Creative Writing Internship Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

Location: Remote-first with occasional in-person collaboration in Norfolk, VA. We're prioritizing candidates who live within ~90 miles of Norfolk (Hampton Roads and the surrounding region).

Sway Creative Labs is looking for an organized, proactive Junior Producer to take real ownership of our retainer and quick-turn work while learning the full campaign lifecycle alongside our senior production team.

This is not a shadowing role. From day one you will own a book of recurring client requests and be the person our clients hear from. The larger, more complex campaigns are where you will grow, working under Producers and Senior Producers on multi-channel launches spanning video, web, print, social, and paid media.

This is in-the-trenches work. We are a small team by design, which means there is no layer of people between you and the deliverable, and no one is going to check whether you did the thing. The tradeoff is real autonomy from the start and no ceiling on where you go if you are good.

Strong candidates are relentlessly organized, unbothered by juggling fifteen small things that all matter, and hungry to prove they can carry more than they were handed.

What You'll Own

Retainer & Quick-Turn Work

• Independently manage day-to-day retainer requests across digital, print, social, and video, delivered on time and on brief
• Serve as the responsive, knowledgeable point of contact for assigned clients on routine work
• Act as the last line of defense on proofing: specs, copy accuracy, brand standards, and alignment with the original request
• Keep client status sheets current so nothing sits unaccounted for

Campaign Support

• Support Producers and Senior Producers on larger integrated campaigns, taking clear ownership of assigned workstreams
• Coordinate multi-deliverable rollouts including resizes, trafficking, and asset delivery against media flight dates
• Track deliverable inventories on campaigns with high asset counts (display sets, video cutdowns, localized versions)

Documentation & Process

• Draft schedules, task briefs, and simple estimates for review
• Open and maintain tasks to convention: thorough descriptions, materials attached, realistic durations
• Prepare invoices as work completes and confirm vendor invoices are routed and paid promptly
• Use AI tooling to move faster on the unglamorous parts of the job: transcript synthesis, status recaps, first-pass schedules, research, and document drafts

Production Support

• Support pre-production on photo and video shoots: call sheets, scheduling, location and talent logistics, releases
• Serve as an on-set production resource, keeping the day on schedule and the crew supplied with what they need

What We're Looking For

Core Qualifications

• 1–3 years of project management or production experience in a creative, marketing, or advertising environment; strong internship experience will be considered
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent deadlines without dropped threads
• Clear, professional written and verbal communication; comfortable on a client call
• Working knowledge of at least two of our core mediums: digital, video, print, social
• Proficiency with project management and collaboration tools; we run on Smartsheet, Slack, and Google Workspace
• Working fluency with AI tools and the ability to construct a specific, well-framed prompt. We do not expect expertise. We expect you to reach for these tools by default and to recognize when the output is not good enough to send
• Willingness to work independently and escalate early when something is off track
• Occasional travel and on-set availability required

Additional Assets

• Exposure to video production workflows, from pre-pro through delivery
• Familiarity with media trafficking, insertion orders, or ad spec requirements
• Basic comfort in Figma or Adobe Creative Suite sufficient to review and mark up creative
• Background supporting healthcare, tourism, food/beverage, legal, or CPG accounts

What Success Looks Like

By the end of your first year, your retainer clients will treat you as their producer, not as someone's backup. Senior producers will hand you campaign workstreams without follow-up because your tasks are clear and your schedules hold. You will have identified at least one process on your accounts that was inefficient and fixed it.

Where This Goes

We are not hiring a Junior Producer to have a Junior Producer. This is the entry point to a production career here, and the path from Junior Producer to Producer to Senior Producer is real, documented, and has been walked by people currently on our team. How fast you move is a function of what you demonstrate you can hold, not how long you have been sitting in the seat.

Why Sway Creative Labs

Sway is an independent agency where your work is seen and recognized by hands-on leadership. You will get exposure to a wide range of industries and project types, from brand campaigns and tourism initiatives to documentary-style video and enterprise web builds, often inside the same client relationship. We hire producers who want to grow into leading accounts, not managing tickets.

What We Offer

• Health Plan: Three Optima Health Plan options; Sway covers 80% of employee premiums and 50% of dependent premiums
• Dental Insurance: Sway pays 100% of employee's United Concordia Dental Plan
• 401(k): 1:1 match on the first 3% of pay; 50% match on the following 2%
• 15 Paid Vacation Days, resetting at your start date with up to a 5-day negative balance available
• 17 Paid Holidays, including your birthday, the Monday after the Super Bowl, Juneteenth, and the full week between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day
• Two-Hour Windows: Leave windows at the start (9–11am) and end (3–5pm) of the workday for personal appointments, not counted against PTO
• Remote Work Affordance: 100% remote with occasional pre-scheduled in-person meetings and on-set requirements
• Year-end performance bonus eligibility; additional bonuses available based on individual and company performance
• Upskilling: 100% reimbursement for at least one approved course, workshop, or conference annually

Salary: $50,000 – $62,000