Senior Video Editor

About the role

The Senior Video Editor is the Council on Foreign Relation (CFR)’s key storytelling creative, bringing narrative shape, editorial instinct, and motion graphics craft to the full range of the team's video work. This person will lead the editorial development of video explainers, short-form documentaries, and other high-impact productions from script through final delivery. They will also serve as a creative resource and collaborator for fellow producers, helping them refine and elevate their own projects. The ideal candidate is a gifted visual storyteller with deep post-production expertise, a sophisticated eye for motion graphics, and fluency in social video formats including vertical video for platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. A genuine passion for making complex foreign policy ideas accessible and compelling to a wide audience is essential. Experience with video podcast production is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the team's primary narrative editor, developing and shaping story structure, pacing, and editorial voice across video explainers, short-form documentaries, and other long-form productions.
• Collaborate with fellow producers and staff to provide editorial guidance on projects across the team, helping shape narrative arc, script, and edit from early development through delivery.
• Write, edit, and produce scripts, interview questions, and substantive outlines for a range of video formats.
• Design and execute motion graphics and animation that translate complex foreign policy ideas into visually compelling stories, consistent with CFR's editorial voice and style guide.
• Edit and produce social video content for YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and other digital platforms, with fluency in vertical and platform-native formats and strong command of pacing, structure, sound design, and visual rhythm.
• Adapt long-form editorial content into short-form and vertical social video, finding the story within the story for platform-specific audiences.
• Use storytelling principles and the video medium to explain foreign policy concepts and ideas to a wider audience through evocative imagery and motion graphics.
• Mentor junior and mid-level producers, modeling high editorial and craft standards through collaborative, hands-on engagement with their work.
• Research photo and footage needs and work with vendors to negotiate licensing terms.
• Produce and direct on-camera interviews in the studio and in the field as projects require.
• Maintain awareness of trends in video storytelling, motion graphics, and the competitive digital media landscape, including best practices, video SEO, and emerging platforms.
• Manage project timelines and communicate deliverables to the Head of Production and relevant colleagues.
• Support video podcast production as needed.
• Perform any other duties or tasks as assigned or required.