[Hiring] International Shorts Editor @Changing Lives Productions LLC

Role Description

We’re looking for a creative Short-Form Video Editor who can take hours of raw, unscripted footage and find the most compelling story within it. This is not simply an assembly role. The editor will make meaningful creative decisions—identifying the strongest moments, shaping the narrative, building emotion, and creating a satisfying payoff.

• Reviewing large amounts of raw, unscripted footage and identifying the strongest characters, moments, reactions, and storylines
• Turning raw footage into clear, compelling 2–3 minute stories with a strong beginning, emotional build, and satisfying payoff
• Making creative structural decisions rather than simply following footage chronologically
• Crafting powerful opening hooks that immediately give viewers a reason to keep watching
• Building curiosity, escalation, reveals, and emotional momentum throughout each edit
• Editing with retention and pacing in mind, identifying where to tighten, reorder, restructure, or remove moments that may cause viewers to drop off
• Knowing when to move quickly and when an authentic emotional moment needs room to breathe
• Editing a variety of formats, including man-on-the-street content, giveaways, surprises, acts of kindness, emotional interviews, and human-interest stories
• Using music, sound design, captions, graphics, reaction shots, and other editorial tools to heighten emotion and strengthen the story without making authentic moments feel overproduced
• Creating alternate hooks, openings, runtimes, or versions for creative and performance testing
• Collaborating closely with producers and the Shorts creative team to take videos from raw footage through first cut, revisions, and final delivery
• Interpreting feedback thoughtfully and quickly while protecting the clarity and emotional impact of the story
• Staying current on evolving short-form editing trends, platform best practices, and the visual language of viral social content

Qualifications

• A minimum of 2+ years of professional video editing experience, ideally working with social-first, digital, unscripted, documentary, or short-form content
• A strong portfolio demonstrating your ability to find and shape compelling stories from raw footage
• Strong creative judgment and the confidence to make editorial decisions about structure, pacing, character, emotion, and payoff
• The ability to review large amounts of unscripted footage and quickly identify the most important story within it
• A deep understanding of the language and pacing of TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook Reels
• Strong instincts around hooks, retention, reveals, escalation, emotional turns, and satisfying endings
• An understanding of emotional storytelling and the ability to recognize which authentic moments are essential to the story
• Strong proficiency in Adobe Premiere Pro
• Experience using music, sound design, captions, graphics, and reaction shots to strengthen narrative and emotion
• The ability to work quickly, manage multiple edits simultaneously, and respond efficiently to creative feedback
• A collaborative mindset and comfort working in a fast-moving environment where edits may evolve based on creative feedback and audience performance
• A genuine understanding that short-form does not mean shallow storytelling—the strongest viral videos combine retention-driven editing with authentic human emotion

Requirements

• The International Short-Form Video Editor will report to the Head of Shorts and the Jr. Manager for Post.
• Currently, the International Short-Form Video Editor has no personnel reporting directly to them.
• Our International Short-Form Video Editor will work remotely from their home or personal office and will be required to use Dhar Mann Studios’ time-tracking software to log and submit work hours.
• The typical work schedule is 40 hours per week. Specific working hours and scheduling expectations will be discussed during the interview process.