, editorial, web, social, and video teams to ensure the highest level of visual execution across all platforms

Minimum of 10 years of experience in visual production, photo editing, or a related field

Strong people manager with a track record of inspiring and developing talent

Excellent editorial judgment, with demonstrated experience managing teams to develop visual stories across platforms and a detailed understanding of each platform's requirements

Proficiency in photo editing software such as Adobe Creative Suite and Photoshop

Ability to travel on occasion for assignments and shoots

Enjoy a collaborative and fast-paced work environment

PAY TRANSPARENCY

The salary range listed below represents the minimum and maximum base pay for this position at the time of this posting. Final salary offered to the candidate selected for the position will be based on factors including but not limited to the candidate's skills and experience.

Pay Range$175,000—$195,000 USDOUR DEI COMMITMENT

Vox Media is committed to building an inclusive environment where everyone can show up as their authentic selves and create their best work. We recognize that great stories, platforms, products and services come from people with all manner of backgrounds and experiences. We recognize that our commitments require ongoing work and sustained attention, as well as adaptation to new insights and best practices. 

Vox Media is an Equal Opportunity Employer and qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, disability, national origin, protected veteran status, age, or any other status protected by applicable national, federal, state, or local law. Vox Media will also consider all qualified applicants with criminal histories in accordance with applicable Fair Chance laws. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations as part of the application process to candidates with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation as part of the application process, please contact our recruiting team (recruitment@voxmedia.com).

WHAT COMES NEXT

Our recruiting team will go through applications in a timely manner. Please note that our recruiting team will only contact you from @voxmedia.com email addresses, never via text message. Read more about how our recruiting team operates, and how to protect yourself from recruitment fraud, here.

Source: Vox Media Group careers (Greenhouse)

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