Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Visual Information Specialist

🎯 Role Definition

A Visual Information Specialist is responsible for creating, capturing, managing, and distributing visual assets that support organizational communications, training, archival, and operational needs. This role blends photography, videography, graphic production, digital asset management (DAM), metadata creation, and accessibility best practices to ensure visual content is accurate, searchable, secure, and optimized for multi-channel delivery (web, mobile, print, broadcast, and internal systems). The ideal candidate combines creative visual production skills with strong information management discipline and stakeholder collaboration.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Multimedia Coordinator or Production Assistant
Photojournalist / Staff Photographer
Junior Graphic Designer or Videographer

Advancement To:

Senior Visual Information Specialist
Digital Asset Manager / DAM Administrator
Visual Communications Manager or Creative Services Lead

Lateral Moves:

Content Strategist or UX Content Designer
Records and Information Manager
Training Media Developer or E-learning Producer

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Plan, conduct, and deliver professional photography and videography assignments (studio and field) to document events, facilities, personnel, products, and projects, ensuring consistent visual quality, accurate representation, and adherence to brand and organizational guidelines.
Manage end-to-end post-production workflows including color correction, audio mixing, editing, motion graphics, titling, captioning, and final mastering for distribution across web, social, broadcast, and internal channels while meeting deadlines and technical specifications.
Operate and maintain imaging equipment and accessories (DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, cinema cameras, lighting kits, microphones, drones, gimbals) and coordinate equipment inventory, preventative maintenance, and secure storage to ensure operational readiness.
Design and produce graphics, diagrams, infographics, and layout-ready visual elements using industry-standard software (Adobe Creative Cloud, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Avid, or equivalent) that support reports, presentations, proposals, and training materials.
Administer and curate the Digital Asset Management (DAM) system: upload, catalog, tag, apply controlled vocabularies and metadata, set access controls, and maintain taxonomy to ensure assets are discoverable, reusable, and compliant with retention policies.
Create and apply rich metadata, captions, alt text, IPTC/XMP tags, and controlled keywords to all visual assets to improve searchability, accessibility, and machine-readability for both users and automated systems.
Implement accessibility and inclusion best practices for visual content, including closed captions, audio descriptions, descriptive alt text, and color-contrast checks to ensure compliance with ADA, WCAG, and organizational accessibility standards.
Collaborate closely with communications, marketing, legal, and subject-matter stakeholders to scope visual requirements, obtain clearances and model releases, address privacy and copyright concerns, and align production plans with messaging strategies.
Develop shooting scripts, storyboards, shot lists, and production schedules; coordinate talent, locations, permits, and logistics to ensure efficient production execution and cost control.
Maintain media ingest, backup, and archival processes (LTO, cloud storage, NAS) with documented chain-of-custody and redundancy to protect original footage and maintain long-term preservation of mission-critical visual information.
Monitor and enforce image and video quality control standards including resolution, compression, frame rates, aspect ratios, and color profile management to ensure consistent output across channels and devices.
Produce technical imagery and visual documentation (annotated photos, mapping overlays, time-lapse, thermal imaging, or other specialized capture) to support operational, scientific, or technical workflows when required.
Coordinate and execute live event capture and streaming, including multi-camera setups, live switching, encoding, and integration with virtual platforms to deliver stable, secure live communications and training sessions.
Lead or participate in visual content audits and lifecycle reviews to retire redundant assets, update metadata, correct inaccurate tags, and optimize the DAM structure for performance and discoverability.
Train and provide guidance to staff and stakeholders on best practices for capturing, submitting, and using visual assets, including smartphone capture standards, naming conventions, and metadata entry workflows.
Ensure compliance with recordkeeping, retention schedules, security classification, and legal holds as they pertain to visual assets; coordinate with records management to support litigation, FOIA, and audit requests.
Prepare and deliver usage reports, analytics, and KPI tracking (asset downloads, views, conversions) to measure visual content performance and inform content strategy improvements.
Create templates, style guides, and brand toolkits for imagery, video, and graphics to promote consistency across campaigns, internal documents, and public-facing content.
Support cross-functional creative projects by supplying technical consult on visual storytelling, motion design, and multimedia format optimization for enhanced user engagement.
Evaluate and recommend new imaging and production technologies, software, and workflow tools to improve efficiency, scalability, and asset longevity across the organization.
Serve as the subject-matter expert for visual asset protection and licensing: manage rights, usage windows, stock photography licenses, third-party vendor contracts, and permissions to mitigate legal risk.

