Senior Creative Strategist

Kikoff; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 127,000 - 145,000; Full time

Job summary

Kikoff in San Francisco is seeking a Senior Creative Strategist to shape and scale performance creative across digital channels. You will lead end-to-end creative—from concept to production—and partner with Growth, Brand, and Product Marketing to drive measurable results.

You’ll work with AI-native and traditional productions, test ideas quickly, and stay ahead of trends in AI-driven creativity. A 6–9 year track record and strong writing are required.

Qualifications

• 6–9 years of experience in performance creative strategy across paid social, YouTube, CTV, and other channels.
• Strong writing and storytelling ability, with a track record of measurable ad performance.
• Fluent with AI tools for creative production and data-driven experimentation.

Responsibilities

• Lead ideation and creative development of high-performing creatives across digital and paid channels.
• Translate growth goals and audience insights into compelling creative strategies and test plans.
• Monitor creative performance, analyze results, and iterate quickly based on learnings.
• Drive testing and experimentation to uncover insights and scale what works.
• Build AI-native and human-led workflows for ideation, scripting, video generation, and editing.
• Partner with production and post-production teams to bring concepts to life with quality and efficiency.
• Collaborate with Growth, Brand, and Product Marketing to align testing with business objectives.
• Stay ahead of industry trends and act as a thought leader in AI-driven creativity.

Skills

Performance creative strategy

Storytelling/writing

Experimentation

AI creative tools

Project leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Veo

Sora

Higgsfield

Midjourney

Job description

Kikoff: The Fintech Powering Financial Security at Scale

Kikoff is a profitable, pre-IPO fintech company on a mission to empower everyone to achieve financial security. With record revenue growth in 2025 and a unicorn valuation, we've built a suite of products that help millions of people build credit, access liquidity, and save money.

We're scaling fast. Join us if you want to build something meaningful and help millions of people move forward financially.

Why Kikoff

This is a consumer fintech startup, and you will be working with serial entrepreneurs who have built strong consumer brands and innovative products. We value extreme ownership, clear communication, a strong sense of craftsmanship, and the desire to create lasting work and work relationships. Yes, you can build an exciting business AND have real-life real-customer impact.

We're looking for a Senior Creative Strategist to help shape and scale the next generation of performance creative at Kikoff. You'll own the end-to-end creative process—from concept to production—creating ads that not only stop the scroll but drive real results. You're as comfortable using AI tools to push creative boundaries as you are producing traditional, high-performing spots that convert—bridging storytelling, strategy, and innovation across every format.

Please include a portfolio of your work.

What You'll Do

• Lead the ideation and creative development of high-performing creatives across digital and paid channels.
• Translate growth goals and audience insights into compelling creative strategies and test plans.
• Monitor creative performance, analyze results, and iterate quickly based on learnings to surface insights and optimize creative direction.
• Drive testing and experimentation, moving fast to uncover insights and scale what works.
• Build AI-native and human-led workflows for content creation leveraging tools for ideation, scripting, video generation, and editing.
• Partner closely with production and post-production teams to bring concepts to life, ensuring creative excellence and efficiency across both AI-assisted and traditional productions.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Growth, Brand, and Product Marketing to align creative testing with business objectives.
• Stay ahead of industry and platform trends, acting as a thought leader in AI-driven creativity, emerging formats, and performance storytelling.

Who You Are

• 6-9 years of experience in performance creative strategy, developing creative for channels like paid social, YouTube, CTV, and other performance media.
• A strategic creative thinker and strong writer with a passion for storytelling, experimentation, and solving puzzles.
• Proven track record of concepting, writing, and producing advertising that drives measurable results.
• Creative and analytical in equal measure. You can dig into performance, understand what’s working and why, and turn those insights into the next creative hypothesis.
• Fluent in AI tools for creative production (e.g. Veo, Sora, Higgsfield, Midjourney, or whatever launches next week).
• Deep understanding of performance marketing and how creative works differently across channels, audiences, and formats, with curiosity to explore what’s next.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity. You don’t need a fully formed playbook before you start experimenting.
• Able to lead brainstorms, sell through ideas, manage projects, and collaborate across creative, growth, and marketing teams.
• Obsessed with culture, trends, technology, and storytelling that connects with real people.

Bonus Points

• Experience with direct response creative, user acquisition campaigns, or B2C brands.
• Experience launching and scaling multiple products, initiatives, or channels within an umbrella brand, with the ability to tailor creative strategy to different audiences, objectives, and business needs.
• Experience building creative strategy for new or emerging channels where the playbook is still being written.
• Familiarity with editing software such as Premiere, CapCut, Final Cut Pro, or similar.

Base Range

$127,000 - $145,000 USD

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Kikoff Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to complying with all federal, state, and local laws providing equal employment opportunities and considers qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class.

Please reference the following for more information.