Team Lead, Photography

Team Lead, Photography

The Team Lead, Photography leads the strategy and day-to-day operations of Stantec's MCPR photography program, ensuring photography is planned, produced, managed, and leveraged as a strategic brand and marketing asset.

The role balances program strategy, art direction, production management, and education, combining hands-on creative work with team leadership, to deliver photography that supports project storytelling, marketing priorities, and business objectives. It builds on current processes and standards to ensure consistency across the organization, and partners with MCPR teams across business units and regions to create photography that build awareness of Stantec's brand and expertise, strengthen industry positioning and drive growth.

About the Role

• Develop and maintain the MCPR photography strategy, approach and standards, balancing a consistent enterprise approach with flexibility for different businesses and regions.

• Review existing workflows and build scalable workflows for photography planning, intake, prioritization, production and delivery.

• Prioritize requests using consistent criteria, including business impact, marketing value, timing, budget and support requirements, and define levels of photography support.

• Track program activity, budgets and photography spend, and keep projects on schedule

• Define how photography program success is measured, and track image usage and impact across the website, the Lens (intranet), marketing channels and business teams to inform priorities and investment.

• Maintain photography guidance, templates, tools, training and internal and external resources.

• Manage archiving, organization and distribution with Stantec's photography asset library, so approved images are easy to find, license-compliant and ready for reuse across the organization.

• Evaluate emerging technologies, including AI, and integrate them into photography tools and image processing to improve efficiency, quality and consistency.

Photographer & Vendor Management

• Develop and maintain a qualified network of photography resources, including a photographer database

• Support photographer selection and contracting, including contract negotiation.

• Coordinate photography agreements, image licensing and usage requirements.

Brand & Art Direction

• Champion Stantec's photography standards and visual identity.

• Ensure photography supports project storytelling and broader brand objectives.

• Partner closely with Brand & Creative and marketing teams on image needs and art direction.

• Develops creative briefs and shot lists, directing photographers on key shoots, and selecting and approving final images.

• Review and approve imagery for the website and the Lens (intranet).

• Help teams determine when existing imagery, stock photography or commissioned photography is most appropriate.

Team Leadership & Management

• Lead, coach and develop a team of photography specialists, setting clear priorities, expectations and objectives aligned with business goals.

• Plan and allocate workload and resources across the team to balance concurrent priorities across BOUs and geographies.

• Hold regular check-ins, performance reviews and development conversations, and support each team member's growth.

• Participate in the onboarding and training of team members.

• Foster a collaborative and engaging team culture and encourage knowledge sharing.

About You

• Committed to exceptional internal client service and skilled at navigating and leading within team-oriented environments.

• Detail-oriented and organized, with exceptional prioritization skills and the ability to balance conflicting priorities.

• Ability to effectively communicate with senior management, supervisors, peers, and direct reports.

• Demonstrated craft in photography, art direction, or both.

• Strong understanding of photography, branding, and AI.

• Working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite is an asset.

• Innovative mindset, with the curiosity and confidence to bring forward new ideas and approaches.

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in marketing, photography or a related field.

• Proven experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience and experience in a people leadership role.

Why Join Us?

• We put people first: We're proud of our friendly, inclusive and collaborative environment where everyone feels valued and driven to succeed.

• We are driven to achieve: Named in the top 50 companies to work by Glassdoor 2025.

• We do what is right: Industry leading training and development as well as paid for professional subscriptions. A professional progression plan, supporting you to become chartered.

We are better together: A supportive and collaborative team environment and wider ERG network (see more on our ERGs here: Stantec Employee Resource Groups)

• Growth: We're on an exciting growth journey across the UK - we want you to be part of it!

• Great

Benefits

• Competitive salary, bonus schemes, enhanced pension plan, annual leave with the option to buy/sell additional days, private medical insurance, group income protection & life assurance included as standard as well as discounted gym membership and lots more.

• Hybrid / Flexible working: Enjoy a healthy work-life balance with our hybrid approach to flexible working.

• About Stantec

• The Stantec community unites more than 34,000 employees working in over 450 locations across 6 continents. We have been working with our clients and communities in the UK for over 150 years. We plan, design, deliver and manage the development and infrastructure needed to support the creation of sustainable, healthy and prosperous communities.

• Our teams provide effective and relevant solutions, translating our clients’ vision into valued consents, deliverable plans for projects and programmes, and efficient designs for delivery, based on technical excellence and deep market insights. We deal with today’s challenges, but also keep a fairer, better tomorrow in sight, looking at how we deliver clean growth, support radical changes in our economy and meet the needs of future communities.

• Stantec provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants for future and current employment and prohibit discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, genetic information, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. We prohibit discrimination in decisions concerning recruitment, hiring, referral, promotion, compensation, fringe benefits, job training, terminations or any other condition of employment. Stantec is in compliance with laws and regulations and ensures equitable opportunities in all aspects of employment.

• Building an inspired, inclusive work environment that attracts, supports, and develops world-class talent is a crucial key to our success. If you are excited by this role but worry that your experience doesn’t exactly align, we encourage you to apply.

• At Stantec we want you to perform your best at every stage of the recruitment process and are committed to ensuring it is accessible to all. If you need any support or require adjustments to be made then please contact careers.

• ReqID: 9644

• Other Locations: Manchester, Bristol, London