Lead Creative Strategist – Donut Studios

Jersey Digs; San Francisco, New York, Pittsburgh (CA, NY, Allegheny County); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision

401k – Employer match

HSA – Employer contributes

Flexible Vacation & PTO

Paid maternity / paternity

Paid holidays

Remote/Flex day schedule

Laid back office environment

The coolest team

Fun company events & off-sites

Job summary

New Engen’s Donut Studios team is seeking a senior Creative Strategy Lead to craft performance-driven concepts across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and display. You’ll guide clients through strategic direction, translate insights into creative concepts, and collaborate with media to optimize results across the customer journey.

The role emphasizes cross-functional leadership, tight collaboration with media teams, and delivering high-impact creative that resonates with target audiences.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of paid social creative strategy experience in an agency or in-house at a DTC brand.
• Strong instinct for direct response creative and platform storytelling.
• Proven track record leading client strategy and improving creative performance.
• Deep understanding of Meta, TikTok, YouTube and other digital channels.
• Excellent communicator and collaborator in fast-paced, cross-functional teams.
• Brings strong briefing and creative review skills with high attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Develop clear creative briefs and manage assignments for internal teams using Asana and Slack.
• Ensure projects are well-scoped, expectations are clear, and teams have context to produce high-quality work.
• Review scripts, concepts, and deliverables to ensure alignment with brand guidelines and campaign goals.
• Build processes and workflows that support collaboration between creative, media, and client teams.

Skills

Six plus years

Direct response strategy

Client strategy leadership

Digital channel expertise

Cross-functional collaboration

Attention to detail

Tools

Asana

Notion

Slack

Google Suite

Figma

Adobe Creative Suite

Job description

WHY DONUT STUDIOS?

At New Engen, we help brands grow, not just bigger, but smarter. We’re a digital marketing agency that drives meaningful impact across the entire customer journey by integrating media, creative, analytics, influencer, and retail strategies into performance-driven campaigns.

Donut Studios is our in-house creative studio, purpose-built to craft high-performing, platform-native, and digital content for the world’s most ambitious brands. As a key part of New Engen’s suite of specialized solutions, alongside offerings like the Acorn Creator Suite – Donut Studios helps unlock breakthrough creative that drives results, fast.

We’re a collaborative group of strategists, content creators, copywriters, editors, designers, account managers, and more who are all in on helping brands, and each other, thrive. We work hard, stay humble, and build with purpose.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Develop Performance-Driven Creative Strategy

Build creative and messaging strategies that help brands grow across digital channels, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and display. Develop clear frameworks that guide concept development, ensuring creative work is grounded in performance insights and designed to resonate with target audiences.

Serve as the Creative Strategy Lead for Clients

Participate in client meetings as Donut Studios’ in-house creative strategist for assigned accounts. Provide thoughtful guidance on creative direction, campaign opportunities, and platform-specific best practices while helping clients understand the strategic thinking behind recommendations.

Turn Audience Insights into Creative Direction

Analyze consumer mindsets, attitudes, and behaviors to inform compelling creative concepts. Translate these insights into actionable direction for internal teams, ensuring creative work connects with audiences and supports campaign objectives across the customer journey.

Partner with Media to Drive Creative Performance

Work closely with media counterparts to review campaign performance and identify opportunities to improve results. Use performance data, KPIs, and client feedback to refine creative strategies, optimize messaging, and guide future concept development.

Manage Creative Launch Pipelines

Coordinate closely with media partners to manage launch pipelines for assigned clients, ensuring deliverables are completed, reviewed, and shared on schedule. Maintain visibility into timelines and dependencies to keep campaigns moving forward efficiently.

Lead Creative Briefing and Project Management

Develop clear creative briefs and manage assignments for internal teams using tools like Asana and Slack. Ensure projects are well-scoped, expectations are clear, and teams have the context they need to produce high-quality creative work.

Ensure Quality and Brand Alignment

Review scripts, concepts, and final deliverables to ensure creative output meets client expectations, brand guidelines, and campaign goals. Maintain strong quality control across all deliverables before launch.

Strengthen Cross-Functional Collaboration

Build processes and workflows that support collaboration between creative, media, and client teams. Help ensure ideas, feedback, and performance insights move smoothly across teams so campaigns are executed efficiently and effectively.

WHAT YOU BRING

• 6+ years of experience in paid social creative strategy, ideally at a digital marketing agency or in-house at a DTC brand
• Strong instincts for direct response creative and platform-specific storytelling
• Proven track record of leading client strategy and improving creative performance
• Deep understanding of Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and other digital channels
• Excellent communicator and collaborator who thrives in fast-paced, cross-functional environments
• Confident briefing partner and creative reviewer with high attention to detail

Tools and nice to haves

• Proficiency with Asana, Notion, Slack, and Google Suite (especially Sheets)
• Familiarity with Figma or Adobe Creative Suite is a plus
• Bonus points for experience with creative testing frameworks or building UGC programs

PERKS & BENEFITS

• Medical, Dental, Vision, Short/Long-Term Disability, Life/AD&D
• 401k – Employer match
• HSA – Employer contributes
• Flexible Vacation & PTO plan
• Paid Maternity / Paternity
• Paid Holidays
• Remote/Flex day schedule
• Laid back office environment
• The coolest team
• Fun company events & off-sites

Salary Range: $80,000 – $90,000 USD annually

Compensation for each opportunity is determined based on the applicable labor market, the scope and structure of the role or engagement, and the individual’s qualifications and experience.

New Engen is proud to have offices in Seattle, New York, and Northwest Arkansas, each one anchoring teams that drive creativity, collaboration, and culture. But great work isn’t limited to those zip codes. We also support a distributed team of remote employees across the country, giving people the flexibility to do their best work wherever they are.

We currently hire full-time employees in the following states: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin