Senior Creative Strategist, Performance Marketing

Cantina Labs; United States; On-site; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Generous equity

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

42 days of paid time off

Parental leave & fertility support

401(k) retirement plan

Lifestyle spending account

Complimentary lunch and snacks

One Medical membership

More benefits

Job summary

Cantina Labs is seeking a Senior Creative Strategist with expertise in traditional and AI-based performance ad production to scale concept-driven ads that lower CPIs. You’ll manage external agencies and in‑house creative teams to deliver high‑impact creative that drives downloads and engaged users.

You’ll drive the creative quality and strategic direction of Cantina’s paid campaigns, build testing frameworks, own analytics, and lead cross‑functional reviews with leadership to push measurable

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in creative direction for performance marketing.
• Experience building creative testing frameworks and production pipelines at scale.
• Bias for clear systems and processes.
• Active use of AI tools, automation, and workflows.
• Data fluency: translate campaign insights into creative direction.
• Demonstrated portfolio of high-performing performance creative.

Responsibilities

• Produce and direct scaled creative across performance marketing surfaces with multi-million dollar ad spend.
• Develop performance creative concepts built on Cantina's product and use-cases.
• Build and own processes for high-volume, iterative ads using traditional and AI production.
• Define creative strategies and vision for AI-generated ads.
• Own creative performance analytics and iterate on top concepts.
• Set inputs for creative testing plans to optimize output.
• Manage external agencies and cross-functional teams for high-quality creative.
• Lead regular creative brainstorms, reviews, and leadership presentations.
• Oversee QC processes and scalable review standards for high volume.
• Stay updated on new technologies and best practices in performance creative.

Skills

Creative direction

Performance marketing

AI tools

Data analytics

Portfolio

Cross-functional leadership

Agency management

Campaign optimization

Tools

AI production tools

Job description

About Cantina

Cantina Labs is a social AI company, developing a suite of advanced real-time models that push the boundaries of expression, personality, and realism. We bring characters to life, transforming how people tell stories, connect, and create. We build and power ecosystems. Cantina, our flagship social AI platform, is just the beginning.

If you're excited about the potential AI has to shape human creativity and social interactions, join us in building the future!

About The Role

Cantina’s marketing team is expanding! We’re looking for a Senior Creative Strategist with expertise in both traditional and AI-based performance ad production and a track record of systematically developing concept-driven ads at scale that lower CPIs. In this role, you’ll manage external agencies and in-house creative teams to deliver high-impact creative that drives users to download and become engaged users in Cantina.

The Senior Creative Strategist, Performance Marketing will drive the creative quality and strategic direction of our paid performance marketing campaigns.

What You’ll Do

• Produce and direct scaled creative across all performance marketing surfaces (Meta, TikTok, YouTube, mobile ad networks, etc) with multi-million dollar ad spend.
• Develop performance creative concepts built on intimate understanding of Cantina as a product/platform and its consumer use-cases.
• Build and own processes for producing high volume, iterative ads leveraging both traditional and AI-generated production.
• Define creative strategies and vision for AI-generated ads.
• Own creative performance analytics to track what's working and iterate on best-performing concepts and campaigns.
• Set the creative inputs across creative testing plans to optimize creative.
• Manage external agencies and cross-functional teams to ensure high-quality creative output across all performance marketing channels.
• Lead regular creative brainstorms, reviews, and presentations to internal stakeholders, including leadership.
• Oversee the QC process for in-house and external creatives: Create scalable creative review processes and quality standards that maintain excellence at high volume.
• Stay up-to-date on and apply emerging technologies, production methods, and best practices in performance creative and performance marketing.

What You’ll Bring

• 5+ years of experience in creative direction for performance marketing
• Experience building creative testing frameworks and production pipelines at scale
• Bias for clear systems and processes
• Active use of AI tools, automation, and workflows
• Data fluency: you can build infrastructure to ingest campaign performance data and translate insights into creative direction
• Demonstrated portfolio of high-performing performance creative, particularly short-form video ads
• Deep understanding of the consumer marketing landscape and channels (Meta, TikTok, etc)
• Demonstrated experience collaborating effectively with external agencies and cross-functional teams
• Demonstrated ability to drive measurable impact (e.g. creative quality improvements combined with quantitative performance improvements)

Compensation

The anticipated annual base salary range for this role is between $150,000-$200,000. When determining compensation, a number of factors will be considered, including skills, experience, job scope, location, and competitive compensation market data.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and generous company equity
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance – 99.99% of premiums covered by Cantina
• 42 days of paid time off, including:
  • 15 PTO days
  • 10 sick days
  • 15 company holidays
  • 2 floating holidays
• Generous parental leave & fertility support
• 401(k) retirement savings plan
• Lifestyle spending account – $500/month to use however you’d like
• Complimentary lunch and snacks for in-office employees
• One Medical membership, and more!