Lead Video Editor - AI-Driven Paid Social (1099)

About the roleA $100M DTC brand with one of the largest paid-media budgets in our category, and we’re hiring a Lead AI Video Editor to run our editing team and raise the quality of every ad we ship. This is a rare seat: real spend behind your creative, a team to build, and a direct path into creative leadership as we scale. You’ll produce AI-generated and AI-assisted direct response ads for Meta, TikTok, and YouTube — short and long form — review the team’s cuts, and build the systems that let us scale output without losing quality. This is a player-coach role: you edit, you lead, and you own the bar.What you’ll doProduce high-converting paid ads at volume using both AI generation (synthetic UGC, avatars, generative B-roll, AI voice) and traditional editing of real creator footageLead and manage a team of editors: assign work, review cuts, give specific feedback, and hold deadlinesBuild and document the production system — templates, prompts, QA checks, hook/pacing/caption standards — so winners get repeatedPartner with Creative Strategists and media buyers to turn briefs into ads and performance data into the next iterationEvaluate and roll out new AI video tools as they come onlineWhat we’re looking for4+ years editing paid social ads for DTC / eCommerce brands, with a portfolio that has performed at scaleHands-on with current gen-AI video tools (Sora, Veo, Kling, Runway, HeyGen, ElevenLabs or equivalent) and a track record of shipping AI-generated ads that convertedPremiere Pro and After Effects; CapCut a plusExperience leading or managing other editors — not just mentoring, actually running outputDeep DR instincts: hooks, first 3 seconds, retention, captions, B-roll, native platform formatsComfortable reading ad performance data (hook rate, hold rate, CTR, ROAS) and iterating from itHigh volume, tight turnarounds, takes ownership, flags problems earlyAvailable 30–40 hours per weekNice to haveExperience at a 7- to 9-figure DTC brand or performance creative agencyAutomation experience (n8n, ffmpeg/Python variant pipelines, Claude/ChatGPT in the workflow)UGC and creator-led contentWhat you’ll haveA $100M DTC brand with a large, growing marketing budget behind your workMillions in ad spend testing your creative in real timeDirect line to the Head of CreativeStrong Creative Strategists and a team to leadBudget for AI tools and trainingLeading a team of 5+ video editorsA clear growth path: Lead today, Head of Creative Production as the team scalesHow to apply Apply with your resume that includes a link to your work. Shortlisted candidates will be asked to walk through two ads: one AI-generated and one cut from real footage, with a note on how each performed and why.