Video Editor

Company: Fortress

Location: Irvine, CA — In-person (hybrid flexibility)

Type: Full-time

Compensation: $60,000–$75,000 / year, commensurate with experience

Experience Required: 2 years professional

About Fortress

Fortress is a media company focused on advertising, strategy, and production for the world’s best companies. Where creativity meets performance. With a full-service approach and a lean team of innovators, we deliver world-class content and brand experiences that drive real growth for our clients.

We operate fast, we operate lean, and we ship great work. Video is at the center of almost everything we make — and this is one of the most important hires we’ll make this year.

The Role

We’re looking for a Video Editor who is multidisciplinary, story-driven, and aggressively using AI to do better work in less time. You’ll cut everything from polished brand films to fast-turn social ads to long-form documentary pieces — and own the craft end-to-end, including color, sound, and finishing.

This is not a role for someone who needs hand-holding. You’ll work directly with leadership and creatives, contribute strong opinions, and be trusted to deliver client-ready work from raw footage.

What You’ll Do

• Edit brand films, commercials, and high-craft client work from raw assembly to final delivery

• Produce short-form content for paid social, organic, and ads (Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, in-feed)

• Cut long-form pieces — interviews, mini-docs, case studies, narrative content

• Handle color grading, sound design, and finishing in DaVinci Resolve

• Build and maintain editing systems, project organization, and asset libraries

• Integrate AI tools into your workflow — for transcription, generative b-roll, voice cloning, captioning, repurposing, denoising, and more

• Collaborate in person with our team in Irvine across shoots, edit reviews, and client deliverables

• Own pace, quality, and turnaround — we ship a lot, and you’ll be a key part of why

Required Skills

• 2 years of professional video editing experience (agency, in-house, freelance, or production company — what matters is the work)

• Strong proficiency in DaVinci Resolve — edit, color, Fairlight, and Fusion basics

• Working fluency in Premiere Pro (we’re not religious about software, but you should be comfortable switching)

• A reel demonstrating range across brand, social, and long-form formats

• Demonstrable fluency with AI tools in post — Runway, Descript, ElevenLabs, Adobe Podcast, OpusClip, CapCut AI, or equivalents. You should be able to walk us through how AI shortens your timelines and expands your creative range.

• Strong story instincts — pacing, rhythm, music, and cut motivation

• Solid color and audio fundamentals

• Sharp eye for detail and high standards for craft

• Ability to manage multiple projects and meet tight deadlines without dropping quality

Bonus Points

• Motion graphics & VFX (After Effects, Fusion compositing)

• Sound design and mix experience

• On-set experience — DIT, data wrangling, or assistant editing during shoots

• Shooting / cinematography skills

• Experience editing for paid performance creative (Meta, TikTok, YouTube ads)

• Experience in fast-paced agency or production environments

Who You Are

• You’re fast. You ship. You don’t get precious about cuts.

• You have a point of view on story and you can defend it.

• You see AI as an unlock, not a threat — and you’ve already integrated it into how you work.

• You want to be in the room. In-person collaboration on shoots and reviews is a feature, not a bug, for you.

• You’re based in Orange County and want to grow with a lean, ambitious team.

Logistics

• Location: Our studio in Irvine, CA. Primarily in-person with hybrid flexibility for focused work.

• Schedule: Full-time, standard business hours, occasional flexibility for shoots and deadlines.

• Compensation: $60,000–$75,000 base salary. Final offer based on experience and reel.

• Eligibility: Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. Must be local to Orange County or willing to relocate at own expense before start date.