Studio Manager – Creative & E-commerce

• Can you lead an established creative team, bring fresh ideas and turn busy production schedules into engaging content that helps customers buy?
• Vanilla Underground is looking for a Studio Manager to lead our Creative Studio across product photography, video, editing, retouching and AI-assisted imagery.
• Working with licensed clothing and character-led ranges, you’ll ensure our creative output presents products accurately, strengthens our brand and supports sales across our website, marketplaces, advertising and retail partners.
• This is a people-management role with creative and commercial responsibility. You’ll need to be confident setting priorities, developing team members and providing constructive direction to experienced specialists.
• **What you’ll be doing**
• Lead the day-to-day running of the Creative Studio, providing clear direction, support and accountability.
• Manage and develop the team through regular catch-ups, coaching, feedback and clear performance expectations.
• Guide established team members, respecting their expertise while confidently challenging approaches and introducing improvements.
• Plan studio workloads around product launches, campaigns and commercial priorities.
• Coordinate photography, video, editing, retouching and AI-assisted content, ensuring work is delivered to brief and on time.
• Develop fresh ideas for product presentation, lifestyle imagery and campaign content.
• Maintain consistent visual standards, ensuring imagery accurately represents product colours, graphics, fit and details.
• Improve briefs, scheduling, production tracking and asset organisation to reduce delays and unnecessary rework.
• Work closely with Brand, E-commerce, Buying, Marketplace and other commercial teams to agree priorities and manage expectations.
• Explore creative tools and AI-assisted workflows where they improve quality or efficiency while protecting product accuracy and licensing requirements.
• What we’re looking for
• **Essential experience and skills:**
• Previous team management experience, including setting objectives, managing workloads, developing people and addressing performance concerns.
• Proven experience guiding established or highly experienced team members, including specialists with deeper technical expertise than your own.
• Commercial experience in B2C clothing retail or fashion e-commerce, with a clear understanding of how creative content supports customer purchasing decisions.
• Experience working within a creative studio, photography, content production or a comparable commercial environment.
• A strong understanding of creative production workflows and the ability to coordinate several projects at once.
• Confidence giving creative direction, providing constructive feedback and maintaining quality standards.
• Strong organisation, communication and decision-making skills.
• The ability to balance creative ambition with deadlines, available resources and business priorities.
• It would also be helpful to have:
• Experience working with licensed clothing or character-led products.
• Experience creating content for marketplaces such as Amazon or Next.
• Working knowledge of product photography, image editing or video production.
• Experience with AI-assisted creative tools and quality controls.
• Experience improving studio processes or coordinating larger shoots and external creative support.
• **What success looks like**
• You’ll build a well-organised studio where people understand their priorities, feel supported and take ownership of their work. Content will be accurate, consistent and delivered on time, with fresh ideas that serve a clear customer and commercial purpose.
• **Working pattern**
• This is a 12-month fixed-term contract based at our Tamworth studio. We welcome applications from candidates seeking full-time hours, three or four days per week, or 20 hours per week. The agreed working pattern will need to support studio coordination and team management.
• Pay: £37,000.00-£40,000.00 per year

Benefits

• Casual dress
• Free parking
• On-site parking
• Work Location: In person