Associate Creative Director, Photography, Sports

Apple•Culver City, CA

14h

About The Position

Apple is seeking an Associate Creative Director | Photography -TV & Sports within the Product Design & Marketing (PD&M) organization to help define and elevate how photography and video are conceived, sourced, licensed, and delivered across Apple TV and Apple Sports experiences. This role blends deep sports fluency, exceptional visual judgment, and advanced production and rights expertise—ensuring Apple delivers world-class, culturally resonant sports storytelling at scale. Creative Leadership & Visual Standards -Partner with senior stakeholders within PD&M to shape and uphold the visual language across TV and Sports. -Contribute to concept development and creative direction that elevates Apple storytelling through Photography and Innovative visual formats. -Serve as a steward of Apple’s creative bar—ensuring consistency, emotional impact, and excellence across all consumer-facing imagery. Sports Fluency & Cultural Insight -Bring deep knowledge of global sports culture—athletes, leagues, and fan behavior—across priority areas (F1, MLB, MLS), while anticipating and shaping future growth. -Understand how streaming platforms surface, contextualize, and scale sports content—and how photography and video support narrative, brand, and product experience. Creative Continuity & Systems Thinking -Build and maintain scalable, photography-led visual systems that integrate seamlessly with video and motion assets. -Ensure creative continuity across campaigns, leagues, seasons, and platforms while remaining adaptable to evolving formats and product needs. Production, Rights & Execution -Lead end-to-end workflows across photography, including sourcing strategy, licensing approach, rights clearance, fee negotiation, contract execution, and final delivery. -Maintain deep familiarity with agencies, photographers, filmmakers, specialty archives, and league-owned libraries. -Partner closely with Legal, Business Affairs, Production, and external rights holders to ensure compliant, efficient, and scalable solutions. Strategic Communication & Keynote Expertise -Demonstrate deep proficiency in Keynote as a core creative and strategic tool. -Develop clear, compelling creative briefs, pitches, and visual narratives that articulate proposed creative strategies to senior stakeholders. -Create production documentation, timelines, and budget-aware presentations to support quarterly reviews, project milestones, and post-mortems. -Translate complex creative and production concepts into concise, visually rigorous materials aligned with Apple’s presentation standards. Collaboration & Cross-Functional Partnership -Work seamlessly with producers, designers, editors, marketers, product teams, and external partners across PD&M. -Provide clear creative guidance and constructive feedback, fostering trust and elevating work across disciplines. -Navigate ambiguity with confidence, helping define best practices within a growing and evolving organization. Innovation & Platform Thinking -Explore tools, technologies, and workflows that advance how photography and AV are created, licensed, and experienced. -Optimize visual assets for use across Apple’s software and hardware ecosystem, balancing creative ambition with product and operational constraints.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in creative leadership, photography, video, or multimedia roles within sports, entertainment, media, or technology.
Demonstrated expertise in photography with strong fluency in video and motion storytelling.
Portfolio reflecting world-class visual taste, consistency, and execution across still and motion formats.
Significant experience managing large-scale, multi-platform creative and licensing workflows.
Advanced understanding of image and footage rights, licensing structures, contract negotiation, and clearance processes.
Proven ability to communicate creative strategy clearly through written, verbal, and visual presentations.
Exceptional organizational and collaboration skills.

Nice To Haves

Experience operating at an Associate Creative Director level within a product-driven organization.
Strong track record of presenting creative strategy to senior leadership.
Interest in future people leadership as the team and scope evolve.
Comfort operating in high-visibility, fast-paced TV and sports environments.

Responsibilities

Partner with senior stakeholders within PD&M to shape and uphold the visual language across TV and Sports.
Contribute to concept development and creative direction that elevates Apple storytelling through Photography and Innovative visual formats.
Serve as a steward of Apple’s creative bar—ensuring consistency, emotional impact, and excellence across all consumer-facing imagery.
Bring deep knowledge of global sports culture—athletes, leagues, and fan behavior—across priority areas (F1, MLB, MLS), while anticipating and shaping future growth.
Understand how streaming platforms surface, contextualize, and scale sports content—and how photography and video support narrative, brand, and product experience.
Build and maintain scalable, photography-led visual systems that integrate seamlessly with video and motion assets.
Ensure creative continuity across campaigns, leagues, seasons, and platforms while remaining adaptable to evolving formats and product needs.
Lead end-to-end workflows across photography, including sourcing strategy, licensing approach, rights clearance, fee negotiation, contract execution, and final delivery.
Maintain deep familiarity with agencies, photographers, filmmakers, specialty archives, and league-owned libraries.
Partner closely with Legal, Business Affairs, Production, and external rights holders to ensure compliant, efficient, and scalable solutions.
Demonstrate deep proficiency in Keynote as a core creative and strategic tool.
Develop clear, compelling creative briefs, pitches, and visual narratives that articulate proposed creative strategies to senior stakeholders.
Create production documentation, timelines, and budget-aware presentations to support quarterly reviews, project milestones, and post-mortems.
Translate complex creative and production concepts into concise, visually rigorous materials aligned with Apple’s presentation standards.
Work seamlessly with producers, designers, editors, marketers, product teams, and external partners across PD&M.
Provide clear creative guidance and constructive feedback, fostering trust and elevating work across disciplines.
Navigate ambiguity with confidence, helping define best practices within a growing and evolving organization.
Explore tools, technologies, and workflows that advance how photography and AV are created, licensed, and experienced.
Optimize visual assets for use across Apple’s software and hardware ecosystem, balancing creative ambition with product and operational constraints.