Director of Studio Operations & Client Experience
Quick Facts
Primary Location: Harleysville, Pennsylvania
Regular Travel: West Lawn Studio
Position Type: Full Time
Typical Schedule: Tuesday through Saturday
Reports To: Founder
About Willow Street Pictures: A luxury fine art portrait studio dedicated to creating exceptional experiences and timeless artwork for families throughout the region for more than twenty years.
Before We Tell You About the Position…
Changing organizations is rarely just a career decision. For experienced leaders, it’s often a decision about where they want to invest the next chapter of their life. While compensation, responsibilities, and opportunities for advancement certainly matter, they rarely tell the whole story. The best leadership opportunities are also shaped by the people you’ll work alongside, the culture you’ll help build, and whether the work you do each day feels genuinely meaningful.
Before we tell you about this position, we’d like to tell you a little about Willow Street Pictures.
For more than twenty years, families have trusted us with moments they could never recreate. We’ve celebrated new beginnings, photographed growing families, preserved the extraordinary bond between people and their pets, and created artwork that often becomes even more meaningful as the years pass. Experiences like these have taught us that while photography is our craft, earning trust has always been our real work.
That understanding has shaped the kind of organization we’ve worked to build.
We look for people who find satisfaction in serving others well. People who understand that meaningful relationships are built one conversation, one decision, and one experience at a time. People who believe strong systems exist to support people, not replace them, and who take quiet pride in doing work that consistently exceeds expectations without needing recognition for every success.
Over the years, we’ve also learned that exceptional organizations aren’t built by one extraordinary individual. They’re built by talented people who share responsibility, develop one another, and genuinely enjoy seeing others succeed. That’s the kind of environment we’ve worked to create, and it’s the kind of environment we hope will continue long after today’s leaders have stepped aside.
If you’re looking for a position where leadership means serving both your team and your clients, where relationships matter as much as results, and where you’ll have the opportunity to help strengthen an organization rather than simply manage it, we believe you’ll appreciate what comes next.
Why This Opportunity Exists
For more than twenty years, Willow Street Pictures has grown one relationship at a time. As families continued to place their trust in us, our team grew, our responsibilities expanded, and our organization evolved. Along the way, one important realization became increasingly clear: if Willow Street Pictures was going to continue serving families for decades to come, its future could never depend on one person.
Today, one of our most important responsibilities isn’t simply serving clients. It’s developing the next generation of leaders who will continue strengthening the organization, caring for our clients, and investing in the people around them. We believe that’s how organizations earn the opportunity to endure.
This leadership position is an important part of that commitment.
While this role includes guiding daily operations and supporting an exceptional client experience, its purpose reaches much further. We’re looking for someone who enjoys developing people, improving systems, solving problems, and creating an environment where both clients and team members can thrive. Someone who sees leadership not as having all the answers, but as helping others do their very best work.
This is also an opportunity to help shape the next chapter of Willow Street Pictures. Not by replacing what has been built, but by building upon it. We aren’t looking for someone to preserve the organization exactly as it exists today. We hope to find a leader who respects the foundation that’s been laid, brings fresh perspective where it’s needed, and is excited by the opportunity to help the organization continue growing in thoughtful and meaningful ways.
The leader who joins Willow Street Pictures won’t simply inherit a position. They’ll help carry forward a culture, a reputation, and a standard of care that has been built over more than two decades. We believe that’s one of the greatest privileges of leadership, and it’s the opportunity we’re inviting someone to consider.
What You’ll Help Build
Every organization is shaped by the people who choose to invest in it. Some leave behind completed projects. Others leave behind stronger people, better systems, and a healthier organization than the one they inherited.
We hope this role becomes that kind of opportunity.
As Director of Studio Operations & Client Experience, you’ll help strengthen the foundation that allows Willow Street Pictures to continue serving families for generations to come. Working alongside the Founder and our leadership team, you’ll help shape an organization where meaningful relationships, thoughtful leadership, and exceptional client experiences continue to define who we are.
You’ll help build a team where people are trusted with responsibility, encouraged to grow, and inspired to help one another succeed. You’ll help create an environment where continuous improvement is simply part of the way we work, and where every member of the team understands how their individual contribution supports something much larger than themselves.
You’ll also help strengthen the experience our clients have with Willow Street Pictures. Every conversation, every interaction, and every decision contributes to the trust families place in us. Your leadership will help ensure that trust continues to grow with every experience we create.
Most importantly, you’ll help build an organization that becomes stronger each year because it continues investing in its people. We believe the healthiest organizations aren’t defined by the founder who started them, but by the leaders who continue helping them grow.
Years from now, much of what you build here may be invisible. Clients won’t see the systems that evolved, the leaders who grew, or the countless decisions that made the organization stronger. What they will experience is a team that works well together, a culture that genuinely cares, and an organization they continue to trust with life’s most meaningful moments. We believe that’s some of the most meaningful work a leader can do.
Your Responsibilities
As Director of Studio Operations & Client Experience, you’ll provide leadership across the organization while helping ensure Willow Street Pictures continues delivering the exceptional experience our clients have come to expect. You’ll be trusted to make decisions, develop people, strengthen operations, and help guide the organization forward.
Client Experience
- Lead Gallery Tours & Consultations, helping prospective clients understand the Willow Street experience and guiding them with confidence through the decision-making process.
