Performance Creative Strategist
Pearmill · United States
Location: Remote — US or Canada
Type: Contract to start (month-to-month), with the intent to convert to full-time as we grow
The role in a nutshell: Pearmill is a performance creative agency that works with startups, scale-ups, and mid-market brands — with a client roster that skews B2B, SaaS, and tech (alongside fintech, healthcare, and more). Our clients trust us to be the engine behind their paid social and search creative, and our strategists are the people making that engine run. In this role, you'll own the creative thinking on multiple accounts at once — concepting ads, writing briefs, studying what's performing, and pushing the next round to be smarter than the last. You'll work across Meta, TikTok, YouTube, Google, and more. You'll collaborate daily with media buyers, designers, and motion artists. You'll use AI tools every day to move smarter and faster — from audience research and competitive analysis to concepting, generation, and iteration. And you'll see your ideas go live with real budgets behind them, reaching millions of people. If you like the intersection of creativity, data, and speed, this is the role.
This is a role for someone who can hit the ground running — an experienced strategist who's done this at an agency and doesn't need much ramp time to start shipping strong briefs.
Summary: The Performance Creative Strategist is where the work lives. They own the day-to-day creative thinking on their accounts — concepting, scripting, building creative frameworks, and partnering with designers and motion artists to bring ideas to life. They study what's performing, develop hypotheses, and push the next round of creative to be smarter than the last.
Critically, the Creative Strategist is the bridge between media buying and creative execution. They sit between the Growth team (who owns channel performance) and the Design/Motion team (who builds the assets) — translating insights from performance data into actionable creative direction, and translating creative ideas into clear briefs that execution teams can run with. If a Paid Social Manager says "CPAs are rising and hook rates are dropping on Meta," the Creative Strategist knows what that means creatively and can brief the next round accordingly. If a designer has a strong visual instinct, the Strategist helps frame it as a testable hypothesis.
This is also a client-facing role. Creative Strategists are expected to communicate directly with clients — presenting creative rationale, walking through upcoming rounds, explaining testing strategies, and fielding feedback in real time. You're not waiting for a CD to relay the message; you're in the room (or on the call) owning the conversation on your accounts.
Key Responsibilities
Brief Writing & Concepting
Write clear, actionable creative briefs — the primary deliverable of this role. Briefs include ad concepts, copy direction, visual/stylistic references, scripts or storylines, and format specs
Concept, script, and build creative frameworks for multiple client accounts
Develop hooks, ideas, and test concepts grounded in performance data — every idea should have a "why"
Frame creative ideas as testable hypotheses: "We think [concept] will outperform [current] because [insight]"
Use AI daily to deepen and accelerate concepting — conduct audience research, collaborate on new angles, draft copy options, explore potential visuals and concepts, and pressure-test ideas before they go into a brief
Creative Analysis & Testing
Conduct asset-level creative analysis: what worked, why, and what to do next. Tag winning elements (hook type, CTA style, format, visual approach) to build a learning library over time
Monitor key creative metrics — hook rate, hold rate, CTR, CPA, ROAS — and know the difference between a hook problem and a hold problem, for example
Maintain creative velocity — consistently ship new concepts each sprint, balancing quality with the volume needed to fuel a structured testing program
Own a structured testing methodology: define hypotheses, set success criteria before launch, and make clear calls on whether to iterate, scale, or kill each concept
Use AI tools to streamline creative analysis — summarize performance data, identify patterns across rounds, and draft insights faster so more time goes into strategic thinking
Cross-Team Collaboration
Serve as the connective tissue between Growth (media buying) and Execution (design, motion, video). Translate performance data from the Growth team into creative direction, and translate creative ideas into briefs the execution team can build
Partner with Paid Social and Paid Search Managers to understand channel-level performance, audience behavior, and what the algorithm is rewarding
Work closely with designers, motion artists, and video editors — not just handing off briefs, but collaborating on how ideas come to life visually
Coordinate with Production on UGC and creator briefs
Client Communication
Own creative communication on your accounts — present upcoming rounds, explain the strategic thinking behind concepts, and walk clients through testing plans and results
Participate in recurring client calls alongside Growth Managers; come prepared with creative updates, learnings, and recommendations
Field client feedback in real time — know when to push back with data and when to adapt
Build trust with client stakeholders by being responsive, proactive, and transparent about what's working and what isn't
Manage creative timelines and expectations with the client, flagging risks early and proposing solutions
Research & Inspiration
Regularly mine the Meta Ad Library, TikTok Creative Center, and competitor channels for inspiration and competitive intelligence
Study channel trends, platform changes, and emerging formats to bring new thinking to the team
Use AI for audience research, competitive intelligence, and trend analysis — quickly synthesize large amounts of information into actionable creative direction
Maintain a swipe file of strong creative references
Misc.
Mentor Associate Creative Strategists when paired
Contribute to new account audits and pitches
Who you've worked with
Most of our clients are B2B, SaaS, and tech brands. The strongest fit is someone whose recent roster reflects that — you understand considered purchases, longer funnels, and how to make performance creative work for a business buyer, not just an impulse ecommerce shopper. If your background is primarily ecommerce/CPG, this particular role may not be the best fit right now, but we’d still like to meet you!
Required Skills
2+ years working as a Performance Creative Strategist at an agency — agency experience is required, and you should be able to step in and contribute from week one
Recent experience on B2B, SaaS, and/or tech client rosters
Genuine AI proficiency — you already use AI tools daily for ideation, research, iteration, and production acceleration, and can show us how
Strong concepting and brief writing ability — the brief is the primary deliverable, and it needs to be clear, actionable, and grounded in data
Fluency in creative performance metrics: hook rate, hold rate, CTR, CPA, ROAS. Know what each one tells you creatively and what to do about it
Comfort with creative analytics tools and research platforms — Motion, Foreplay, Meta Ad Library, TikTok Creative Center
Understanding of paid social channels and how media buying decisions affect creative strategy (audience targeting, placements, bid strategies)
Cross-team translation ability — speak the language of both media buyers and designers. Turn performance data into creative direction and turn creative instincts into testable hypotheses
Quick ideation and iteration speed — ability to generate high volumes of concepts without sacrificing strategic thinking
Clear communication in written briefs and verbal presentations. Able to present creative rationale to clients with confidence and field live feedback without losing the thread
Mentorship ability — coaching Associates, giving feedback on briefs, and helping junior team members develop their creative POV
Flourishing at Pearmill
We get an unreasonable amount of satisfaction out of making the things around us better at their jobs. Clients who arrived wanting a channel fixed and left with a system. People who joined to run ad accounts and left able to build a team that runs global strategy. And most recently, our little AI agents running around our Notion docs and giving us super powers.
We're a fast growing, diverse group of goofy yet dedicated marketers, creatives, engineers, and analysts, running over $500M in ad spend across 15+ platforms. Join us!