[Hiring] Creative Strategy Lead @Gametime United

Role Description

We're looking for a senior strategist who turns culture and insight into creative briefs, and turns good creative into “great.”

Gametime's Creative team is evolving from static-first, conversion-only paid social production to a full-funnel and multi-channel mandate that includes:

• Paid social
• CRM
• TV
• Product visual merchandising
• Creator content
• Organic social

This is a senior individual contributor role with no permanent direct reports, though you'll guide freelance strategists when we need extra capacity. You'll report to the VP of Creative and work across creative that maps to both Growth and Brand Marketing.

What you'll own

• Creative briefs that make the work better:
  • Translate brand and marketing briefs into creative briefs that give creatives a sharp idea and a clear territory.
  • Own and evolve our creative brief process, and set the standard for what a good brief looks like at Gametime.
  • Stay with the work from first brief to final cut, giving clear strategic feedback that holds the work to the idea.
  • Close the loop: write up what we learn from the work in market so it makes the next brief better.
• Strategy for platforms and initiatives where we don't yet know what good looks like:
  • Develop the creative strategy for new and high-potential platforms across the Marketing org, such as CTV, Spotify and audio, Reddit and podcasts, with a clear view of what native creative looks like on each.
  • Partner with channel leads, who own buying and targeting, so that creative approach and media plan are built together.
  • Dig into initiatives where we want to raise the creative bar (i.e. creator-led content) and define what "better" means before we scale it.
  • Design light-touch research or tests that tell us what's working and write up what we learn.
• Cultural insight that serves both brand and performance:
  • Be our radar for what's happening in sports, music and theater fandom, and how fans talk, share and buy.
  • Synthesize audience data, social listening, qualitative research and performance signals into a point of view on who our fans are and what moves them.
  • Surface cultural insights and creative territories that brand creative and performance creative can both use.
  • Partner with Growth, Brand Marketing, and Finance to connect creative strategy to business outcomes.

What success looks like

• By month 6 the brief is a tool people rely on; by month 12 our new platforms have clear answers.

When

• First 90 days:
  • You've taken over the creative brief process, shipped briefs for live work, and met the creative, brand marketing, Growth and channel partners you'll work with most.
  • You've reviewed what we've already made and proposed the first platform or initiative to take on, agreed with the VP of Creative and Growth.
• By 6 months:
  • A creative brief standard is in use, and creative directors say it helps.
  • Strategy for at least two new platforms is in market with first tests running and learnings written up.
  • You've defined what better UGC looks like and how we'll get there.
  • A recurring rhythm for cultural insight is in place, and both brand and performance creative use it.
• By 12 months:
  • A brand campaign has been briefed end to end with you.
  • At least one new platform has moved from experiment to a clear decision to scale or stop, with the reasoning.
  • Creative made from your briefs shows measurable lift against baseline in testing.
  • Creative directors and channel leads point to the briefs as a reason the work got better.

What you bring

• Taste and cultural judgment.
• 10+ years in creative strategy at an agency, a consumer brand, or a media, music, sports or entertainment company.
• Briefs that people use.
• You bridge brand and performance.
• AI amplifies your thinking and never replaces it.

Bonus

• Experience with strategy across formats and channels (i.e. CTV, audio and podcast, social).
• Experience with creator-led creative strategy.
• Background in live entertainment, sports, music, theater, ticketing or marketplaces.
• Experience mentoring junior talent or directing freelance strategists, with or without formal reports.

The reality

This is a broad senior role with no permanent direct reports, so your influence comes from the quality of your thinking. You'll work with several creative leads, channel leads and brand marketing partners, and you'll need to build trust and clear decision rights with each.

Brand campaigns take priority when work competes for your time, and priorities will move as our marketing org evolves. Some of the platforms you'll take on are new to us, so you'll be setting the playbook as much as following one. The creative brief process is yours to shape.

The role is remote. If you like building the standard rather than inheriting it, you'll like it here.

Salary Range

At Gametime pay ranges are subject to change and assigned to a job based on specific market median of similar jobs according to 3rd party salary benchmark surveys. Individual pay within that range can vary for several reasons including skills/capabilities, experience, and available budget.

United States - Pay Range: $210,000 — $280,000 USD

Diversity Commitment

Gametime is committed to bringing together individuals from different backgrounds and perspectives. We strive to create an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive, feel a sense of belonging, and do great work together. As an equal opportunity employer, we prohibit any unlawful discrimination against a job applicant on the basis of their race, color, religion, veteran status, sex, parental status, gender identity or expression, transgender status, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability or genetic information. We respect the laws enforced by the EEOC and are dedicated to going above and beyond in fostering diversity across our company.