Creative Lead

Job description

CREATIVE LEAD Gaia’s mission is to ensure that everyone who wants a family has the chance to try. We're looking for a Creative Lead to scale our creative function: ensuring a consistent, clear visual identity and messaging, and developing category-defining creative while personally owning high-quality output across brand and performance from day one. This isn't a role where a studio already exists and you inherit it. You're energized by the work yourself: ideating, designing, and directing the work that translates a complex, emotional experience into something delightful for Gaia’s members and anyone considering starting a family. YOU'LL ENJOY THIS ROLE IF YOU… - Are personally motivated by the idea that design can make healthcare more human, and make a what is one of the most consequential and emotional financial decisions for intended parents feel clear and trustworthy - Are autonomous, urgent, and hands-on. You want to build a category-defining creative function, not just manage on top of an existing system. - Understand where brand meets business impact. You make bold creative calls, but you can explain why they'll move a metric like CPL or conversion - Get excited about AI-native creative workflows and what a small, modern creative operation can produce without a big headcount - Hold every output to the same high bar, from a social campaign to a piece of collateral to an paid integrated out-of-home campaign - Can turn complicated concepts (credit approval, plan terms, treatment pathways) into something visually simple that makes people say "Oh, now I get it…and I want to sign up." WHAT YOU'LL DO BRAND & VISUAL IDENTITY - Own Gaia's creative craft end to end: steward and evolve our visual identity and brand guidelines, and establish a design system that scales across brand, product, and partner-facing work - Develop visual brand strategy that ties directly to business goals, and proactively bring solutions rather than waiting to be briefed - Maintain brand consistency across every project and every team producing creative work MARKETING & PERFORMANCE CREATIVE - Conceptualize and design high-converting marketing material across channels: web, paid, social, email, landing pages, print, video, experiential activations, and more - Translate complex, regulated concepts (fixed-cost plans, credit approval, treatment coverage) into branded experiences that are clear and compliant, for both patients and our clinic and employer partners - Stand up AI-powered creative workflows (image generation, rapid asset iteration) so a lean team can produce at the pace of a much bigger one STAKEHOLDERS & OPERATIONS - Partner closely with Growth, Partnerships, and Leadership to make sure creative work is tied to acquisition, brand trust, and revenue - Present creative concepts clearly and persuasively to teams across the organization, and incorporate feedback without losing a clear point of view - Own project timelines and deadlines, flag blockers early, and keep multiple projects moving at once - As the team grows, hire, guide, and mentor designers, running critiques that raise the bar Minimum qualifications - Experience: 8+ years of visual design experience, with a strong focus on brand and performance marketing (early- or growth-stage company experience strongly preferred) - Portfolio: A strong portfolio spanning brand identity, websites, campaigns, and performance marketing creative - Tools: Proficiency in Figma and the Adobe Creative Suite - Understanding: Solid grasp of brand identity systems, digital marketing principles, website design best practices, and performance marketing metrics - Communication: Excellent communication and presentation skills; you can explain a creative decision to a founder and to a growth marketer in their own language - Adaptability: Comfort in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment, managing multiple projects and shifting priorities without losing craft - AI fluency: A genuinely AI-native approach to design and asset production, not just familiarity with the tools - Mindset: An owner's mentality, a strong bias to action, and real humility Preferred qualifications - Experience in a growth-stage startup environment - Experience designing for consumer brands - bonus points if it’s for a new category - Direct experience building and scaling a creative function or brand system - Location: NYC Compensation and Benefits The base salary range for this role is $150,000–$180,000, depending on experience and alignment with the role. At Gaia, our people are the foundation of our success. We are committed to supporting our team’s wellbeing, growth, and long-term potential. In addition to a competitive, market-benchmarked salary, we offer: - Comprehensive healthcare coverage - Fertility and family-building support - A home office or setup budget for new hires - An annual personal development budget - Ongoing work on reward and recognition programs to ensure exceptional performance is meaningfully acknowledged Gaia is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity in all forms. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply.