Lead Creative Strategist - Donut Studios

New Engen; Seattle (WA); 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 in-house Donut Studios in Seattle is hiring a Creative Strategy Lead for paid social. You will develop performance-driven creative strategies across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and display, grounding concepts in data and audience insights.

You’ll guide clients, translate insights into actionable direction for internal teams, collaborate with media to sharpen results, manage launch pipelines, and ensure brand alignment through clear briefs and rigorous quality control.

Qualifications

• 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.

Responsibilities

• Develop performance-driven creative strategy across digital channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, display).
• Lead in-house creative strategy for assigned accounts and guide client direction.
• Translate audience insights into actionable creative direction for internal teams.
• Collaborate with media to review campaign performance and refine strategies.
• Manage creative launch pipelines with internal teams and partners.
• Lead creative briefing and project management using tools like Asana and Slack.
• Ensure output quality and brand alignment across deliverables.

Skills

Paid social strategy

Direct response creative

Client strategy leadership

Digital channels expertise

Cross-functional collaboration

Attention to detail

Tools

Asana

Notion

Slack

Google Sheets

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

Let's Build What's Next Together - If you're passionate about media and eager to make a meaningful impact with a team that’s all in, we'd love to hear from you.