Create high-converting direct-response video ads for Meta, YouTube, and Native platforms using a mix of traditional editing and AI tools. Analyze performance metrics like CTR and ROAS to iteratively optimize creative hooks and angles.
Performance Marketing Video Editor
Location: [Remote / Hybrid / On-Site — San Diego]
Type: [Full-Time / Contract]
Team: Creative
Reports to: Creative Manager
About the Role
We're a performance-driven creative team building paid social and direct-response content for fast-growing DTC and e-commerce brands. Our ads don't just look good — they're built to win at the auction, measured against real numbers, and iterated relentlessly.
We're hiring a Performance Marketing Video Editor who lives at the intersection of storytelling and conversion data. You'll cut scroll-stopping ads for Meta, YouTube, and Native platforms, spin up rapid creative variations to test hooks and angles, and use modern AI video tools to produce more high-quality concepts, faster, than a traditional edit bay ever could.
If you get a genuine thrill out of watching a hook's hold rate climb because of an edit you made — and you're already experimenting with AI UGC and generative video — this role is built for you.
What You'll Do
- Cut high-converting direct-response ads for Meta (Facebook/Instagram), Google (YouTube/Display), and Native platforms — optimized for hold rate, CTR, and ROAS, not just aesthetics.
- Produce AI-assisted video at scale. Use generative video and AI UGC tools to create new creative concepts, including realistic AI presenters with accurate lip-sync and audio, and consistent characters across spots up to 60 seconds. (Experience with tools like Runway, Seedance, Kling, Sora, Google Flow, HeyGen, or similar is a major plus.)
- Build creative variations for testing — multiple hooks, CTAs, intros, and messaging angles per concept so the media team always has fresh iterations in rotation.
- Hook viewers in the first 3 seconds using quick-cut pacing, pattern interrupts, and proven scroll-stopper structures.
- Polish for the platform with sharp sound design, captions, text overlays, and motion graphics that lift engagement and retention.
- Repurpose raw footage, UGC, and long-form content into platform-native short-form ads that map to specific funnel stages.
- Work the data. Review creative performance (CTR, CVR, ROAS, hold rate, thumb-stop rate) and let the metrics drive your next round of edits.
- Collaborate closely with media buyers, strategists, and copywriters on audience insights, product positioning, and funnel strategy.
- Stay current on platform formats, trends, and ad-policy/compliance requirements across channels.
What Success Looks Like
- First 30 days: You're shipping clean, on-brief edits with fast turnaround and learning our brands, accounts, and creative testing process.
- First 90 days: You're independently producing testable creative variations, incorporating AI video into your workflow, and proposing hooks and angles based on what the data is telling us.
- Ongoing: Your edits consistently produce winners that scale — and you have the analytics to show it.
What You Bring
- 2–4 years editing video for paid social and performance marketing (agency or in-house DTC/ecommerce experience strongly preferred).
- Expert command of Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects (or Final Cut Pro / DaVinci Resolve), plus hands-on experience with AI image and video generation tools.
- A real understanding of direct-response advertising — hooks, angles, offer structure, and the psychology of what makes people stop, watch, and convert.
- Channel fluency: you've edited specifically for Meta Ads Manager, Google Ads (YouTube), and Native networks, and you understand the spec and behavior differences between them.
- Speed without sloppiness — you thrive on quick turnarounds and iterative cycles.
- A portfolio of high-performing ad creative, ideally with the campaign results or metrics to back it up.
Bonus Points
- UGC-style ad production experience.
- Working knowledge of A/B testing frameworks and creative optimization cycles.
- Strong motion graphics and light animation chops.
- A track record collaborating directly with media buyers, performance marketers, and copywriters.