Senior Cinematographer

Location: San Francisco, on-site; flexibility for travel and long shoot days

Salary: $150,000–$180,000 per year plus equity

Company

Perplexity develops an AI-powered technology product and builds a strong visual identity across product, brand, and communications content.

What you will do

• Define and evolve the company’s cinematographic language across lighting, lenses, composition, movement, and color.
• Shoot and light candid office content, executive interviews, product demos, social content, events, and documentary stories.
• Lead cinematography for brand films, campaigns, partnerships, and launches, scaling from solo production to full camera and lighting crews.
• Develop moodboards, shot lists, storyboards, tests, and technically sound production plans.
• Design, build, and operate the in-house studio, including lighting, audio, grip, monitoring, and production-ready gear packages.
• Manage color grading in DaVinci Resolve and support selects, stringouts, and light edits when turnaround is tight.

Requirements

• 6+ years of experience as a cinematographer or director of photography across branded, commercial, documentary, and interview work.
• A strong reel demonstrating visual authorship, lighting craft, camera movement, and authentic unscripted moments.
• Deep knowledge of camera systems, lenses, exposure, color pipelines, lighting, grip, and on-set monitoring.
• Hands-on ability to build and operate camera systems, shape light, troubleshoot, lead crews, and manage production equipment.
• Working proficiency in DaVinci Resolve for color grading, selects, and light edits.
• Based in or able to work on-site in San Francisco, with the ability to travel and work long shoot days.

Nice to have

• A strong Bay Area and Los Angeles network of production, rental, camera, lighting, grip, and sound partners.
• Experience in an in-house brand studio at a technology or consumer company.
• Documentary experience with founders, executives, talent, or non-professional performers.
• Experience with multi-camera interviews, live events, tabletop or product cinematography, motion-control systems, or virtual production.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative, low-ego environment with close partnership across creative, design, growth, communications, product marketing, and production.
• U.S. full-time employees receive equity, health, dental, vision, retirement, fitness, commuter, and dependent care benefits.
• International full-time employees receive benefits tailored to their region of residence.
• Producers and the Video Lead support crewing, budgets, schedules, contracts, and logistics so the role can focus on production and craft.