Photo Production Coordinator (National Geographic)

The Photo Production Coordinator supports the photo editors and visual team across National Geographic’s core platforms, including the magazine, digital features, special titles, and social media.

Bringing strong organizational skills and attention to detail, the Photo Production Coordinator works collaboratively with editors, photographers, designers, and cross-departmental teams to manage the production and delivery of visual assets. This includes assisting with story research and asset retrieval, managing releases, captions, metadata, and compliance documentation, and ensuring accuracy across all publishing platforms. The ideal candidate demonstrates a deep appreciation for photography and National Geographic’s visual standards, thrives in a fast-paced environment, and takes initiative to maintain efficient workflows that uphold the integrity and excellence of National Geographic’s storytelling.

Responsibilities:

• Photo Production: Support photo editors across National Geographic’s platforms—including the magazine, digital, special titles, and social—by coordinating all aspects of photo production. Assist with story research, asset retrieval, licensing, and rights management. Ensure budgets and deadlines are met, captions and credits are accurate, and releases and compliance documents are complete. Maintain organized archives, verify image integrity, and manage essential production and administrative tasks such as invoicing, onboarding, and workflow tracking.

• Storytelling Collaboration: Work with photo editors, designers, and text editors to support compelling visual narratives across platforms. Collaborate with researchers, writers, and copy editors to ensure accuracy and alignment between visuals and editorial intent. Contribute to producing impactful, visually driven stories.

• Digital Production: Assist in building digital stories within the CMS, ensuring visual pacing, metadata accuracy, and adherence to National Geographic’s visual standards. Coordinate digital workflows and asset delivery for timely, well-executed online features.

• Visual Research & Pitching: Research and pitch visually innovative ideas and original uses of existing imagery, demonstrating awareness of different audiences and platforms.

Basic Qualifications:

• 0-1 years of experience in photo production, photo research, or photo editing.

• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail in managing metadata, captions, releases, and compliance documentation.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills with editors, photographers, designers, and cross-functional teams.

• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines in a fast-paced editorial environment.

• Proven research skills with agencies, archives, libraries, and social media for sourcing imagery and verifying information.

• Self-motivated, resourceful, and proactive in improving production workflows and supporting cross-platform publishing.

• Appreciation for photography, visual storytelling, and National Geographic's editorial standards.

• Proficiency with Airtable, Microsoft Teams, Adobe Creative Suite, and digital asset management systems.

• Familiarity with budgeting, onboarding, and invoicing processes a plus.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Some experience with / knowledge of National Geographic’s core subject areas (wildlife, history and/or archaeology, nature, science, and travel) strongly preferred.

Required Education:

• College degree or equivalent years of experience.

Preferred Education:

• Photojournalism degree a plus but not required.

The hiring range for this position in Washington, D.C. is $54,000 to $72,300 per year based on a 40 hour work week. The amount of hours scheduled per week may vary based on business needs. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.