G/FORE Seasonal Photo Studio Manager

G/FORE • Raleigh, NC

8d

About The Position

The Photo Studio Manager will lead and oversee the photo studio team responsible for all photography and video production across any studio productions. This 3-month contract role is to support the business during a period of growth and transition while providing strategic recommendations and process improvements to enhance studio operations, scalability, and efficiencies. This role goes beyond day-to-day studio management and serves as a critical bridge between creative and operations, driving scalable processes, optimizing workflows, and elevating output across all channels. The ideal candidate will help streamline production, reduce operational friction, and enable the broader creative team to execute at a higher level. This position is responsible for cultivating best practices, managing creative resourcing, implementing scalable workflows to support increasing production volume, and ensuring projects are delivered on time, on brand, and within budget. This role partners closely with Production, Marketing, Merchandising, Design, eCommerce, and external vendors.

Requirements

• Strong balance of creative sensibility and operational rigor
• Highly organized with exceptional attention to detail in fast-paced environments
• Proven ability to build, refine, and scale workflows
• Strong problem-solving skills with a proactive, solution-oriented mindset
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a high-volume production environment
• Deep understanding of brand standards and creative execution
• Proficiency in: Creative Force, Global Edit, Adobe Creative Suite, CaptureOne, Microsoft Office, project management tools (Monday, Asana, Airtable, etc.)
• 7–10+ years of experience in retail, preferably in a high-volume production environment
• Strong background in photo studio management, creative operations, or production leadership
• Demonstrated experience managing high-output content pipelines across multiple channels
• Hands-on experience across photography, post-production, sample management, and studio operations
• Proven ability to build and scale production workflows and systems
• Experience managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and overseeing vendors
• Established network (“rolodex”) of photographers, agencies, stylists, and creative partners

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end studio operations, integrating both creative execution and operational efficiency across all shoots.
• Main contact of creative operations along with Sr. Photo Production Manager, identifying opportunities to streamline workflows, improve throughput, and elevate output quality across all channels.
• Establish and maintain clear production calendars, prioritization frameworks, and resource allocation plans across multiple high-volume workstreams.
• Support on optimizing production workflows to support scalability and increasing content demands, ensuring seamless coordination between creative and business teams.
• Partner with studio team for Global Edit / Creative Force, overseeing asset management, file organization, tracking, and reporting.
• Proactively identify inefficiencies and implement solutions that improve speed, quality, and scalability, leveraging tools such as Creative Force, Monday, Asana, or Airtable.
• Administer the DAM ecosystem, ensuring proper metadata standards, usage rights, and asset accessibility across channels and regions.
• Partner cross-functionally to ensure studio output aligns with broader brand teams, marketing, and business objectives.
• Provide guidance and support to internal studio team members and freelance resources.
• Oversee and manage high-volume production environments, set standards, manage throughput, ensuring consistent execution across concurrent projects and deadlines.
• Support budget planning and tracking monthly and annual production needs.
• Source and manage freelance talent and creative partners in alignment with brand standards.
• Oversee sample logistics and inventory processes to ensure product readiness and tracking to meet deadlines.
• Collaborative casting efforts with creative production teams to ensure alignment with brand identity.
• Manage vendor relationships, including photographers, stylists, HMU artists, and agencies.
• Lead contract negotiations and ensure proper documentation (SOWs, NDAs, agreements).
• Facilitate regular cross-functional status meetings to align on priorities, timelines, and deliverables.
• Provide operational guidance for team to build the best-in-class studio processes and standard operating procedures.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level