Senior Photo Editor

About the role

Vast is seeking a Senior Photo Editor to join its Media Production team on a fixed-term basis, reporting to the Senior Manager, Media Production. The ideal candidate is a technically precise, visually confident retoucher who can move fast without cutting corners, and who understands color and light well enough to make judgment calls, not just execute a brief. This is a high-leverage engagement: the work this person does in a short window will directly determine how consistent and premium Vast's photography looks going forward. This is a hands-on, IC role for someone who can walk into an existing body of work, understand the visual direction, and both execute against it and help define it more clearly.

This is an in-person role based in Long Beach, CA and runs as a 60 day fixed-term position, with potential to extend.

Responsibilities

• Clear the Backlog: Process existing unedited photography from past shoots to final, delivery-ready quality.
• Post-Production & Workflow: Manage file handling from ingest to delivery (filenaming, packaging, archiving) and build reusable presets to streamline operations.
• Define Visual Standards: Partner with the Media Production team to document and maintain consistent color, light, and retouching standards across all photography and photographers.
• Support Live Production (as needed): Oversee capture-to-delivery for active shoots, including providing on-set Digitech support.
• Photography (as needed): Execute product, hardware, portrait, or event photography as required, maintaining the same high quality standards.

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional experience as a photo retoucher or photo editor across commercial, brand, or editorial work.
• Deep proficiency in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, CaptureOne, with strong command of color grading, light balancing, and high-end retouching technique.
• Demonstrated ability to define or work within brand-level visual standards, not just execute a one-off brief.
• Strong eye for consistency across a large volume of images, evidenced through a portfolio showing range and a clear point of view.
• Able to work independently and move fast without sacrificing quality.
• Local to LA/Long Beach and available to be onsite.

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Photography experience (product, hardware, portrait, or event) as a backup capability.
• Experience shooting or editing for aerospace, tech, or other technical/industrial brands.
• Experience building documented style guides or visual standards for a brand or production team.

Pay

California $45—$64 USD

Benefits

• Company equity for full-time employees.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents.
• Generous paid time off: up to 20+ days of vacation for exempt staff and up to 10+ days for non-exempt staff, with the ability to cash-out unused vacation annually.
• Paid parental leave.
• Short and long-term disability insurance.
• Life insurance.
• Access to a 401(k) retirement plan.
• ClassPass credits.
• Personalized mental healthcare through Spring Health.
• Other discounts and perks.
• Exceptional food perks: free snacks, drip coffee, onsite barista, cold drinks, and dinner meals; subsidized lunch.

The person hired will have access to information and items subject to U.S. export controls and must be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. 120.62 or otherwise eligible for deemed export licensing.