Trove Brands is looking for an experienced Lead Photo Retoucher to lead our in-house retouching team and help define the visual quality of imagery across our portfolio of brands.
This is both a hands-on and leadership role, working across lifestyle, campaign, product, and e-commerce/PDP photography. We are looking for someone with a refined eye and a natural approach to retouching-creating imagery that feels polished, premium, and intentional without looking overly processed. The Lead Photo Retoucher will also oversee our retouching quality standards, PDP color-approval process, color-management workflows, and day-to-day development of a small team of retouchers.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead and support a small team of in-house retouchers, providing direction, feedback, and quality review.
- Perform high-end retouching across lifestyle, campaign, product, and PDP imagery.
- Create polished, natural-looking imagery while maintaining realistic skin, texture, materials, lighting, shadows, and product details.
- Establish and maintain consistent retouching standards across Trove Brands.
- Lead the PDP color-approval process, ensuring imagery accurately represents physical product color, material, texture, and finish.
- Review and approve retouched imagery to ensure a consistently high quality bar.
- Partner closely with photographers, art directors, designers, and production teams to understand creative intent and deliver against the final vision.
- Provide clear, actionable feedback and help develop the creative and technical skills of other retouchers.
- Maintain strong color-managed workflows using calibrated monitors, approved profiles, physical product samples, and established output standards.
- Perform advanced color correction, skin work, compositing, masking, cleanup, reconstruction, and other complex Photoshop work as needed.
- Help improve retouching workflows, documentation, quality-control processes, and production efficiencies.
- Manage multiple projects and deadlines while maintaining consistency, accuracy, and attention to detail.
Required Qualifications
- Approximately 5+ years of professional photo retouching or commercial post-production experience.
- A strong portfolio demonstrating high-end lifestyle, campaign, product, and/or commercial retouching.
- Advanced to expert proficiency in Adobe Photoshop.
- Strong aesthetic judgment and the ability to produce refined, premium imagery while maintaining a natural and believable result.
- Deep understanding of color correction, skin tones, product color, compositing, masking, cleanup, and non-destructive editing.
- Strong knowledge of color spaces, ICC profiles, monitor calibration, and color-managed workflows.
- Ability to identify subtle differences in color, texture, material appearance, and finish.
- Strong understanding of photography, lighting, and how capture decisions affect post-production.
- Experience maintaining visual consistency across large sets of imagery and multiple projects.
- Experience reviewing work and providing clear creative and technical feedback.
- Strong communication, organization, and collaboration skills.
- Ability to work on-site and evaluate imagery alongside physical product samples when needed.
Desired Qualifications
- Previous experience as a Lead Retoucher, Senior Retoucher, Retouching Supervisor, or similar role.
- Experience mentoring or leading a small retouching or post-production team.
- Experience working with established consumer, lifestyle, or e-commerce brands.
- Experience working within an in-house creative studio, agency, or commercial production environment.
- Experience with Capture One and professional photography workflows.
- Experience developing Photoshop actions, scripts, templates, or other workflow efficiencies.