Video Editor Job Description

Key skills

Responsibilities

• • Edit raw footage into polished video that meets the brief and holds attention
• • Shape pacing, story, and structure to serve the message and the platform
• • Perform color correction, audio mixing, and basic sound design
• • Add titles, lower-thirds, captions, and light motion graphics as needed
• • Adapt content into multiple formats and aspect ratios for different channels
• • Organize footage, projects, and assets for efficient and collaborative workflows
• • Collaborate with creators, marketers, and designers to align on vision and feedback
• • Manage timelines and deliver final exports to the correct specifications

Requirements

• • 2+ years of professional video editing with a strong reel or portfolio
• • Proficiency in a major editing application such as Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve
• • Strong storytelling instincts and a feel for pacing and rhythm
• • Competence in color correction and audio editing
• • Experience adapting content for multiple platforms and formats
• • Ability to take direction, incorporate feedback, and meet deadlines

Nice to have

• • Motion graphics skills in After Effects or similar
• • Experience editing short-form social video that performed well
• • Basic videography or on-set production experience
• • Familiarity with captioning, accessibility, and localization workflows

What to look for in a great Video Editor

The reel is everything — watch for pacing, storytelling, and whether the editing serves the content rather than calling attention to itself. Strong editors make deliberate choices about rhythm, cuts, and sound, and can explain why. Ask how they approach a piece: do they think about the goal and audience, or just assemble clips? Versatility across formats is increasingly valuable as brands need both long-form and short social video. Look for efficiency and organization, since editing involves managing large amounts of footage and tight deadlines. Openness to feedback matters because video is iterative and collaborative by nature.

Interview questions to ask a Video Editor

Walk through their reel and ask them to explain specific editing decisions — pacing choices, cuts, music, and how they shaped the story. Give a hypothetical brief, such as turning a long interview into a short social clip, and ask how they would approach it. Probe their technical depth with questions about color, audio, and export settings appropriate to your needs. Ask how they handle conflicting feedback from multiple stakeholders. Finally, ask about a project with a tight deadline and how they managed to deliver quality under pressure, which reveals workflow discipline.

Where to source Video Editors

Portfolio platforms like Vimeo, YouTube, and personal reels are the natural place to evaluate editors, since the work speaks for itself. Freelance marketplaces (Upwork, Fiverr Pro) and video-specific communities surface talent at various levels. LinkedIn and creative job boards work for full-time roles. Look for editors whose existing work matches the style and format you need — a documentary editor and a short-form social editor have different strengths. A paid test edit on real footage is the most reliable way to assess fit before committing to a hire.