Senior Creative Strategist (Paid Ads)

Pay: $130,000.00 - $155,000.00 per year Location: Irvine, CA (On-site; Remote for ideal candidates only) How to Apply Think you're a great fit? We'd love to see your work. To apply, email your resume, cover letter, and examples of paid UGC ad campaigns (Meta or TikTok 9:16 aspect ratio) or direct-response assets you have managed to [email protected] (Subject: Senior Creative Strategist (Paid Ads)). Clearly explain which aspects of the work you owned, your target salary requirement, and your current city of residence. Experience: 5+ Years Bidbus is changing how people sell used cars by letting dealerships compete in a live auction to buy vehicles. Our sellers receive, on average, $2,800 more than through traditional alternatives. Backed by top venture capital firms, Bidbus recently raised a $15 million Series A to expand into new markets. Our marketing relies on UGC-style video creative, transforming the car selling process into something competitive, transparent, and fun through paid advertising campaigns. This is not an organic strategist role—our creators produce content for paid ads only. About the Role: We’re seeking a Senior Creative Strategist to lead our paid social creative strategy and manage our end-to-end video production pipeline. You’ll be the chief architect of our paid ad strategy, connecting media buying data and creative execution—dissecting performance metrics, developing high-converting scripts, sourcing talent, and taking a hands-on approach with video editing and rapid testing. As an AI-empowered strategist, you use generative AI (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) as creative force multipliers for script ideation, structuring data, and building hook variations, while maintaining strategic human judgment for authentic, high-performing content. Every asset is designed specifically to scale direct-response performance ads across Meta, TikTok, and YouTube. What You’ll Do: 1. High-Level Creative Strategy & Growth Analytics Develop monthly ad creative roadmaps, hook variation matrices, and positioning angles, grounded in data and consumer psychology. Partner with growth marketers to analyze ad performance (CTR, hook rate, hold rate, CPA, ROAS) and iterate creatively. Conduct tear-downs of top-performing DTC/fintech/marketplace ads to surface the latest trends and angles. 2. UGC Pipeline & Roster Operations Source, negotiate with, and onboard creators using platforms (Billo, Insense, Trend, etc.) and agency partners based on fit. Write creative briefs, scripts, directions, and hook variations to yield high-converting footage. Build and maintain a roster of proven performance creators. 3. Hands-On Execution & Asset Management Use basic/intermediate editing (Premiere Pro, etc.) to assemble raw footage, create hook variations, and prepare ad drafts. Review creator assets for pacing, clarity, compliance, and authenticity before launch or passing to editors. Organize/tag/archive assets for rapid reuse. Ideal Profile: 5+ years in direct-response video production, paid social creative strategy, or UGC ad production for performance brands or agencies (DTC agency experience a plus) Proven record of scaling high-budget paid social campaigns (Meta, TikTok, YouTube) Skilled at hands-on video editing for ad drafts Deep knowledge of creator sourcing platforms and direct outreach workflows Instinctual understanding of direct-response persuasion and thumb-stopping creative Data-fluent; able to translate performance metrics into creative iterations Effective in fast-paced, high-volume creative environments Benefits: 401(k) Health insurance Work Location: On-site (Irvine, CA); Remote for ideal candidates only