Secondary Functions

Support ad hoc visual requests from internal teams by rapidly producing or sourcing imagery and video clips for presentations, proposals, and executive communications.
Assist with cataloging and digitization projects, converting analog film, slides, VHS tapes, and printed materials into searchable digital formats with appropriate metadata and preservation practices.
Provide day-to-day DAM administrative support, including user provisioning, access audits, metadata cleanup, and troubleshooting ingest or playback issues.
Work with IT, records management, and cybersecurity teams to define secure access protocols, backup policies, and encryption standards for sensitive visual assets.
Coordinate with external vendors and contractors for specialized shoots, aerial imaging, high-resolution scanning, or large-scale production when internal resources are insufficient.
Contribute to content governance committees to advocate for visual metadata standards, retention policy updates, and accessibility improvements across communications and knowledge management teams.
Pilot and document workflows to integrate AI-based tools (automatic tagging, transcription, face recognition where permitted) into the asset lifecycle while ensuring ethical and legal safeguards.
Provide support for archival retrieval and evidence production, delivering verified image and video sets with documented provenance for legal, compliance, or historical research purposes.
Maintain a central library of templates, LUTs (lookup tables), style presets, and approved assets to accelerate production and maintain brand fidelity across teams.
Participate in cross-training and mentoring programs to upskill junior staff, interns, and contributors on visual standards, shooting techniques, and DAM usage.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Professional photography and videography: studio and field production, lighting, composition, exposure control, audio capture, and multi-camera setups.
Advanced proficiency with editing and post-production software: Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere Pro, After Effects, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro (list relevant tools).
Digital Asset Management (DAM) administration: ingestion, taxonomy design, metadata schemas (IPTC/XMP), access controls, and search optimization.
Metadata creation and controlled vocabularies: descriptive, structural, technical metadata and hands-on experience with cataloging standards.
Video encoding and transcoding: understanding codecs, bitrates, frame rates, aspect ratios, and distribution-ready deliverables for web, mobile, and broadcast.
Accessibility implementation: closed captioning, transcripts, audio descriptions, alt text creation, and knowledge of WCAG and ADA requirements for multimedia.
File management and archival systems: LTO workflows, cloud archival strategies (S3/Glacier), NAS, and disaster recovery best practices.
Motion graphics and visual design: typographic composition, motion animation, infographics, and template creation for fast-turn content.
Live streaming and broadcast workflows: encoding, live switching, OBS or hardware switchers, and CDN or platform integration.
Basic IT and security literacy: permissions management, media ingest protocols, checksum validation, and secure transfer methods (SFTP, Aspera).

Soft Skills

Strong stakeholder engagement: ability to translate business requirements into visual deliverables and negotiate scope, timelines, and priorities with cross-functional teams.
Exceptional attention to detail: meticulous quality control on metadata, color grading, caption accuracy, and legal clearances to reduce rework and compliance risk.
Time and project management: ability to manage multiple concurrent shoots, post-production pipelines, and content requests while meeting deadlines.
Communication and presentation: clear verbal and written skills for documenting workflows, training users, and presenting creative solutions to non-technical audiences.
Problem solving and adaptability: quick troubleshooting of technical issues on set and during ingest/playback, and flexibility to adjust creative plans under changing conditions.
Collaborative mindset: works well in multi-disciplinary teams, incorporates feedback, and mentors junior staff or contractors.
Ethical judgment and confidentiality: handles sensitive visual materials responsibly and understands privacy, consent, and usage rights.
Creative storytelling: ability to conceptualize visual narratives that support messaging goals and drive audience engagement.
Continuous learning orientation: keeps current with emerging imaging technologies, AI/machine learning tools for tagging and search, and industry best practices.
Customer service orientation: focused on providing timely, high-quality support to internal and external customers who rely on visual content.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Associate degree in Photography, Multimedia, Visual Communications, Digital Media, Library & Information Science, or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communications, Photojournalism, Film & Video Production, Graphic Design, Information Science, or a related field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Photography / Photojournalism
Videography / Film Production
Graphic Design / Visual Communications
Multimedia / Digital Media
Library and Information Science / Records Management
Computer Science or IT with media specialization
Journalism or Communications with multimedia emphasis

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2–7 years of progressive experience producing, managing, and distributing visual assets in a corporate, government, non-profit, or media production environment.

Preferred:

5+ years managing digital asset workflows, DAM systems, and multimedia production across channels.
Demonstrated portfolio of professional photography/videography work and examples of DAM implementation or metadata projects.
Experience with accessibility standards, legal clearances, and archival preservation practices.