Creative Strategist

Years; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 43,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medicash cashback

Mental Health Support programme

Learning & Development budget (£250/yr

Wellbeing budget (£200/yr)

Team events & activities

Discounts on Years products

Birthday/holiday flex

Volunteer day per year

Job summary

Years, a fast-scaling dog-food startup in the UK, is seeking an experienced ad creative specialist to own end-to-end creative performance. You’ll generate ideas, run tests, and turn insights into scalable campaigns across Meta, TikTok and YouTube Demand Gen.

You’ll work in our Nottingham office, collaborating closely with the media and creative teams to produce compelling video and static ads, write converting copy, and manage shoots with tight timelines.

Qualifications

• 2+ years owning ad creative performance in creative strategy, end-to-end.
• Track record of briefs and scripts that cut CPA in D2C.
• Strong data sense to turn insights into fast decisions.
• Ability to reshape messages into new ad ideas across formats and shoots.
• Natural storyteller with a persuasive voice and fast execution.
• Experience producing content for Meta, TikTok and YouTube Demand Gen.

Responsibilities

• Turn performance data into insights, recommendations and tests.
• Create ad creative for video and static formats across Meta, TikTok and YouTube.
• Write conversion-focused copy with a sharp, human tone.
• Brief assets with clear hypotheses, shot lists and references.
• Plan and run weekly tests, track outcomes and document learnings.
• Coordinate shoots end-to-end with external partners and on-set supervision.

Skills

Ad creative ownership

Data-driven decisions

Storytelling

Copywriting

Video production basics

Meta/TikTok/YouTube know-how

Job description

From a bold idea to revolutionising dog food, Years has grown into a fast-scaling business dedicated to helping dogs live longer, healthier lives.

In just three years, we’ve built an incredible startup, serving thousands of happy customers while staying true to our mission. Our goal? To give dog owners a better, fresher, and healthier way to feed their pets. We provide human-cut, personalised meals tailored to each dog’s needs. This is with no preservatives, no compromises, just real nutrition delivered to their door.

Our customers span the UK, and we’re only just getting started. With ambitious plans to scale internationally, we’re continuing to transform how people care for their dogs.

Your Mission

Join an outcomes-led team that's scaling aggressively, turning real customer insight and performance data into creative that converts dog owners. The mission is clear: help more dogs live longer, healthier, happier lives by switching to Years, while acquiring those customers at an efficient CPA. The challenge is the quality and volume of creative needed, compounding learnings, and translating what owners care about into scroll-stopping ideas across Meta, TikTok, and YouTube Demand Gen.

We're looking for someone with past experience who's ready to step up to that scale, not someone learning the fundamentals on the job. This is an office-first role, you'll be working alongside the team in person, not remote.

Day to day you'll be generating ideas, digging into customer research, writing hypotheses, scripting and briefing, and getting hands-on with filming, all while juggling multiple projects at different stages at once. You'll be plugging into an existing testing structure and cadence, scaling it to meet business goals rather than building or changing it from scratch.

You'll work alongside the internal team, including your line manager, our in-house media buyers, and the wider creative team, producing ads end to end from filming through to editing. Expect fast turnarounds and a fast pace.

• Turn creative performance data into clear insights, recommendations, and testing opportunities.
• Create ad creative for both video and static formats across Meta, TikTok, and YouTube Demand Gen.
• Write conversion-focused copy, not AI-generated filler.
• Build a clear hypothesis for every asset you brief.
• Produce tight creative briefs with shot lists, hooks, and references for editors and creators.
• Work with the internal team to run weekly tests, track outcomes, and document learnings.
• Maintain a swipe and competitor board; adapt winning formats to Years’ proposition.
• Stay ahead of platform trends, hooks and formats, proactively bringing new ideas into the testing roadmap rather than only reacting to what's already working.
• Maintain dashboards and simple reports that give the team visibility on creative status and pipeline.
• Manage external creators/agencies where needed; hold them to performance targets.
• Plan and run shoots end to end: book external actors and staff, secure locations, organise props and call sheets, and be on set to keep the day on schedule and aligned to the brief. Covers internal and external shoots; occasional weekend work required

What You'll Bring

• 2+ years owning ad creative performance in creative strategy, end to end.
• A track record of producing briefs and scripts that cut CPA in D2C.
• Strong grasp of data, with the ability to turn creative insights into decisions fast.
• No message is a dead end; you'll always find a way to reshape it into new ad ideas across formats, personas, awareness stages, and shoots.
• A natural storyteller who knows how to hook attention fast and build a narrative that moves people to act.
• Strong copywriting skills; you write in a distinct, persuasive voice, not generic or AI-slop.
• Experience producing content natively for Meta, TikTok, and YouTube Demand Gen, not just repurposing one asset across all three.
• Highly organised; able to plan and run multiple shoots, creators, and edits without losing quality or speed.
• Clear communicator with crisp written feedback and a bias to ship and learn; comfortable partnering across the business.
• Not precious about your ideas: most tests won't win, and you iterate fast, learning from what didn’t work rather than defending it.
• Takes ownership of outcomes, not just output.
• Nice to have: experience in the pet category or subscription growth; familiarity with creative analytics/tagging tools; hands-on Facebook advertising experience.

What’s In It For You? Years Benefits

• Salary of £38,000-£43,000
• Medicash Level 4 Cashback plan
• Spill EAP and Mental Health Support programme
• Annual £250.00 Learning & Development budget for courses, books or other self-learn activities each year
• Annual £200.00 Wellbeing budget each year
• Up to 2 weeks working abroad per year (selected roles)
• Monthly recognition through our Yappa of The Month programme
• 1 Volunteer day per year - dog themed or not: it’s your choice!
• Subsidised employee groups - from five a side to padel there’s loads to get involved in or the chance to start up your own group
• Bi-annually subsidised team events from Axe throwing, crazy golf to cocktail making
• Exclusive discounts on Years and Years treats for yourself and friends/family
• Lunch & Learn programme - from dog first aid to financial savviness we’ve got sessions planned to cover all kinds of topics
• Casual dress
• Your birthday off or different day if it falls on a non-working day
• Ability to sell any unused holiday back to Years at the end of the Holiday Year (maximum 1 working week)