Senior Visuals Director, Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair is a cultural filter, sparking the global conversation about the people and ideas that matter most. Muscular long-form journalism, stunning photography, insightful essays, and superb design make each issue of Vanity Fair a must-read. Every month, the magazine commissions the best writers and photographers to explain the pressing issues of the day and take the pulse of the culture. Vanity Fair consistently delivers crucial reporting on business and finance, domestic politics and world affairs, even as it covers the very best in arts and entertainment. New York, NY

• Directly produce more complex and/or significant shoots, as needed
• Manage the visuals team to ensure contracts, photo fees, and usage rights are in place for all images (produced and researched), in partnership with CN legal and business affairs teams.
• Track and maintain the photo budget across platforms, setting and assigning individual project budgets to team members, ensuring efficient use of all budget resources, and communicating/escalating effectively to Operations and Finance partners.
• Oversee all research and image selection across platforms.
• Nurture talent and foster a transparent, respectful, inclusive, and collaborative team environment.
• Partner closely with colleagues in CNE to ensure joint photo/video production needs are met and that clear work processes are in place for teams across divisions.
• Ensuring execution and delivery of a full range of digital assets, including social, video, bts, and other necessary formats to convey visuals as effectively online as in print
• Lead all HR/People processes for the visuals team such as performance management, compensation reviews, recruitment, etc.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with senior editorial leaders in order to understand visual/photo needs and orchestrate projects accordingly.
• Develop, implement, and maintain clear processes and communication channels for the team, helping people do their jobs more easily and ensuring work is happening in sync.
• Delegate and manage all work across the team - provide clear direction, constructive feedback, and serve as a resource for team members to help resolve challenges and improve outputs.
• Manage the visuals team to ensure all invoices are tracked and processed in a timely manner and that jobs are wrapped accurately and efficiently.
• Curating photographer lists and creating visual mood boards
• Commissioning teams and liaising with agents, photographers, studios, stylists, hair/makeup, catering, and other vendors throughout the project
• Coordinating the post-production process for lo-res and hi-res photo selection and final delivery
• Manage the visuals team across all aspects of cross-platform photo shoot production, assigning projects and ensuring the creative concept is upheld from brief to final delivery, including:
  • Curating photographer lists and creating visual mood boards
  • Commissioning teams and liaising with agents, photographers, studios, stylists, hair/makeup, catering, and other vendors throughout the project
  • Creating and maintaining timelines, schedules, budgets, shot-lists, call-sheets, and other production documents
  • Coordinating the post-production process for lo-res and hi-res photo selection and final delivery
  • Ensuring execution and delivery of a full range of digital assets, including social, video, bts, and other necessary formats to convey visuals as effectively online as in print
• Lead the visuals team to contribute cross-platform ideas that uphold and advance the visual identity of the brand.
• Regularly review portfolios and proactively build relationships with agencies and photographers to discover and cultivate new talent.
• Creating and maintaining timelines, schedules, budgets, shot-lists, call-sheets, and other production documents

• Excellent communication, collaboration, and leadership skills with the ability to navigate multiple stakeholders’ inputs, opinions, and decision-making styles.
• A meticulous eye for detail and impeccable organizational skills.
• Significant experience in and passion for portraiture, fashion photography, and photojournalism.
• Ability to handle confidential and sensitive information with discretion, diplomacy, and tact.
• 12+ years work experience in the visual production industry with an enviable book of contacts for agencies, photographers, stylists, studios, etc.
• A highly motivated self-starter with proven ability to manage multiple people, projects, priorities, and deadlines in a fast-paced, matrixed environment.
• Excellent editorial judgment with demonstrated experience managing teams to develop visual stories across platforms, using detailed understanding of platform requirements.
• A work-style that balances entrepreneurial spirit with operational rigor.