Responsibilities

• Own the Visual Development: Play an integral role in creative development, shaping concepts, visual treatments, references, shot approaches, and production ideas from the brief onward — not simply joining once an idea is ready to shoot.
• Direct, Shoot, and Create: Lead motion and stills work from concept through capture, operating camera yourself when appropriate and moving comfortably between independent shoots, lean teams, and larger crew-based productions.
• Make Lean Production Feel Elevated: Use framing, lighting, lenses, locations, casting, styling, art direction, camera movement, sound, editing, and color to make limited budgets feel considered, polished, and expensive.
• Build Distinctive Brand Worlds: Create work with the polish of fashion, luxury, and editorial imagery while adapting your approach to different brand voices and keeping the content current, human, and native to social.
• Work Across Motion and Stills: Move fluidly between short-form films, portraits, lifestyle imagery, product and tabletop content, behind-the-scenes moments, and other organic and paid social formats without treating photography as an afterthought.
• Direct Talent with Ease: Demonstrate the ability to guide models, actors, creators, artists, and real people toward performances and images that feel confident, natural, and culturally credible rather than overly posed or commercial.
• Own a Hands-On Production Process: Collaborate with agency producers while taking practical ownership of the production approach — including scouting, gear and crew recommendations, casting input, shot planning, department direction, and on-set problem solving across both lean and crew-based shoots.
• Edit and Finish the Work: Edit the content you create for lean, always-on assignments, bringing a strong sense of rhythm, music, sound, color, and finishing to the final piece. On larger productions, collaborate closely with editors and post-production partners while protecting the visual intention through final delivery.
• Stay Close to Culture: Maintain an active point of view on emerging photographers, filmmakers, artists, designers, musicians, venues, style movements, and visual references, particularly within New York culture.
• Present and Protect the Work: Communicate your creative rationale clearly, respond to feedback thoughtfully, and find solutions that meet brand and business needs without flattening the visual point of view.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience as a director, photographer, filmmaker, cinematographer, or multidisciplinary visual creator, with a portfolio that demonstrates a strong and recognizable point of view.
• New York City-based or within a commutable distance preferred. Los Angeles-based candidates will also be considered.
• A portfolio with exceptional motion and stills work in fashion, luxury, beauty, music, editorial, lifestyle, hospitality, or adjacent culturally driven categories, alongside enough range to work across distinct brand worlds.
• Deep hands-on proficiency with camera, lenses, lighting, composition, and compact production setups, with the judgment to choose the simplest approach that will still produce elevated work.
• Strong hands-on editing and post-production skills, with the ability to independently take social video from footage through final delivery, supported by a sophisticated sense of rhythm, music, sound, color, image selection, and finishing.
• The ability to concept visually, create persuasive treatments or mood boards, and translate an idea into a focused, achievable shooting approach.
• Proven ability to work nimbly and scale up: Experience creating premium work on very lean budgets, often shooting independently or with little to no crew, while also being able to lead a large production team when the work and budget call for it.
• Demonstrated ability to direct talent and real people, with a strong eye for casting, styling, performance, gesture, and the small details that make an image feel effortless.
• Experience capturing cultural events, artist collaborations, or live moments while maintaining a premium visual standard.
• A current and informed connection to culture, with taste that extends beyond advertising into fashion, art, photography, film, music, nightlife, design, and publishing.

Preferred

• Experience working with premium consumer, hospitality, nightlife, fashion, beauty, celebrity, or music brands.
• Experience balancing the needs of organic social, paid social, campaign extensions, and broader brand storytelling across more than one account or visual system.
• Advanced retouching, color grading, or experimental in-camera techniques.

Benefits

• Excellent, full coverage medical, dental, and vision insurance - more about our coverage here!
• Generous PTO and 15 company-wide holidays
• 401k with company contribution
• Paid parental leave
• Work-life balance with an emphasis on personal well-being
• Career growth in a disruptor space & entrepreneurial opportunities within the Monks network
• A globally diverse & inclusive culture with employee resource groups such as S4 Melanin, Pride.Monks, Cultura.Monks, and more!
• Authentic commitment to DEI efforts and sustainable growth. (Why Sir Martin Sorrell signed The Climate Pledge here!)
• This role is subject to our Return to Office (RTO) policy. If you reside within a commutable distance of one of our office locations, you will be expected to work from the office a set number of days per week. The specific details, including the number of required office days, will be in accordance with the company’s then-current RTO policy, which is subject to change from time to time.