Video Producer / Director

Unifrog’s mission

We’re on a mission to level the playing field when it comes to young people finding and applying for their next step after school. We’re achieving this by bringing all the available information into one single, impartial, user-friendly platform that helps students to make the best choices, and submit the strongest applications. We also empower teachers and counsellors to manage the progression process effectively.

Our outlook is global – we work with schools and universities all over the world, from the US to New Zealand, and from Italy to Hong Kong. We want to make it so that young people can compare every opportunity taught in English, wherever it is in the world, and have all the support they need to make successful applications.

We have a clear social purpose, and we’re hugely ambitious. We already work with nearly half of UK secondary schools, and hundreds of international schools. We are growing rapidly in terms of the number of our customers, in terms of how much they use our platform, and in terms of the breadth of products we offer. 

Our team is at the heart of our business and is integral to our success. We work hard to foster a culture of openness, happiness and innovation, and we commit to helping every individual learn and grow so that they can reach their full potential. We want to hire talented people, whatever their background. If you are excited by our mission and are ready to work hard, please don’t hesitate to apply. We look forward to hearing from you!

We believe in the power of diversity. If you are from an ethnic minority background, we would like to strongly encourage you to apply. In advance of applying if you have any questions about working at Unifrog, please contact our Diversity Champions, Hannah and Farhana. 

Content at Unifrog

Whether we are communicating through images, video or text, we always try to be straightforward, honest, and to show respect for the people with whom we are communicating. 

Clear communication is particularly important for us because our mission is to level the playing field when it comes to access to opportunities, and a big part of this effort is fair and straightforward access to information. It’s also important for us to be fun, while not talking down to young people. 

Over the last few years, with only a small and mostly non-specialist team, we have created hundreds of videos aimed at students and teachers. 

We now have an exciting slate of new video projects that we want to produce. We want to use video:

 

• To develop some of the most popular parts of the Unifrog platform, currently used by hundreds of thousands of young people every week to explore different careers, different subjects at university, and topics that matter to them like Climate Change and Wellbeing.

• To help us create brand new tools within the platform, expanding what Unifrog offers to young people, and how we interact with external partners like employers and universities.

We also want to improve the quality of the videos we create, making them slicker and more useful to our users.

The role 

We are looking for a skilled and creative Producer/Director who will shoot and edit 3-6 minute videos aimed at young people, which will be hosted on different parts of the Unifrog platform. You’ll also create some short videos for our marketing and sales teams to use. As well as creating the videos you will work with others to arrange the shoots. 

Shoots can happen in person with professional equipment, in which case you’ll be the sole person shooting, including controlling lighting and sound, and then editing. They can also happen as interviews on Zoom; for these you’ll conduct and record the interview, then edit them. 

In the last year we’ve made videos like: 

• A maths professor speaking about her day-to-day job, and giving advice to young people considering becoming an academic (shot in person); 
• An art history undergraduate speaking about the best and worst aspects of their course (shot on Zoom); 
• A case study of a Unifrog partner school in Germany (shot in person). 

You’ll create videos like these, and you’ll also help us with our ambitious plans for creating completely new types of videos which will allow us to develop new parts of the Unifrog platform.

Working together 

You’ll work as part of a team of three in our Video Content team, part of the wider Marketing and Content team. You’ll have the opportunity to work alongside experienced writers, teaching resource creators, and a graphic and motion designer. You’ll also work with people on our marketing, sales, account management, and strategy teams.

In the Marketing and Content Team we commonly brainstorm new ideas as a group, provide feedback on each other’s work, and get feedback from teachers and students at our partner schools. We promote good ideas regardless of where they come from.

You’ll be line-managed by our Head of Video Content.

Key skills 

Dealing with contributors

• You’ll work with other people on the Unifrog team to organise shoots with external  contributors, either on location or via Zoom. You need to be good at getting on with  people, and persistent so that you can make things happen. 

