Director of Photography

Director of Photography

tarte cosmetics is seeking a visionary, highly creative Director of Photography to help shape and execute the brand’s photography strategy across all consumer touchpoints. This role will work in close partnership with the VPs of Creative Marketing & Global Marketing, & other cross-functional creative teams to develop compelling on-model and campaign photography that supports key business initiatives and strengthens brand storytelling.

The ideal candidate is both a strategic thinker and hands-on creative, with deep expertise in beauty, fashion, and lifestyle photography. This individual will play a critical role in translating marketing objectives into impactful visual content, ensuring all photography aligns with tarte’s brand identity while continuing to evolve and elevate the brand’s creative expression. This role will collaborate closely with Creative, Marketing, Social, Product Marketing, Design & Production to bring campaigns to life and maintain a cohesive global brand presence.

Responsibilities

Creative Partnership & Vision

• Partner with the VP of Creative Marketing, Global Marketing, and International teams to develop and execute photography concepts for major brand campaigns, product launches, seasonal initiatives, social moments, influencer programs, events, and integrated marketing activations.
• Collaborate on the evolution of tarte’s photographic visual identity, ensuring consistency while driving fresh and innovative creative approaches across all channels.
• Translate marketing objectives and campaign strategies into compelling visual narratives that resonate with consumers and strengthen brand equity.
• Contribute to the development of photography concepts, shot lists, mood boards, casting recommendations, and visual storytelling approaches.
• Maintain a strong pulse on industry trends, emerging aesthetics, cultural moments, and best practices in beauty, fashion, and digital content creation.

Campaign & On-Model Photography

• Lead the creative execution of on-model photography, including campaign, lifestyle, editorial, social, e-commerce, and promotional content.
• Partner with Marketing and Creative teams to support key launches, hero campaigns, retail initiatives, influencer collaborations, brand events, and tentpole marketing moments.
• Direct all aspects of photography shoots, including lighting, composition, talent direction, posing, and narrowing image selection.
• Ensure imagery effectively showcases product performance, brand storytelling, and consumer engagement opportunities.
• Collaborate closely with Creative Leadership, Producers, Production, Design, Social, and Video teams to ensure integrated creative execution across formats and platforms.
• Partner with Global Marketing team to ensure photography assets support global market needs while maintaining brand consistency.

Team Leadership & Collaboration

• Mentor and inspire photographers, freelancers, and creative partners while fostering a collaborative and innovative working environment.
• Provide creative direction and feedback throughout all stages of production and post-production.
• Help establish photography standards, workflows, and best practices that support efficient and high-quality content creation.
• Build strong partnerships across departments to ensure alignment between creative vision and business objectives.

Production & Operations

• Collaborate with Creative, Marketing, and Production teams on pre-production planning, including creative development, casting, location scouting, budgeting, scheduling, and resource allocation.
• Partner with Production teams to ensure efficient execution of shoots while maintaining the highest creative standards.
• Support photography budget management and vendor relationships to maximize creative impact and operational efficiency.
• Oversee image review, retouching direction, asset management, and final photography deliverables.
• Ensure photography assets are delivered accurately, on time, and according to brand standards.
• Proficiency in live event photography with the ability to turn around retouched, brand-ready imagery on-site.

Brand Stewardship

• Serve as a key creative partner in maintaining and evolving tarte’s visual identity across photography.
• Ensure imagery consistently reflects tarte’s values, aesthetic, and consumer positioning across social media, e-commerce, retail, PR, paid media, influencer content, and marketing materials.
• Champion innovation in photography techniques, technologies, and creative processes to continually elevate brand storytelling and consumer engagement.

Qualifications

• 10–12+ years of professional photography experience, with significant experience in beauty, fashion, lifestyle, or consumer brands.
• Proven experience developing and executing photography for large-scale campaigns, product launches, brand marketing initiatives, and social-first content.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating excellence in on-model photography, beauty imagery, portraiture, and visual storytelling.
• Experience collaborating with senior creative and marketing leadership on integrated campaigns and brand initiatives.
• Previous experience mentoring creative teams, freelancers, agencies, and external production partners.
• Deep expertise in lighting, composition, color theory, retouching direction, and photographic production workflows.
• Strong understanding of integrated marketing, digital content creation, social media trends, and consumer engagement.
• Experience leveraging AI-enhanced creative and retouching tools to support production efficiencies and asset refinement, while maintaining the integrity of model imagery, authentic product representation, and responsible visual storytelling that builds consumer trust.
• Exceptional creative judgment with the ability to balance brand consistency and innovation.
• Proficiency with industry-standard photography equipment, capture software, Adobe Creative Suite, and asset management workflows.
• Excellent communication, presentation, organizational, and project management skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment while managing multiple high-priority initiatives simultaneously.
• Portfolio and social media handles are required for consideration.

This position is based in-office five days per week. This role includes potential travel.

Our Perks

• Salary range: $120,000-160,000 (Compensation will depend on a variety of factors, including but not limited to skill level, relevant work experience & education)
• Medical, dental, vision, 401K plan & access to health & wellness programs
• Paid vacation, holidays, summer Fridays, birthdays off, volunteer time & more
• Makeup gratis, employee discount on tarte.com, team give back initiatives
• Friendly, fun, creative & collaborative work environment

Tarte is an equal opportunity employer.