Studio Manager - Luxury Women's Photography

Most luxury hospitality roles optimise for guest satisfaction. This one optimises for transformation that changes women's lives. We're a luxury all-female photography studio in East London. Over the past 6 years, we've helped 1,600+ women transform how they see themselves through intimate portrait experiences. This isn't product photography or corporate headshots. We turn women into art they will keep for their entire lives. This is about helping women live their lives more fearlessly, and go after everything they want. Your job? Make that transformation possible. Every single day. THE ROLE (in reality, not buzzwords) You'll run our two-room flagship like a five-star hotel. But instead of "nice stays," you're facilitating experiences where women have breakdowns, breakthroughs, and everything in between. Your three core jobs: LEAD THE CREATIVE TEAM (10 people) • Photographers, hair/makeup artists, guest experience specialists • Brilliant at their craft. Emotionally intelligent. But need a leader on the floor. • You'll coach them, schedule them, and hold them to world-class standards. OWN THE GUEST EXPERIENCE • 2 hour sessions: pre-shoot anxiety and post-shoot euphoria • You set the culture, train the approach, and handle escalations. RUN THE OPERATION • Scheduling 1000+ sessions/year across 7 days • Presentation (if the team, space, ambiance isn't luxury, you failed) • Performance tracking (NPS, reviews, team stability, on-time %) You live and die by: on‑time sessions, completed shoots vs plan, guest issues/refunds, team reliability, and reviews It's hospitality operations meets emotional alchemy meets luxury standards. If that sounds exhilarating, keep reading. YOU'RE THE RIGHT FIT IF: ✓ 3-5+ years leading luxury hospitality teams (spas, hotels, salons, fine dining) ✓ You've managed 5-15 person teams in high-pressure, high-emotion environments ✓ You don't flinch at hard conversations ✓ You think in systems, not firefighting ✓ You've helped shape an operation before (not just maintained one) ✓ You’re comfortable running your world from a simple scoreboard and making decisions off numbers, not vibes. ✓ You want ownership, not just a job title YOU'RE THE WRONG FIT IF: ✗ You need predictable 9-5 hours (this is a 7-day operation; weekends required) ✗ You freeze under pressure ✗ You need a policy manual for every decision (you'll help define most of the playbook with the CEO) ✗ You're uncomfortable with emotion (some of our guests are going through a lot. We support them regardless) ✗ "Good enough" feels acceptable WHAT YOU GET: £47,000 - £50,000 base + performance bonus (client ratings, team stability, revenue) OTE: £55-60k High autonomy to run everything inside the four walls. Founders own brand, pricing and demand; you own execution in the building Weekdays off (because you'll work weekends) The chance to build something world-class in luxury transformation experiences This isn't a stepping stone. It's for someone who's been waiting for exactly this challenge. We'll respond within 48 hours. P.S. You’ll report to the founders initially. As the studio scales towards full utilisation and you consistently hit your scorecard, this role is designed to evolve into a full Studio General Manager position FAIR WARNING: The chaos is real. The emotions are intense. The standards are uncompromising. If you've been waiting to BUILD something meaningful, lead brilliant people, and facilitate real transformation... this might be the role you've been looking for. If that's you, we're ready.