Photo Studio Manager

What's the Short Version?

The Studio Manager is instrumental in overseeing the day-to-day at SanMar's photo studio through inspiring and leading the photo team. This role acts as the primary conduit to SanMar's photo studio team, responsible for photo and video functions within the SanMar studio, ensuring the team achieves quality and process targets. This role ensures best practices are employed, advocating for the needs of the team and being the point-person for daily studio supervision. Reporting to the Manager, Studio Ops, this role is responsible for all aspects of studio affairs from ensuring that the building is maintained, all the way to making sure all internally shot print and digital images meet deadlines through scheduling shoots and coordinating shoot-bay logistics, overseeing product-based and staffing logistics, presiding over the day to day operations, driving process and handling change management, controlling expenses and fostering a collaborative, engaging and creative team environment.

What Will You Be Doing?

• Oversee various levels of studio staff, acting as an advocate on behalf of the studio team, monitoring and overseeing the day to day workload and delegating tasks while maintaining visibility.
• Manage and maintain the ecomm product shoot schedule, ensuring visibility to cross-functional teams.
• Drive communication and collaboration with internal partners by acting as a central point of contact for all internal shoot requests and maintaining the scheduling/allocation of studio bays.
• Lead and coordinate all activities for the building, ensuring equipment and sets are prepared ahead of shoots and any other resource needs are met for other Marketing matters beyond shoots.
• Create and cultivate external partnerships with vendors to leverage resources and cost advantages as it pertains to building sanitization, utilities, maintenance and elevating issues to the landlord, when needed.
• Oversee procurement and output of tradespeople as needed for set builds, cyc wall repairs and maintenance and other skilled professional work tasks.
• Ensure studio & building-wide safety measures are implemented at all times, acting as key point of contact for monitor/recording review needs, alarm alerts, while ensuring studio staff is adhering to any state/federal safety guidelines.
• Oversee and communicate resourcing needs, booking freelance staff when needed including photographers, stylists and other roles needed for Studio Ops led shoots.
• Manage building access for visitors, crews, contractors and catering companies as-needed.
• Maintain new and optimized workflows and style guides for the entirety of all studio production cycles, refining processes as needed to ensure efficiency within Creative Force.
• Oversee the development of training materials and guides, ensuring smooth on-boarding processes for freelance talent and new hires.
• Create/maintain on-boarding program for web flat/form contract photographers.
• Utilize art direction and quality assurance skills to review, markup and approve imagery shot by the Studio team, ensuring they have met brand guidelines and standards.
• Oversee building administrative/maintenance tasks to keep premises operational such as ordering basic office and bathroom supplies, ensuring walkways are clear indoors and outdoors during winter and upkeep with any extermination needs.
• Process and accurately expense Studio-related and building-related invoices and bills.
• Assist Manager, Studio Ops with data augmentation in order to ensure photographer workloads and workflows operate correctly in Creative Force.
• Monitor all photo and video tasks within the SanMar Studio.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
• Comply with all policies and standards.

What Are We Looking For?

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience.
• 4-6 years of studio management experience.
• Mac platform working experience with Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Creative Suite, Capture One, Creative Force.
• Apparel website, print and display experience is a plus.
• Basic understanding of photography and video methods and equipment, including lighting methods, editing, applying sound, special effects, etc. for web applications.
• Successful management skills, ability to bring out the best in skilled professional studio staff.
• Ability to communicate clearly and diplomatically with internal teams and external partners both in written format and verbally, ensuring sufficient explanations and context are provided to reduce churn/swirl.
• Ability to manage time efficiently and effectively, make timely and quick decisions to meet project deadlines, prioritizing workload.
• Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail and ability to multi-task.
• Ability to both take direction and work independently with minimal direction, and demonstrates successful follow-through.
• Desire and ability to learn quickly.
• Must have extremely high organizational skills with strong attention to detail.

What's Our Offer?

Salary Range: You`ll earn between $80,000 - $120,000 annually, depending on experience.

Bonus: You`ll be eligible for an annual discretionary bonus up to 10% of base salary.

Paid Time Off: You`ll accrue paid time off on a bi-weekly basis based on hours worked up to 112 hours per year to start. Employees also receive 8 paid holidays and 1 paid family day off.

Additional Benefits:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits
• 401k plan and matches $1 for $1 up to 4% of earnings, matched & vested at every pay cycle
• Life insurance
• Short/long-term disability coverage
• Paid maternity/paternity leave
• Pet insurance

What Should You Expect?

Hybrid: SanMar's Eastpointe office is located in Issaquah, WA in the Seattle metropolitan area. Employees are required to work in our offices Tuesday through Thursday each week and additional days may be added based on business needs. Our standard working hours are 8:00-5:00 PST. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; reach with hands and arms and talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to use hands to finger, handle or feel. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. Work environment is moderately quiet. Ability to work on computer for multiple hours with frequent interruptions. Quarterly travel may be required.