- Conduct Discovery Calls that build trust, answer questions, and help families determine whether we’re the right fit for their needs.
- Champion an exceptional client experience from the first inquiry through the completion of each portrait project.
- Identify opportunities to continually improve every stage of the client journey.
Team Leadership
- Lead, coach, and develop a talented team while creating an environment built on trust, accountability, and mutual respect.
- Invest in the professional growth of every team member through regular coaching, feedback, and mentorship.
- Help identify and develop future leaders within the organization.
- Foster a culture where people enjoy coming to work, take pride in their contributions, and support one another’s success.
Studio Operations
- Provide leadership for the daily operations of both studio locations, ensuring priorities remain clear and work continues moving forward.
- Strengthen systems and processes that help our team work more effectively and consistently.
- Remove obstacles, improve communication, and create clarity across departments.
- Take ownership of organizational projects from planning through successful completion.
Organizational Leadership
- Partner closely with the Founder to help guide the continued growth and long-term health of Willow Street Pictures.
- Help translate ideas into clear plans, measurable progress, and lasting improvements.
- Participate in financial planning, operational decision-making, and organizational initiatives as responsibilities continue to expand.
- Protect and strengthen the values, culture, and reputation that have been built over more than twenty years.
You’ll Probably Thrive Here If…
Over the years, we’ve had the privilege of working alongside many talented people. While each person brought different experiences, personalities, and leadership styles, we’ve noticed they often shared a few qualities in common.
The people who thrive at Willow Street Pictures genuinely enjoy helping others succeed. They find satisfaction in developing people, strengthening a team, and creating an environment where everyone can do their best work. They’re just as fulfilled by someone else’s success as they are by their own.
They take ownership without waiting to be asked. When they see a problem, they work to understand it. When they see an opportunity to improve something, they take initiative. They don’t look for recognition. They simply care about leaving things better than they found them.
They remain calm when challenges arise. They communicate thoughtfully, make decisions with confidence, and understand that leadership isn’t about having every answer. It’s about creating clarity, building trust, and helping others move forward.
They value craftsmanship in every sense of the word. Whether improving a client experience, refining a process, coaching a team member, or solving an operational challenge, they believe small details matter because they shape the experience people remember.
Most importantly, they never stop learning. They ask thoughtful questions, welcome feedback, and believe that becoming a stronger leader is a lifelong pursuit.
If you read these qualities and recognize yourself, there’s a good chance you’ll find this role both rewarding and meaningful.
Experience That Will Help You Succeed
We believe great leaders come from many different backgrounds, so we’re less interested in finding someone with one specific résumé than we are in finding someone with the experience and mindset to help our team and organization continue growing.
You’ll likely be well prepared for this role if you’ve had opportunities to:
- Lead, coach, and develop people while creating an environment where they can do their best work.
- Deliver an exceptional client or customer experience in a service-focused organization.
- Improve systems, workflows, or operational processes that helped people work more effectively.
- Balance multiple priorities while keeping projects organized and moving forward.
- Build trust through thoughtful communication, sound judgment, and consistent follow-through.
- Solve problems with a calm, organized, and solutions-oriented approach.
- Take ownership of meaningful projects from planning through successful execution.
- Work collaboratively with senior leadership while confidently leading day-to-day operations.
Experience in portrait photography isn’t required, and many of the skills that lead to success in this role are transferable from other industries. If you’ve built your career leading people, improving operations, and creating outstanding client experiences, we’d encourage you to apply. We can teach you our industry. It’s much harder to teach someone how to genuinely care about people.
Compensation & Benefits
We believe people do their best work when they feel supported, respected, and given opportunities to continue growing. While compensation is certainly an important part of that, we also believe a rewarding career is built through meaningful work, professional development, and the opportunity to make a lasting contribution.
Compensation
- Competitive salary based on your experience, leadership ability, and the value you bring to Willow Street Pictures.
- Opportunities for increased responsibility and professional growth as both you and the organization continue to grow.
Benefits
- Paid vacation and holidays
- Retirement savings plan with employer contribution
- Professional development opportunities
- Employee portrait benefits
One Last Thought…
The people we invite to join Willow Street Pictures help shape the future of our organization. That’s not a decision we take lightly, and we imagine you feel the same way about choosing where you’ll invest the next chapter of your career.
Our hope isn’t simply that you’ll choose Willow Street Pictures. It’s that, together, we’ll discover whether this is the right place for your gifts, your leadership, and your future. We believe the best professional relationships begin with mutual understanding, thoughtful conversations, and shared expectations.
That’s why our next step is a little different.
Rather than asking you to immediately submit a résumé, we’d first like to send you our Leadership Opportunity Guide. It offers a deeper look at our organization, our leadership philosophy, the way we think, and the vision we’re working toward together. More importantly, it gives you the opportunity to learn about us before deciding whether you’d like to continue the conversation.
If, after reading this posting, you’re interested in learning more, simply send us a brief message through Indeed introducing yourself and letting us know you’d like to receive the Leadership Opportunity Guide. Once you’ve had an opportunity to review it, if you believe Willow Street Pictures could be the right place for the next chapter of your leadership journey, we’ll invite you to continue the conversation.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about Willow Street Pictures. Whether our paths cross or not, we sincerely appreciate your interest and wish you continued success wherever your leadership journey takes you.
Benefits:
- Professional development assistance
- Retirement plan
Work Location: In person
