Assistant Photography Manager, The Westin Hāpuna Beach Resort

Job Description

Job Description

Assistant Photography Manager, The Westin Hāpuna Beach Resort

Property: The Westin Hāpuna Beach Resort, Kohala Coast

Part-time, in person · Hourly, non-exempt · Reports to the Site Manager, Mauna Kea Resort

Ideal start date: October 1st 2026.

The Role

We are the leading family beach portrait company on the Big Island. The Westin Hāpuna Beach Resort is our most important property.

This seat is the second in command at the Westin Hapuna. You are the primary photographer at the Westin; you cover the Site Manager's days off, and two to three days a week you run the desk and the sales station.

It is a hands-on job. Most of your week is spent with a camera in your hands or in front of a family choosing their pictures. As the property grows, this seat grows with it, taking on more of the team: onboarding, coaching, and eventually helping manage the photographers and desk staff at Hapuna.

How the Week Splits

• Shooting:  you are the primary photographer at the Westin Hāpuna. Beach portrait sessions and mini sessions, at the volume the property produces. This is the core of the job.
• Desk and sales station:  two to three days a week at the lobby sales station, booking walk-ups, running pre-booking consultations, and selling collections at the viewing appointment.
• Operations and coverage:  covering the Site Manager's days off. When the property needs a decision made when the site manager is off, you make it.

The real schedule includes weekends, holidays, and sunrise and sunset sessions.

What You Own:
Behind the camera

• The primary session load at the Westin Hāpun.
• Delivering to our standard on every session.
• Your own gallery turnaround, culled and submitted within the standard, so nothing sits waiting on you.
• Correct attribution on every session you shoot, so your production is on the record and your commission is correct.

The desk and the sales station

• Opening, running, and closing the lobby sales station on your days.
• Creating and maintaining relationships with hotel and concierge staff.
• Speed to lead - All inquiries called in 5 minutes or less.
• Booking walk-ups and inbound guests, and running pre-booking consultations
• The viewing appointment: showing the work, guiding families to the right collection, and asking for the sale.

The property standard

• The desk looks immaculate every day. Crooked signage, a smudged display, or a photographer in the wrong shirt is yours to fix, not to report.
• Everything we do at Hāpuna sits inside the resort's brand standards.
• Guest problems are solved at the desk whenever they can be, and escalated fast when they cannot.
• Friendly, useful, daily contact with the concierge desk, the front office, and resort staff. They send us families when they know us.

Covering the Site Manager and growing into the team

• Running the property on the Site Manager's days off. Session assignments, call-outs, coverage gaps, and guest problems are yours on those days, not held until that seat is back.
• Onboarding and coaching newer photographers on the floor, especially at the viewing appointment. This grows over time into helping manage the Hāpuna team directly.
• Flagging problems early and in writing. Nothing about this property should surprise the Site Manager a week late.

Who You Are

• Comfortable selling. You can ask a family to spend more than they planned and feel good about it, because the work is worth it.
• Reliable in a way that shows. You are early and communicate quickly and effectively.
• Warm with guests. Resort staff should be glad to see you walk in.
• Organized enough to run a desk: Keep CRM organized and up to date right the first time, inventory counted, notes left for the next shift.
• Available for the schedule: weekends, holidays, early mornings, and evenings.
• Legally able to work in the United States, with reliable transportation to the Kohala Coast and the ability to carry gear and work outdoors in sun, wind, and sand.

The Scorecard - Reviewed monthly with the Site Manager.

• Volume you personally photograph, by month
• Average order value on your sessions
• Upgrade conversion
• Desk bookings
• Gallery turnaround
• Reviews

Compensation - Performance pay heavy

Your pay has two parts today, with a third being built: an hourly base, three lines of commission, and a monthly bonus once targets are set. The more you shoot and sell, the more you make. There is no cap.

Base pay

$20.00 per hour, paid on the regular payroll schedule.

Three ways to earn commission

These stack. One family can pay you through more than one line: book them at the desk or on the call, shoot the session, and sell the collection at the viewing appointment, and you earn on all three.

Shooting sessions + Tips

10% of sales

Every session you photograph. Paid on the total the family spends. Sessions are not paid separately from your hourly time; commission is earned on top of it. Sessions shot outside off your office hours earn your hourly wage + commission + tips.

Booking the session

2.5% of base

Bookings you close at the desk or on the pre-booking call. Base package is $749 (portrait) or $395 (mini).

Selling upgrades

5% of upgrade

Upgrades sold at the viewing appointment: larger packages, extra prints, albums, and digitals purchased above the base package.

Monthly bonus, to be established

We intend to add a monthly bonus tied to property performance at Hāpuna. Because this is a new location, we will not set targets or amounts until we have real operating data to set them against. The structure will be defined and shared with you before it takes effect.

In the meantime, the company may award a discretionary bonus monthly. These are made at the company's sole discretion and should not be expected, but we will do our best to recognize exceptional performance while we gather the data behind the official targets.

Nothing in this section reduces the hourly rate or commissions above. Any bonus is additional.On-target earnings for this role over the first 12 months is $50,000 - $60,000. The majority of earnings coming from commissions on sessions, bookings, and viewing upgrades.

Benefits:  Once you reach an average of 20hrs per week for 4 weeks, you unlock healthcare coverage benefits. Once you average 35hrs or more per week for 4 weeks, you unlock PTO & Sick time.

Who You Report To

You report to the Site Manager, Mauna Kea Resort, who owns this property and the company's operation across the Mauna Kea Resort.

The Bar

At six months, this seat has succeeded if:

• You are carrying the primary session load at the Westin Hāpuna at standard, with turnaround inside target.
• Your average order value and upgrade rate are at or above target.
• The sales station runs the same on your days as it does on the Site Manager's days.
• Resort staff at Hāpuna know you by name and send families to you.
• The Site Manager can be off-property for a week and nothing at Hapuna slips.
• This role will start part-time with office hours and will grow into full-time as we scale sessions at the resort.