[Hiring] Art Director @Upstart

Role Description

As the Art Director, Performance at Upstart, you’ll create high-impact creative across our Paid Social channels, including Meta, TikTok, Google, and emerging channels. Partnering closely with Marketing and Creative, you’ll develop best-in-class work across evergreen and influencer programs with both in-house teams and external agency partners. You’ll combine performance insights, channel best practices, and brand expertise to create innovative work that drives the future growth of Upstart.

• Lead the creative vision and execution across Paid Social channels, ensuring design excellence, platform relevance, and brand consistency across all creative assets.
• Stay informed on performance and testing results, applying learnings to generate creative hypotheses, inform future assets, and proactively develop new creative tests.
• Partner cross-functionally and with external agencies to concept, design, and deliver best-in-class evergreen and influencer creative that drives measurable results.
• Strengthen creative systems and workflows to improve speed, scalability, consistency, and output as channels evolve.
• Apply generative AI throughout the creative process to accelerate ideation and asset development while maintaining strong creative judgment and oversight.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience in art direction, design, or a related creative discipline.
• Portfolio demonstrating excellence in leading and executing best-in-class, high-impact performance creative across paid social channels.
• Strong knowledge of channel-specific creative best practices, with experience using performance data and structured testing to inform creative decisions, iterations, and future optimization.
• Expert-level proficiency in design software (Adobe Creative Suite and Figma), with experience using AI-assisted design tools and workflows.
• Bachelor’s degree in Design, Visual Communications, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Requirements

• Ability to organize and lead multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Skilled in collaborating with cross-functional partners and managing external agency or vendor relationships.
• Ability to clearly articulate creative decisions and recommendations to creative and non-creative stakeholders.
• Ability to translate business and performance goals into compelling creative strategies and concepts.
• Knowledge of copy development and how messaging supports creative concepts and executions.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly.
• Retirement benefits to help you plan for the future, including a 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan with a company match of $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 annually (USD in the US, CAD in Canada).
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees (US only).
• Comprehensive health coverage designed to support you and your family, including medical, dental, vision, and wellness resources for US and supplemental health coverage for Canada.
• Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans (US only).
• Income protection benefits, including life insurance and disability coverage for added financial security.
• Paid time off, sick leave, and company holidays, in line with local requirements.
• Paid family and parental leave to support caregiving and major life moments (duration varies by country).
• Family-centered benefits to support fertility, parenthood, and caregiving needs.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering mental health support and life-centered resources.
• Financial wellness resources, including access to financial planning tools and a financial concierge service (US Only).
• Annual wellness allowance to support your physical and emotional well-being and personal development, based on what matters most to you.
• Annual productivity allowance to invest in relevant tools and resources you need to do your best work, no matter where you work from.
• Connection and community through team events, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs).
• Onsite perks, including catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from one of our offices in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City (opening Summer 2026!).