Creative Director · North UK
CreativeWe're expanding our creative team up North. We're looking for a Creative Director to own the creative for a portfolio of hospitality and restaurant brands: concepting short-form video, running casting, shaping campaign ideas and directing shoots on location with our videographers. This mirrors what our current Creative Director does day to day, just covering the North so we can shoot more, faster, and closer to our clients. It suits someone from a directing or assistant-directing background who's ready to step into full creative ownership and wants something more permanent than freelance. You'll start by shadowing our South Creative Director to learn exactly how we operate for short-form video, then run your own clients and shoots. We care far more about directing instinct, taste and reliability on set than a corporate CV.
The core role
- Own the creative for a set of hospitality clients: concepts, casting, campaign ideas and shoot direction
- Turn briefs, trends and research into short-form video concepts that actually perform
- Cast the right faces, talent and locations for each shoot
- Direct shoots on location with our videographers: lead the day and get the content
- Work closely with the wider creative team so everything ships on time and to a high standard
What you'll do
- Develop short-form video concepts (reels / TikTok) for multiple restaurant and hospitality brands
- Build and run casting: source, shortlist and book talent for shoots
- Shape campaign concepts from a client's goals, promotions and seasonal moments
- Creative-direct shoots on location: plan the shot list, direct the videographer and talent, keep the day on track
- Feed shot content into the creative pipeline for editing and make sure the final cut matches the concept
- Research trends and competitor content and turn them into shootable ideas
- Manage several clients and shoots at once without dropping the ball
Working style
- Permanent, full-time · based in the North of the UK (a regional role, close to clients and shoots)
- Hybrid: on location for shoots, remote for concepting, casting and planning
- Not a 9-5 · shoot days are long and responsiveness matters, especially during shoot weeks
- Starts with a shadowing period alongside our South Creative Director to learn our short-form playbook
- Weekly check-ins with the Founder and the wider creative team
What good looks like
- Fast-moving creative team with big growth plans over the next 12 months
- Work our content has helped grow into household-name venues
- Slack and WhatsApp for comms, gifs and emojis welcomed
- Weekly creative check-ins, yearly retreat
- Real ownership of your own clients and shoots once you're up to speed
The ideal person
- Background in directing or assistant directing · you've been on sets and know how a shoot runs
- Assistant directors ready to step up into full directing are a strong fit
- A proven history directing, or supporting the direction of, video content
- Wants a permanent home rather than freelance project-hopping
- Strong creative eye and taste · knows what makes a scene and a story land
- Confident leading a set · directing videographers and talent on the day
- Organised and dependable across multiple clients and shoots
- Bonus: experience and knowledge in short-form video (reels / TikTok)
- Bonus: an understanding of marketing and what actually makes content drive results
- Bonus: hospitality or restaurant content experience
- Bonus: AI-literate · uses tools like ChatGPT / Claude to move faster
- Bonus: lives on Instagram / TikTok and knows the platforms inside out
Right fit if you come from a directing or assistant-directing background, want to own the creative end to end (concepts, casting, campaigns and shoot direction) and want something permanent to build on. Not the right fit if you only want to edit or shoot without leading the creative, need constant direction, or aren't up for long shoot days on location up North.