Traffic Manager

Purpose of the job

Responsible for managing the end-to-end workflow, scheduling, and asset delivery pipeline within the photography studio, ensuring the efficient movement of products and digital assets from warehouse intake through photography, post-production, and final publication. This role serves as the operational hub between Merchandising, Styling, Photography, Retouching, Creative, Digital, and AI-assisted production teams, ensuring all projects are delivered on time, to brand standards, and within production deadlines.

Key Responsibilities

? Workflow Planning & Traffic Management:

• Manage the daily intake, scheduling, and prioritisation of all photography and post-production requests.

• Coordinate the movement of samples from Merchandise through styling, photography, retouching, quality control, and final delivery.

• Develop and maintain production schedules to ensure optimal studio utilisation and on-time delivery.

• Monitor project timelines, identify workflow bottlenecks, and implement solutions to minimise delays.

• Balance competing priorities across multiple brands, campaigns, product launches, and seasonal deadlines.

• Ensure production workflows align with agreed service level agreements (SLAs) and business priorities.

? Photographer Coordination & Studio Management:

• Coordinate daily studio schedules, ensuring photographers, stylists, models, and studio resources are effectively allocated.

• Partner with the Photography Lead to establish realistic daily production targets based on shoot complexity.

• Allocate photographers according to their technical expertise and project requirements.

• Coordinate studio set changes, ensuring efficient transitions between shoots.

• Ensure photographers follow established file naming conventions, metadata standards, backup procedures, and digital asset management protocols.

• Monitor studio productivity and recommend workflow improvements to maximise output.

? Retouching & Post-Production Management:

• Act as the primary liaison between Photography and the Image Retouching team.

• Ensure all approved image selections, retouching briefs, and production notes are accurately communicated to post-production.

• Manage internal and external retouching capacity to meet production deadlines.

• Prioritise retouching workloads based on business priorities, product launches, and promotional campaigns.

• Coordinate freelancer bookings during peak production periods where required.

• Route retouched imagery for review and approval, consolidating stakeholder feedback into clear revision instructions.

• Monitor revision cycles to ensure efficient delivery while maintaining quality standards.

? Operations & Process Management:

• Monitor production workflows, turnaround times, and delivery performance across the studio.

• Ensure adherence to studio processes, file management protocols, version control, and digital asset management standards.

• Generate production reports, monitor studio output, and provide regular status updates to management.

• Identify opportunities to improve efficiencies through workflow optimisation, automation, and AI-enabled production tools.

• Support continuous improvement initiatives across photography and post-production operations.

? Stakeholder Management & Collaboration:

• Act as the central point of communication between Merchandising, Buying, Styling, Photography, Creative, Digital, Retouching, and Production teams.

• Manage stakeholder expectations by communicating production schedules, priorities, and delivery timelines.

• Build effective relationships with freelance photographers, retouchers, agencies, and external suppliers.

• Escalate production risks and capacity constraints proactively to management.

? Leadership & Team Support:

• Provide day-to-day coordination and operational guidance across studio production teams.

• Support onboarding and training on studio workflows, production systems, and operational processes.

• Promote adherence to production standards, quality expectations, and delivery deadlines.

• Foster a collaborative, solutions-driven studio environment focused on continuous improvement.

? Studio Culture & Collaboration:

• Participate in regular production planning meetings and workflow reviews.

• Collaborate closely with Photography, Styling, Retouching, Creative, and Operations teams.

• Contribute to a positive, organised, and high-performing studio culture.

• Encourage innovation and continuous improvement across production processes.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Competencies

• Relevant Tertiary Qualification (Diploma/Degree) in Project Management, Operations Management, Photography, Creative Production, Marketing, or a related field.

• 3–5 years’ experience in production coordination, traffic management, studio operations, or workflow management within a fashion retail or e-commerce environment.

• Strong understanding of photography, post-production, and digital asset management workflows.

• Experience coordinating high-volume e-commerce photography production.

• Knowledge of fashion production processes, studio operations, and merchandising workflows.

• Experience managing production schedules, workflow planning, and resource allocation.

• Understanding of image retouching workflows and digital production pipelines.

• Experience working with photographers, stylists, retouchers, creative teams, and external suppliers.

• Strong organisational and project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.

• Excellent problem-solving and decision-making abilities.

• High attention to detail and commitment to quality.

• Strong verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.

• Proficiency in Google Workspace and Microsoft Office.

• Experience using project management, workflow, or digital asset management systems will be advantageous.

• Knowledge of AI-assisted workflow automation and production tools will be advantageous.

• Ability to work under pressure and meet demanding production deadlines.

Competencies: Devotion to quality, Result-oriented, Planning, Service Oriented, Initiative, Client Focused, Innovating, and Creativity

Closing date: Friday, 24 July 2026

If you are interested and meet the minimum requirements, please submit your CV to our Direct Hire platform using the following link: https://pep.mcidirecthire.com/Internal/CurrentOpportunities

All external candidates please use the following link: https://pepjobs.mcidirecthire.com/

If you do not hear from us within 4 weeks of the closing date of this position, please regard your application as being unsuccessful.

PEP strives for equal opportunity in terms of its employment equity guidelines.