Creative Lead (Social & UGC)

Review storyboards, raw footage when necessary, and final edits before they go to clients

Be the quality gate: if something isn’t ready, you say so clearly, and you explain exactly what needs to change and why

Build and maintain the ad example library, creative checklists, and “what good looks like” guides that codify your instinct into something the whole team can learn from

Spot recurring patterns: editing habits that aren't working, storyboard mistakes that keep appearing, hooks that aren't landing. Address them at the root, not ad by ad

Review raw footage after shoots and provide clear direction on what’s usable, what’s not, and what to do differently next time

Give precise editing feedback to our video editors: pacing, cut points, text overlays, sound design, the craft layer that turns a decent edit into something that performs

Understand design fundamentals well enough to give direction on static assets, thumbnail frames, and text treatments: what reads on a phone screen and what doesn't

Know what a 9:16 UGC ad needs to do in the first 2 seconds, and be able to articulate it in a way an editor can act on immediately

Review storyboards before shoots and flag what isn’t shootable as written, what talent or set requirements are missing, and where the brief and the concept have drifted

Give production the creative context they need to go into a shoot prepared: what angles matter, what the edit is going to need, what “good” looks like for this format and this brand

Periodically join shoots at the Amsterdam studio (+-3 times a year) when creative stakes are high or a new format is being tested

Over time, help build a visual reference library for the studio: what set styles, lighting setups, and shooting approaches produce the most versatile footage

Maintain a genuine, current relationship with TikTok, Meta, and emerging short-form platforms: scrolling with a critical eye, not just awareness

Curate a regular inspiration feed for the team: specific content examples with notes on why they work, what the craft decisions are, and how we could produce something similar in our studio

Know the difference between a format worth adopting and a trend worth skipping, and be able to make the case either way

Bring fresh creative references when the team’s output starts feeling formulaic or dated

Give Creative Strategists feedback on CSPs and scripts that builds their creative eye over time, not just fixes the brief in front of them

Run regular creative review sessions and inspiration shares that create a shared language for what “good” means at Creative Milkshake

Be the person the team brings work to when they're not sure if it's there yet, and give them an answer they can trust

Approve CM's own social content and website portfolio: what we put out about ourselves should reflect the standard we hold for clients

Help define and document CM’s creative POV over time: the format instincts, the aesthetic signatures, the things that make our content recognizably ours

We’re not filtering on titles. We're looking for a specific type of person: someone with a sharp creative eye for what works on social, who wants to use that experience to raise the quality of an entire studio's output.

3–7 years of hands-on experience in video production, editing, content creation, or a creative role at a social-first agency or DTC brand. You've made things, not just briefed them

A genuine, current feel for short-form social content: you scroll TikTok and Meta with a critical eye, you notice what’s working before it’s obvious, and you can describe the craft decisions behind it in specific terms

Ability to understand paid media and performance marketing reports to inform creative decisions

Real editing experience, or close enough collaboration with editors, that you speak the language of the edit

Enough on-set or production experience to spot when a storyboard isn’t going to translate, and know what to do about it

The ability to tell a good ad from a great one in seconds, and explain why in a way the person who made it can actually use

Feedback that is specific, timestamped, and producible, not vague creative notes that leave people guessing

High EQ: you can give honest creative feedback without damaging the confidence or the relationship of the person on the other end

Comfortable with ambiguity and pace: we're building systems while operating at volume

Fluent in English, confident presenting creative rationale to clients when needed

There’s no single path. People who are great at this role often come from one of these places:

A video editor or post-production lead who has developed a strong creative eye for social, and wants to work upstream on quality rather than just executing edits

A UGC creator or content creator who has built a real, granular understanding of what performs and why, and wants to bring that instinct to a studio environment at scale

A creative producer who sits between strategy and production, has strong taste, and wants to formalise that into a quality leadership role

A social content lead or in-house creative at a DTC brand who has been hands-on with short-form video and wants to take their creative judgement further

You get genuinely excited about the craft of short-form video: the hook, the cut, the text timing, the sound. You find it hard to watch a mediocre ad without knowing what you'd fix

You want a role where your creative instinct directly improves what goes out the door every week

You’re energised by the challenge of holding a high standard at volume: lots of content, lots of clients, fast turnarounds

You want to shape creative culture from the inside: setting a standard, building the resources that make a team better, defining what “good” means at a growing studio

The idea of helping a UGC studio move toward elevated social-first content over the next couple of years sounds like exactly the right moment to join

You’ve only worked in creative strategy or performance marketing and haven’t been hands-on with video production or editing

Your creative background is in brand identity or traditional advertising rather than short-form, social-first content

You prefer to stay in the strategic or conceptual space and find production and editing detail less interesting

You’re primarily looking for a people-management role. Your influence here comes through creative expertise, not team size