Creative Strategist & Media Buyer

Qualifications and requirements

1. Media Buying & Performance Optimization

• Actively manage and optimize live Meta Ads campaigns across 10+ client accounts — budgets, bids, audiences, placements, and creative rotation
• Read the data and make the call yourself: know when to scale, cut, or shift spend without waiting to be told
• Pull weekly performance data from Meta Ads Manager and identify what's working, why, and what to do about it
• Build and deliver structured weekly and monthly performance reports for each client — including what you changed, why you changed it, and the result
• Flag underperforming creative or campaigns and act on it proactively — don't wait to be asked

2. Creative Strategy & Briefing

• Lead creative research for new angles, hooks, and ad concepts based on performance data and market research
• Write detailed, clear creative briefs for our network of UGC creators and videographers
• Work closely with the founder to ideate and validate creative strategies before briefing
• Ensure all briefs are aligned with brand voice, offer positioning, and platform best practices

3. Team & Production Management

• Manage the full creative production pipeline from brief to final delivery across all clients
• Vet and onboard new creators to the network as needed — ensure we're bringing in the right talent for the right briefs
• Coordinate with creators: send briefs, manage timelines, follow up on deliverables
• Assign raw content to editors, communicate specs, turnaround expectations, and priorities
• Keep editors on task and accountable — you are the operational hub that keeps everyone moving
• QC all completed creative for quality, brand alignment, and brief adherence before delivery

Required

• 2–4 years of hands-on media buying experience in Meta Ads Manager — you've managed real ad spend, made live optimization decisions, and owned the results, not just pulled a report
• You can look at a data set and immediately know what to change — budget, audience, bids, creative rotation — without being told to look
• Experience writing creative briefs for UGC, video, or social content
• Strong project management skills — you track everything, miss nothing, and are obsessed with deadlines
• Proven ability to manage multiple external collaborators (creators, editors, freelancers) simultaneously
• Clear, professional written communication — you'll be the voice of Phocal with creators, editors, and in client-facing reports
• A self-starter who takes initiative, makes the call, and reports what you did — you don't wait to be told what to do
• Comfort working autonomously and asynchronously in a fully remote environment
• You're looking for a long-term seat — you want to grow into this role and grow with the company, not use it as a short stopover

Projects

This is a right-hand hire for the founder. You'll own performance media buying and creative strategy together — the person actively managing and optimizing our clients' Meta Ads accounts, not just reporting on them, and turning what the data tells you into sharper creative. You look at what's working (and what's not), you make the call on what to change, you make the change yourself, and then you tell us what you did and why. This is not a siloed role and this is not a big company. There is no chain of command to wait on, no one to pass the buck to. You will own your work end-to-end, move fast, solve problems before they become problems, and bring solutions — not just questions. If you thrive in structure and need constant direction, this probably isn't the right fit. Ifyou're someone who sees a gap and fills it without being asked, you'll love it here. We're hiring for the long term, not to fill a gap for a few months.

What You'll Own

What's this position about?

This is a hands-on Media Buying & Creative Operations role responsible for managing Meta ad performance while owning the creative production process behind it. You'll optimize campaigns, analyze performance data, develop creative strategy, and coordinate creators and editors to consistently improve client results.

Who will this role work with?

You'll work directly with the founder on strategy and decision-making, while collaborating daily with UGC creators, videographers, editors, freelancers, and client accounts across our portfolio.

What will they be responsible for?

• Managing and optimizing Meta ad campaigns across multiple client accounts
• Making data-driven decisions on budgets, audiences, bids, placements, and creative
• Building weekly and monthly performance reports with actionable insights
• Researching new creative angles and writing detailed creator briefs
• Managing the creative production pipeline from briefing through final delivery
• Coordinating creators and editors, managing timelines, and ensuring deliverables stay on track
• Reviewing all creative for quality, brand alignment, and brief adherence before delivery
• Proactively identifying opportunities to improve campaign and creative performance

How will their success be measured?

Success will be measured by:

• Consistent improvement in client campaign performance through proactive media buying decisions
• High-quality, on-time delivery of creative assets across all client accounts
• Strong organization and management of creators, editors, and production timelines
• Clear, actionable client reporting that demonstrates optimization decisions and results
• The ability to take ownership, solve problems independently, and help clients scale through better media buying and creative performance

Conditions

Performance Bonus: Up to $15,000/year

Paid quarterly. Tied to client ad spend growth — when your media buying and creative drive stronger results, clients invest more in media, and you share in that upside. If we do our jobs right, the bonus earns itself.

Additional

• Fully remote, flexible schedule (US time zone overlap required)
• Minimum 20 days of PTO — required, not optional. Take your time off.
• Monthly Internet stipend
• Monthly wellness stipend
• Direct access to the founder — real mentorship, fast decisions, no bureaucracy
• Real ownership and significant room to grow in scope and compensation as the agency scales

Desirable skills

Long-term growth: This role is built to grow. As Phocal takes on more clients, the person in this seat grows with it — more ownership, more scope, and comp that grows alongside client ad spend and agency revenue. We're looking for someone who wants to build a long-term career here, not pass through.

Nice to Have

• Experience at or with a DTC-focused creative or performance marketing agency
• A track record of scaling client ad spend through stronger media buying and creative performance
• Familiarity with creative testing frameworks (hooks, formats, offers, scroll-stop, etc.)
• Basic video/creative sensibility — you know what makes a good ad
• Experience vetting or managing a creator or UGC talent network