Creative Director, Visual Media Strategy (Product, Design & Marketing)

Apple • Culver City, CA

4d

About The Position

At Apple, extraordinary ideas become products, services, and experiences that shape culture. Bring passion and precision to your craft, and there’s no limit to what you can build. The Content Design team supports Apple Services and defines the content experience across some of Apple's most visible products. We focus on how people consume, create, and connect across all our applications. We're looking for a Creative Director, Visual Media Strategy to lead a new team centered on the creative and editorial strategy for photo, video, illustration, and generative visual content across Apple services. This is a leadership and strategy role. You’ll head a new practice that brings together experts in visual trend forecasting, imagery curation, research & licensing, and art buying and you’ll define how this new team operates. You'll set the creative bar, the editorial point of view, and the systems that let exceptional visual content reach every surface. Your scope starts focused on key services and scales from there.

The right person has exceptional taste and strong strategic instinct. You anticipate shifts in the visual landscape before they fully emerge, translate cultural and product signals into clear direction, and know how to make generative AI a serious tool within each domain area to drive ever-better work. And you know how to bring people along with you, nurturing talent and paving new ways of working.

Requirements

• 12+ years in visual media leadership (photo, video, illustration, or multimedia) within creatively driven environments such as consumer technology, publishing, streaming/media, or creative agencies serving those industries.
• Strong editorial judgment and demonstrated ability to set creative direction across a large brand or product ecosystem, not just select content within it.
• Experience building and directing visual content strategy across large-scale media libraries or digital platforms.
• Proven people leadership: experience managing, developing, and unifying creative teams.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize domain expertise with business needs to identify improvement opportunities and drive them to completion with initiative, even without pre-defined roadmaps.
• Experience defining or evolving a visual media strategy that directly influenced product direction, brand perception, or user engagement.
• Clear, effective communicator with experience presenting to senior and executive leadership and aligning cross-functional partners.

Nice To Haves

• Proficiency in generative AI image tools and workflows (prompting, evaluation, governance), with the ability to maintain brand integrity and quality standards.
• Experience with CMS, automation tools, metadata standards, cataloging, and taxonomy practices.
• Familiarity with a wide range of content sources, from enterprise providers (Getty, AP, Shutterstock) to boutique agencies to individual contributors and AI-driven platforms.
• Experience with enterprise-level vendor negotiations and partner management in media/content.
• Experience overseeing art buying, illustration commissions, or artwork licensing programs end-to-end.
• Track record on high-visibility, executive-facing creative projects with cross-functional senior stakeholders.
• Understanding of image and video rights, licensing, and clearance processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead a new team centered on the creative and editorial strategy for photo, video, illustration, and generative visual content across Apple services.
• Head a new practice that brings together experts in visual trend forecasting, imagery curation, research & licensing, and art buying.
• Define how this new team operates.
• Set the creative bar, the editorial point of view, and the systems that let exceptional visual content reach every surface.
• Anticipate shifts in the visual landscape before they fully emerge.
• Translate cultural and product signals into clear direction.
• Make generative AI a serious tool within each domain area to drive ever-better work.
• Bring people along, nurturing talent and paving new ways of working.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed