Team Photographer

The 2026 Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes are seeking an experienced, creative, and highly motivated Team Photographer to join our Creative Team. This role is responsible for creating world‑class imagery that captures the energy, emotion, and culture of Hurricanes hockey across every touchpoint—from game nights and practices to studio productions, marketing campaigns, social media, community events, sponsorship activations, Lenovo Center events, and historic franchise moments. The ideal candidate is an elite visual storyteller who thrives in a fast‑paced professional sports environment, possesses exceptional technical ability, and understands how photography drives fan engagement, strengthens brand identity, and supports business objectives. Reporting to the Senior Creative Director, this individual will collaborate closely with Creative, Social Media, Video, Marketing, Communications, Partnership Marketing, Community Relations, Retail, and the Lenovo Center team to produce industry‑leading visual content. Primary Responsibilities Game Coverage Photograph all Carolina Hurricanes home games and assigned road games. Capture game action, celebrations, player emotions, fan experiences, arena atmosphere, sponsorship activations, and behind‑the‑scenes storytelling. Deliver edited selects during games for immediate use across digital and social platforms. Build comprehensive post‑game galleries for organizational use. Contribute photography to NHL Images, ensuring timely delivery of game action, editorial features, and storytelling content for league distribution. Player & Team Content Photograph practices, training camp, media day, portrait sessions, community appearances, travel, and team events. Produce studio‑quality player portraits and marketing photography. Create evergreen content supporting season‑long campaigns and creative initiatives. Design and execute professional lighting setups for studio portraits, marketing campaigns, and commercial productions. Marketing & Brand Photography Develop and fulfill photography requests supporting ticket sales, sponsorship, retail, premium hospitality, and corporate marketing initiatives. Collaborate with designers, motion designers, video producers, and marketers to create photography optimized for integrated campaigns. Produce lifestyle, commercial, and conceptual photography aligned with the Carolina Hurricanes brand. Produce photography supporting internal communications, employee headshots, arena operations, corporate partnerships, premium hospitality, concessions, and other organizational initiatives. Help define and evolve the visual style of Carolina Hurricanes photography through innovative storytelling, experimentation, and collaboration with the Creative Team. Asset Management Edit, caption, keyword, and archive photography within the organization's digital asset management system. Maintain consistent metadata, file naming conventions, captioning standards, and archival organization. Build and maintain searchable historical archives supporting future marketing, editorial, sponsorship, and franchise initiatives. Coordinate photography workflows between the Carolina Hurricanes, NHL Images, Getty Images, and approved editorial partners. Prepare and distribute photography to editorial outlets, sponsorship partners, league platforms, and media agencies. Ensure all photography complies with NHL image licensing, captioning, metadata, and distribution guidelines. NHL Images & Photo Operations Serve as a primary contributor to NHL Images, producing photography that meets league editorial and commercial standards. Manage and collaborate with photo editors to ensure timely delivery of game coverage and feature photography. Manage game‑day photography workflows between the Carolina Hurricanes, NHL Images, freelance photographers, and approved distribution partners. Recruit, schedule, mentor, and evaluate freelance photographers to maintain consistent visual standards. Equipment Management Maintain professional camera bodies, lenses, lighting equipment, remote camera systems, and photography accessories. Coordinate equipment maintenance, repairs, inventory, and future technology recommendations. Manage remote camera installations, arena strobes, specialty camera systems, and emerging photography technologies for marquee events throughout the season. Lenovo Center Event Photography Serve as the primary photographer supporting Lenovo Center, documenting concerts and events. Manage freelance photographer support as needed for select Lenovo Center events. Produce high‑quality imagery supporting venue marketing, premium sales, sponsorship, social media, and public relations initiatives. Photograph concerts and live entertainment while adhering to artist, promoter, venue, and credential photography policies. Collaborate with venue operations and event staff to execute photography assignments under varying production schedules and access restrictions. Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Photography, Visual Communications, Journalism, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience. 3–5+ years of experience photographing professional or collegiate sports; NHL or other major professional sports experience preferred. Exceptional portfolio demonstrating elite sports action, portraiture, visual storytelling, and technical excellence. Expert knowledge of professional camera systems (Sony preferred), remote camera systems, arena strobes, and advanced studio lighting. Advanced proficiency in Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, Photo Mechanic, PhotoShelter, or comparable digital asset management software. Experience managing photography workflows, freelance photographers, game‑day photo editors, and live editorial operations. Experience contributing to and distributing photography through NHL Images, Getty Images, or other professional editorial wire services. Strong understanding of sports photography captioning, metadata, licensing, archival best practices, and editorial distribution standards. Proven ability to create photography optimized for marketing, digital, social media, and commercial campaigns. Experience photographing championship events, playoffs, concerts, or other large‑scale live productions preferred. Exceptional organizational, communication, and collaboration skills with the ability to perform under tight deadlines in a fast‑paced professional sports environment. Ability to work nights, weekends, holidays, and travel extensively. Must pass a criminal background check. Hurricanes Holding, LLC reserves the right to change or modify the employee's job description whether orally or in writing, at any time during the employment relationship. Hurricanes Holdings, LLC may require an employee to perform duties outside his/her normal description. This description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position. We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class. #J-18808-Ljbffr