Video Lead

Function: Creative Direction | Production Leadership | Performance Storytelling

Responsibility: Own creative vision and execution for high-production performance ad campaigns

Reports to: Producer (day-to-day operations) | Creative Director (creative standards & development)

Location: Full-time | Hambi Media MCR Studio, Central Manchester (1 day in studio / 3 days on set per week)

Compensation: £35,000 - £40,000 + Benefit Scheme + 27 Days Paid Holiday + Private Healthcare

Overview: The Soar Group is one of the UK’s fastest-growing performance agency groups, home to three specialist agencies. Together, the group manages over £100M in ad spend, works with category-leading D2C brands, and operates the UK’s largest Creative Strategy department with design, production, strategy, and UGC all under one roof.

What Sets Us Apart:

• Nominated for Meta’s Creative Diversity Award 2025, the only independent agency recognised.
• Highest independent agency spend on Meta in 2025.
• Official TikTok Agency Partner, Creative Partner, and one of the only TikTok Shop Partners across UK and US.
• Two production studios (London and Manchester).
• Creators of D2C Diaries, one of the UK’s leading eCommerce podcasts.
• Partnered with Meta, TikTok, Foreplay, and Triple Whale.

The Role: You will own creative execution across our high-production shoots - directing talent, leading treatments, and ensuring every frame serves a commercial purpose. You will work hand-in-hand with Creative Strategists who bring performance data and audience insight to every brief. Your job is to translate that into a detailed shot list before shoot day and execute it on set with confidence.

Requirements:

• 3–4+ years directing commercial, branded or performance content — agency or D2C experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrable understanding of what makes paid social content convert: hooks, pacing, scene variety, calls-to-action.
• Proven experience directing a range of talent on set (actors, founders, real customers).
• Ability to present and defend creative decisions to internal stakeholders and clients.
• Strong knowledge of Meta and TikTok ad formats, styles and best practices.
• Experience working alongside a Producer to manage shoot budgets and timelines.
• Excellent on-set leadership and communication skills.
• A showreel or portfolio of commercial/branded work is required to be considered for this role.

Preferred but not essential:

• Direct experience in D2C or performance advertising.
• Familiarity with tracking creative performance metrics (hook rate, CTR, ROAS).
• Experience with post-production workflows for social-first content.
• Ability to operate camera, lighting and audio equipment where required.

Responsibilities:

• Lead creative direction from treatment through delivery across UGC, VSL, testimonial, product, lifestyle and brand film formats.
• Direct actors, models, founders and real customers to capture authentic, performance-driven moments on set.
• Provide clear creative direction to the Videographer on framing, movement and capture priorities throughout every shoot.
• Partner with Creative Strategists to translate performance data and audience insights into visual creative decisions.
• Maintain accurate on-set logging, footage organisation and metadata for post-production handover.
• Track the performance of your work (hook rate, CTR, watch time) and apply learnings to future shoots.
• Stay ahead of Meta and TikTok creative trends and experiment with new formats and approaches.
• Contribute to raising the creative bar across the production team.

What Success Looks Like: In your first 90 days, you will have led multiple shoots end-to-end, built strong working relationships with our Strategists and Producers, and have ads live and running in client accounts. Within 6 months, you will have a clear track record of creative decisions tied to measurable performance outcomes.

Attitude: You take creative ownership but you’re not precious about it. You understand that in performance creative, the data & strategy is part of the brief - and you use it as fuel, not a constraint. You lead sets with clarity and calm, bring out the best in talent, and care as much about the results as the craft itself.

Benefits:

• 28 days paid holiday including birthday leave, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
• Long-service holiday scheme: After 2 years’ service, you’ll receive 1 extra day of annual leave for every year of service.
• Flexible and hybrid working (2 days in office).
• Regular team socials.
• Company Private Health and life insurance scheme.
• Company pension scheme.
• Work abroad for 1 month a year.

Full-time Manchester-based role (1 day studio / 3 days on set per week).