Airbnb was born in 2007 when two hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 5 million hosts who have welcomed over 2 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe. Every day, hosts offer unique stays and experiences that make it possible for guests to connect with communities in a more authentic way.
The Community You Will Join:
Founded in August of 2008 and based in San Francisco, California, Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique travel experiences around the world. Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb allows people to Belong Anywhere through unique travel experiences at any price point, in more than 34,000 cities and over 190 countries. We promote a culture of curiosity, humanity, and creativity through our product, brand, and, most importantly, our people.
The Difference You Will Make:
The Creative Director, Photo, Int’l Marcom will report to the global Director, Photography Creative. This person will support both the global and International marketing creative teams in visualizing Photography for brand, digital, product, and social-led initiatives. They are an expert in the medium of photography, with a track record of leading innovative photographic work for a brand or creative agency, with deep experience in editorial storytelling. They are respected in the photography community, and have far reaching relationships with working photographers. This person will be responsible for nurturing and enhancing ideas during the creative development process and through execution. Creative Directors exhibit a strategic storytelling sensibility and deep understanding of the right creative / production talent required to execute the project at hand. They are entrusted with the Airbnb brand and expected to push forward the way it’s expressed through photography. They translate business and marketing purposes into big ideas that can be executed brilliantly across various initiatives and mediums. They have a strong point of view on concept, art direction and execution, and can make decisions confidently and quickly in a demanding, fast-paced environment. They strategically multi-task and proactively solve problems, all while meeting tight production deadlines. They are an effective leader of people and project teams, who can guide photography creative leads and art directors to successful executions.
A Typical Day:
- Creative directs and executes original, breakthrough photography work across many regions and channels, including film, print, digital, web, social, and OOH.
- Executes campaign photography from conceptual stage through final delivery, ensuring that work created in the regions is an extension of the established quality and tonality of Airbnb brand photography.
- Ensures work created in the regions is influenced by central campaign work strategy and aesthetics, and meets the same high creative standards.
- Concept and execute photographic campaigns that are seasonal and culturally relevant in various markets
- Ensure that deliverables adhere to strategic brief, Airbnb vision and intention.
- Communicate with creative teammates, company partners, and external agencies to ensure that Airbnb creative work is of the highest quality and greatest consistency.
- Commissions photographers and directs vendors for projects as needed.
- Collaborates and partners cross-functionally with a diverse mix of teams, balancing the needs of stakeholders and always seeking opportunities to elevate the work and craft.
- Ability to manage and lead a team of Photo Art Directors, Photo Editors, Retouchers, and Researchers, across multiple platforms.
- Inspire, generate, and develop ideas that are strategically-informed, channel agnostic, and deeply integrated between all touch-points and product experiences.
- Consistently uplevel the creative thinking of our organization by bringing impactful ideas to the table and creating work that is authentic to Airbnb’s values.
Your Expertise:
- 12+ years art and creative direction experience in an agency, or in-house brand experience with global companies.
- Possesses a strong understanding of how Photo Art Direction is used to tell a story on behalf of a brand and within a product.
- Possess a strong aesthetic sensibility, and knowledge of a range of photographic styles and working photographers; is fluent in recruiting and partnering with photographer talent and photography vendors, especially in the APAC region
- Excellent management skills and experience inspiring creative teams and empowering individuals to achieve their best work.
- Exceptional communication and presentation skills — can articulate and passionately defend their point of view and to peers and leaders
- Outstanding collaboration and time management skills with a proven ability to work cross-functionally in order to establish and meet shared outcome-based goals
- An innovative and impactful portfolio of work that demonstrates ability to lead teams in creating communication campaigns that resonate culturally and influence business results.
A CURRENT PORTFOLIO OF WORK IS REQUIRED FOR EACH APPLICANT.
Your Location:
This position is EMEA (preference UK) - Remote Eligible. The role may include occasional work at an Airbnb office or attendance at offsites, as agreed to with your manager.
Our Commitment To Inclusion & Belonging:
Airbnb is committed to working with the broadest talent pool possible. We believe diverse ideas foster innovation and engagement, and allow us to attract creatively-led people, and to develop the best products, services and solutions. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply.
We strive to also provide a disability inclusive application and interview process. If you are a candidate with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in order to submit an application, please contact us at: [email protected]. Please include your full name, the role you’re applying for and the accommodation necessary to assist you with the recruiting process.
We ask that you only reach out to us if you are a candidate whose disability prevents you from being able to complete our online application.
Airbnb Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Airbnb and has not been reviewed or approved by Airbnb.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay ranges and total compensation components are increasingly disclosed, and country-level pay practices avoid location-based cuts, which feedback suggests improves consistency and perceived fairness.
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Healthcare Strength — Comprehensive core health coverage for employees, mental health resources, and substantial dependent support are repeatedly highlighted as robust and a standout element of the package.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Generous PTO, a winter shutdown, sabbaticals, and paid volunteer time are described as extensive, with parental leave and phased return options reinforcing time-off flexibility.
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What We Do
Airbnb is a community based on connection and belonging—a community that was born in 2008 when two hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to 4 million hosts who have welcomed over 800 million guest arrivals to about 100,000 cities in almost every country and region across the globe. Hosts on Airbnb are everyday people who share their worlds to provide guests with the feeling of connection and being at home. At Airbnb, we believe that hosts, guests and the communities where we operate are all stakeholders we have a responsibility to serve, and that by serving them alongside our employees and investors, we will build an enduringly successful company.
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