Archive Director, Photo
About The Position
The New York Times Photo department is seeking a visionary leader and experienced visual journalist to oversee the continued digital transformation of one of the world’s most significant visual histories. While our digital archive is extensive, many undigitized physical assets remain stored in our newsroom. This role is dual-purpose: you will serve as the strategic architect for the ongoing digitization and preservation of these archives, and as an editorial producer who surfaces and initiates ambitious visual storytelling. You will bridge the gap between our physical past and our digital future, ensuring our vast collection of unseen history is accessible, preserved, and utilized to enhance our journalism. This is an in-office position based in New York and includes regular attendance in the office four days each week. There may be some flexibility to work remotely per your departmental guidance.
Requirements
- At least 8 years of relevant professional experience
- Experience managing journalists and/or leading multidisciplinary teams.
- Proven deep knowledge of photographic preservation standards, digital asset management systems, and large-scale digitization workflows
- A strong background in photo editing and visual journalism, with a proven ability to identify compelling narratives within a vast collection of images.
- Experience managing technical staff (lab technicians) and overseeing complex, multi-year projects with many moving parts.
- Familiarity with cloud-based storage solutions and a forward-thinking approach to digital storytelling tools.
Nice To Haves
- Newsroom experience
- Experience working seamlessly across different newsroom desks, balancing the technical needs of preservation with the fast-paced demands of daily journalism.
- A passion for the history of photography and an understanding of its cultural and journalistic significance.
Responsibilities
- Develop and execute a long-term plan to digitize ~2 million remaining prints and millions of negatives, transitioning physical assets to cloud-based systems for newsroom-wide access.
- Oversee the urgent migration of legacy digital media to the cloud, ensuring these assets are successfully linked to our internal search and discovery tools for newsroom access.
- Source and pitch archival visual enterprise stories and series, collaborating with various desks to produce Life in Pictures features, advance obituaries, and complex visual narratives.
- Lead the development of new digital formats and presentation styles for archival content, pushing the boundaries of how historical photography is experienced online.
- Manage and partner with the caretaker of The Times’ archive to fully edify your knowledge and understanding of the archive's structure, contents and history.
- Work closely with the caretaker of The Times’ archive and other stakeholders to ensure a cohesive approach to the preservation of both photographic and non-photographic history.
- Collaborate with the assistant editor for the Image Support Team to coordinate and modernize Image Support technician workflows to maximize efficiency in archival scanning, studio operations, still-life photography, and digital production support for photo editors.
- Accelerate the research process for desks across the newsroom, acting as the primary expert on the archive's contents and potential.
- Demonstrate support and understanding of our value of journalistic independence and a strong commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world.
Benefits
- dependent on your role, you may be eligible for variable pay, such as an annual bonus and restricted stock.
- Benefits may include medical, dental and vision benefits, Flexible Spending Accounts (F.S.A.s), a company-matching 401(k) plan, paid vacation, paid sick days, paid parental leave, tuition reimbursement and professional development programs.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
Education Level
No Education Listed
Number of Employees
5,001-10,000 employees
