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Freelance Retoucher

tms, Stamford, CT, USA

Pay: 60.000 - 80.000

Job type: Full Time


tms unites technology, marketing, and sourcing to drive transformational change for the world’s leading brands. With more than 1,400 employees across 28 countries., we offer an impressive range of solutions – from inspiration and innovation to category management and delivery.

Operating as a creative agency, a strategic consultancy, a sourcing business, and a technology provider, we engage with over 110 million customers every single day for our clients, including McDonald’s, T-Mobile, O2, Starbucks, and adidas.

Most importantly, we're a place where you can achieve great things, and be recognized as the best.

WHAT MATTERS THE MOST

Breakthrough, business-driving ideas come from extraordinary people with the freedom to be their most authentic selves at work. Authenticity and diversity are critical elements of our business. They can only be realized when we create access and equity for all. We foster a culture of inclusion and belonging and aspire to be ever-evolving.

tms is a place where brilliant people are better together. If you want your ideas to be heard and to contribute to a culture of inclusion and authenticity, bring us your voice! Visit us at tmsw.com.

WHY WE THINK YOU WILL LOVE THIS ROLE

As a Retoucher, you’ll play a key role in elevating how the client’s products show up across print, e-commerce, and digital channels. Reporting into the Sr Manager of Print & Post-Production, you’ll partner closely with design, photography, and production teams to deliver polished, on-brand imagery—balancing speed, consistency, and exceptional craft. If you love detail, problem-solving, and making assets camera-ready and channel-ready, this is a role where your work will be seen every day across major retailers and brand platforms.

WHAT YOU WILL BRING TO THE ORGANIZATION

Retouching, Post-Production & Image Craft

Execute high-quality, non-destructive retouching for product, beauty, and lifestyle imagery (skin, hair, product cleanup, compositing, reflections, and detail work) while maintaining a natural, premium look

Prepare assets for multiple end uses (print, e-commerce, social/digital) including cropping, resizing, background cleanup, shadow creation, and consistent alignment to brand/retail standards

Support color accuracy and consistency by working within established color management practices and maintaining visual continuity across sets, SKUs, and campaigns

Organize layered working files cleanly (naming conventions, layers, masks, smart objects) to enable efficient reviews, handoffs, and future updates

Workflow, Production Support & Delivery

Manage multiple projects and deadlines with strong attention to detail, providing accurate time estimates and proactive status updates to the Sr Manager of Print & Post-Production

Execute versioning and adaptations efficiently (formats, crops, backgrounds, language variants, retailer specifications) while preserving image integrity

Perform self-QA and participate in review cycles—addressing feedback quickly and ensuring deliverables meet technical specs and creative expectations

Maintain consistent file hygiene and delivery readiness: correct resolution, color space, naming conventions, and exports per channel requirements

Collaboration with Photography, Design & Prepress

Partner with photographers and producers to evaluate selects, identify post-production needs, and flag capture issues that may affect timelines or retouching approach

Collaborate with designers to ensure retouched assets support layouts, typography, pack copy, and final composition requirements

Coordinate with print production / prepress partners as needed to ensure files are built correctly for print (profiles, ink limits, resolution, trapping/overprint considerations where applicable)

Process, Quality & Best Practices

Follow established retouching standards and workflows to ensure consistency across brands, categories, and campaigns

Maintain strong QC practices for artifacts, halos, banding, noise, sharpness, and color shifts—ensuring images reproduce cleanly in both print and digital

Keep working files organized and archived appropriately; support asset management best practices to enable reuse, updates, and retailer re-spec requests

Contribute to continuous improvement by sharing techniques, actions, templates, and efficiencies that help the team deliver high-quality work faster

Client & Cross-Functional Collaboration

Work closely with the Sr Manager of Print & Post-Production and cross-functional partners to understand briefs, channel requirements, and priority shifts

Communicate clearly about progress, questions, and constraints; proactively request direction when specs or expectations are unclear

Collaborate respectfully in feedback cycles, incorporating notes while protecting core image quality and maintaining consistent craft standards

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO HAVE

3–6 years of professional retouching experience in an in-house studio, agency, or high-volume production environment (consumer products/beauty/personal care a plus)

Advanced Adobe Photoshop skills, including non-destructive workflows (masks, adjustment layers, smart objects), compositing, and precise selection techniques

Strong retouching craft across product and beauty: cleanup, skin/hair, texture preservation, color correction, sharpening, shadow creation, and consistent finishing

Working knowledge of print and digital production requirements, including resolution standards, file formats, and color spaces (RGB/CMYK) with attention to accurate reproduction

Experience supporting e-commerce/retailer standards and versioning (crops, backgrounds, aspect ratios, spec changes) while maintaining image consistency

Excellent attention to detail and quality control; able to self-review for artifacts and deliver clean, production-ready files

Comfortable working within team workflows and review tools; able to take feedback, ask clarifying questions, and manage multiple deadlines

A portfolio demonstrating high-end retouching across product/beauty and real-world production constraints (before/after examples a plus)

Be an operator and a partner: bring structure to ambiguous asks, create repeatable templates/processes, and help the team move faster without sacrificing quality.

Lead with clarity and calm: proactively flag risks, align stakeholders quickly, and coach teams through tight timelines, high volume, and shifting priorities.

Any of the following would be a plus

Hands‑on experience with Amazon PDPs and retail/e‑commerce ecosystems (e.g., Amazon, Ulta, Target), including content standards, image requirements, and performance levers.

Experience partnering with or operating within PXM/PIM/DAM environments (e.g., Salsify and/or DAM governance), and comfort coordinating asset metadata, usage rights, QA, and publishing workflows.

Starting hourly between $70-$80

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

We are an equal opportunity employer, and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

RECRUITING AGENCIES

tms does not accept agency resumes submitted by third‑party vendors unless a valid agreement has been signed and the tms Talent Acquisition Team has granted authorization for submissions for a specified position. Please do not submit or forward resumes to our site, tms employees, or any other company location. tms is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.

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