Script writing

• To be efficient before any shoot, you’ll need to have discussed your questions with the contributor/s and have a good idea of the answers you’re looking for. You need to be a  strong writer, able to create a script from scratch, or improve an existing one. 

Directing shoots

• Sometimes you’ll be working on your own with the contributor/s, and sometimes with one  or two other non-technical people in the Unifrog team who’ll be taking direction from you.  You need to be confident and talented at directing shoots both in person and on video calls,  where you might have to advise your interviewee on background and lighting. 

Technical skills

• When on location, you’ll be the sole person shooting, including operating lighting and  sound, and then editing. This means you need to be able to operate cameras such as  the C300 and the A7S, to be at least competent with lights and sound, and to be highly  proficient at using the Adobe suite, in particular Premiere and After Effects.  
• When conducting an interview on video call, you’ll need to be able to trouble-shoot and get the quality of the video as good as it can be

Juggling projects and meeting deadlines

• We always have a lot to do, and we have very high standards for the end-product. You  need to be organised to meet tight deadlines and determined to get things done on time.

Editorial judgment

• You’ll edit both footage that you’ve shot yourself, and footage that other people have shot, including content we get directly from contributors. From this you need to be able to create compelling, useful videos. We have a house style that you’ll need to be able to stick to, and we also want you to help us develop our house style.  

Benefits 

Head to our jobs page for a full list of the excellent benefits we offer our team.

• Join one of ‘the best organisations to escape to’ and help transform careers and destinations in schools. We’re also a certified Great Place to Work.
• Become part of a committed, dynamic, and growing company. We want to build our team for the long term: if you do well, we will do our best to make sure you want to stay at the company for a long time.
• You’ll enjoy a significant degree of autonomy to be creative and deliver high-end videos. 
• Professional development is important at Unifrog. You will define your own 6-month objectives and will be supported by your line manager and the rest of the team to achieve them. You will have an annual training allowance to spend on what you need to grow and progress.
• Influence the company’s direction: we love to promote great ideas, wherever they come from.

Key details 

• £40,000 (Grade B), plus a share in a company-wide performance bonus.
• Full time.
• Split your time between home and our office in Hoxton, London (a minimum of 2 days per week).
• 28 days paid holiday per year (plus bank holidays).
• Working hours are 8:30am to 5:30pm, Monday to Thursday, and 8.30am to 4:00pm on Friday.
• Start date: as soon as possible, though we will be flexible for the right candidates.
• If you require reasonable adjustments, or want to discuss any details about the role before applying please contact Mhairi (details on our website).
• We can only consider candidates who have the right to work in the UK.

Application process  

Deadline: 22:00 (UK) on Sunday 26th February 2023. We will review applications as they come in. We may close early if we find the right candidate so would advise applying sooner to avoid disappointment.

Stage 1: Application form (~1 hour)

• Visit our website to upload your CV and complete the questions and tasks below:

• i. Post a link (WeTransfer, Dropbox, Google Drive or similar) to up to 3 examples of your best work.

• Across these examples, you should show off your skills in both shooting and editing, but especially shooting. We’re particularly interested in seeing any interviews you’ve filmed (if you’ve done this). If you were working with others to create this work, please explain what you did.

• ii. Share a link to your showreel or website if you have one.

• iii. ‘Why do you want to work for Unifrog?’ (200 words)

• iv. ‘With reference to the key skills in the job description, what makes you an excellent candidate for this role?’ (250 words)

Stage 2: Task (~3 hours)  

• We will share with you examples of our visual style, plus some footage we have shot, and you will have a week to send us a short edit back.

• Given the time this task can take, we will send £60 to people who participate in this round (within 1-2 working days after the task has been received).

Stage 3: Video call interview (1 hour) ????

• Standard Q&A from a panel of three, including questions about your experiences and how these relate to the role, and scenario questions based on common situations you might face (plus time for your questions).

• Video call interviews will be held on a rolling basis from 16th Feb onwards.

Unifrog