Pok Pok Careers
Creative Director, YouTube
Toronto, Ontario, Canada .
full-time . September 4, 2026
Description
Creative Director — Studio Pok Pok
Creative lead & on-set director, Studio Pok Pok YouTube team
About Pok Pok
Pok Pok is on a mission to raise the next generation of creative thinkers.
We're the team behind the Apple Design Award-winning Montessori app, Pok Pok, and were named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential Companies of 2025. Our award-winning digital toys and videos empower children to think outside the box, dream big, and explore their creativity in a mindful way. We believe screen time can be thoughtful, educational, and just as imaginative as the toys we grew up playing with on the floors of our living rooms.
Pok Pok is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion. We encourage people of all races, religions, genders, abilities and sexual orientations to apply. We want the products we develop to reflect the diversity of the world we live in, and it starts with our own team.
About the role
We’re building out a core, in-studio YouTube team — a Creative Director and a Producer — to run our YouTube channel’s creative and production workflows. The Creative Director holds the creative vision for every video: Shaping stories with the YouTube team, directing and performing on set, and giving feedback through to the final edit.
What you’ll do
Creative vision & story
- Own the creative vision and collaborate closely with the brand team to translate Pok Pok’s voice into every video.
- Own the content strategy — which videos, which stories, which topics — based on channel insights.
- Read and give feedback on new story ideas and scripts.
- Set visual direction — mood, staging, framing, pacing — for each shoot.
On set
- “Act” with the puppets — bring characters to life on camera.
- Build and dress sets and backdrops for each shoot.
- Hand-craft new props or assets when a scene calls for them, in keeping with our all-handmade, no-AI approach.
- Keep track of shot lists and operate the camera, with the Producer jumping in as a second pair of hands when needed.
Post-production & publishing
- Review edited cuts and give feedback to keep story, pacing and tone on-brand
- Take care of packaging: thumbnails, SEO, and uploads.
What you bring
- A joyful, playful, hands-on creative energy — you love making things with your hands.
- A real feel for children’s storytelling — pacing, tone, what holds (and doesn’t overstimulate) a young viewer — or a strong eagerness to learn it deeply.
- A deep understanding of what families are looking for on YouTube.
- Comfort moving between directing a scene and performing within it.
- A maker’s instinct: handy with building sets, props and backdrops by hand.
- A strong, considered eye for visual composition and mood.
- Ease sharing the “on set” role with a Producer counterpart — this is a two-person creative partnership, not a solo show.
- Enough organization to run a shoot day solo — shot lists, basic camera operation — when a second pair of hands isn’t needed.
Nice to have
- Background in animation, filmmaking, or children’s media.
- Illustration, prop-making, or set-building experience.
- Familiarity with Montessori or early-childhood approaches to play.
- Comfort with YouTube analytics, SEO, or channel growth.
More About Us
We’re a small team of passionate, experienced creators based in Toronto. We love pets, music, travel, video games, kids, cooking, yoga, building robots, going to museums, talking about things we’re watching right now and playing with old toys. We’re from all walks of life and are convinced that’s our secret sauce. We’re a female-founded company, too!
How to Apply
Please submit an application through the "Apply" button above to share your resume and some projects or channels that you’ve worked on. A real human will review your application, and if we're interested in moving forward, you'll get a very enthusiastic message from us!