Manager - Media Production

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Leadership and Talent Development

• Build, coach, and inspire a multidisciplinary team of cinematographers, photographers, and virtual production specialists.
• Conduct performance reviews, set development plans, and resolve conflicts.
• Create a culture of continuous learning, safety, and creative excellence.
• Provide coaching on visual storytelling, camera theory, lighting, virtual production workflows, and emerging technology.
• Champion diversity of thought and empower team members to take creative risks while meeting business objectives.

Strategic and Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with organizational leaders to align creative vision, timelines, and prioritization of resources.
• Act as the key liaison between directors, art departments, and technical teams to ensure creative and technical alignment across productions.
• Translate strategic objectives into clear plans, budgets, KPIs, and project roadmaps.
• Collaborate with internal operations and integrations teams, IT, and external vendors to secure and implement state-of-the-art virtual production technologies.
• Communicate progress and risks to stakeholders.

Creative and Technical Direction

• Oversee the creative and technical execution of all studio, field, live, and virtual productions.
• Evaluate and advise on shot lists, lighting plots, camera packages, media-handling protocols, virtual production environments, and final imagery for accuracy, brand alignment, and narrative impact.
• Bridge creative intent and technical workflows by translating directors’ and designers’ visions into executable actions for the crew.
• Ensure seamless integration of LED wall content, camera tracking, and real-time rendering pipelines into the production process.
• Guide the development of virtual assets and environments with Creative Producers and Designers, ensuring both creative fidelity and technical optimization for real-time playback.
• Innovate by introducing emerging virtual production techniques and advising studio leadership on how immersive technologies can elevate visual storytelling.
• Ensure adoption of industry best practices for composition, exposure, color science, and data integrity.

Operational Excellence

• Establish and refine standardized workflows for equipment checkout, data offload, asset naming, in tandem with the DAM and MAM systems.
• Oversee large-scale virtual production projects, including visual breakdowns of scripts, previsualization, and staging.
• Forecast, procure, and maintain camera, lens, audio, and lighting inventories.
• Manage setup, calibration, and operation of LED walls, motion tracking, and real-time rendering infrastructure to ensure daily reliability and consistency.
• Manage vendor relationships and rental logistics.
• Troubleshoot complex technical issues on set, providing contingency solutions that safeguard production timelines.
• Develop and manage the departmental budget, staffing, gear, maintenance, training, and contingency.
• Track and analyze productivity, utilization, and quality metrics, using data to drive process improvements and optimize resource allocation.
• Ensure all productions comply with safety guidelines, copyright regulations, and company policies.
• Availability to work evenings and weekends, and travel up to 10% as project needs dictate.

Education and Experience

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• 10+ years combined experience in cinematography and photography, with 5+ years in a supervisory or managerial role required.
• Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts, Photography, Film and TV, or related field preferred.
• Proven track record managing end-to-end visual content pipelines in a fast-paced, multi-stakeholder environment.
• Experience in healthcare or medical-device content is a plus.

Knowledge and Skill Requirements/Specialized Courses and/or Training

• Expert knowledge of digital cinema cameras, still-photo systems, lenses, lighting, grip, and on-set audio.
• Familiarity with virtual production workflows, LED stage operation, and real-time rendering environments.
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Cloud, DaVinci Resolve, Unreal Engine, and macOS preferred.
• Deep understanding of studio and field production workflows, color management, and asset management systems.
• Strong strategic planning, budgeting, and data-driven decision-making skills.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, and change-management abilities, with comfort presenting to executives.
• Strategic thinker with strong organizational and project management skills.
• Ability to troubleshoot complex technical challenges in both physical and virtual environments.
• Understanding of visual branding, marketing integration, and compliance standards.
• Creative vision with meticulous attention to detail and composition.
• Familiarity with copyright, licensing, use of marks, and media compliance standards.
• Team player and willingness to collaborate.
• Knowledge of human anatomy and medical terminology is a plus.

Machine, Tools, and/or Equipment Skills

Experience working with production hardware and software for professional productions.