Lead Creative Strategist

Job description

Who we are: Tinuiti is the largest independent full-funnel marketing agency in the U.S. across the media that matters most, with $4 billion in digital media under management and more than 1,200 employees. Built for marketers who demand growth and accountability, Tinuiti unites media and measurement under one roof to eliminate waste—the biggest growth killer of all—and scale what works. Its proprietary technology, Bliss Point by Tinuiti, reveals the truth around growth and waste, and how to capitalize on it. With expert teams across Commerce, Search, Social, TV & Audio, and more, Tinuiti delivers measurable results with brutal simplicity: Love Growth. Hate Waste. We support 100% remote work for this role! We’d love to hear from you if: Research shows that while men apply to jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other marginalized folks tend to only apply when they check every box. So if you think you qualify, but don't necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please still get in touch. As a Principal Creative Strategist, you will serve as a senior individual contributor for Creative Strategy, leading high-complexity strategic work without formal people-management responsibility. You will own ambiguous, high-value client challenges, major pitches, complex messaging frameworks, creative effectiveness roadmaps, and executive-level strategic narratives. This role is best suited for a senior craft expert who can operate with significant independence, influence senior stakeholders, mentor others informally, and raise the quality of Creative Strategy work across priority accounts while remaining primarily focused on strategic delivery rather than people management. Key responsibilities Client‑Centric ·Lead high-complexity Creative Strategy workstreams for major clients, pitches, or transformation opportunities. Translate ambiguous business problems into clear creative strategy recommendations, messaging frameworks, testing priorities, and strategic narratives. Influence senior client and internal stakeholders through concise, persuasive, business-grounded storytelling. Act as a trusted senior strategy partner when clients need help understanding what creative should say, why it should say it, and how it should evolve across platforms. Support major growth opportunities where creative effectiveness, creative testing, messaging architecture, or platform adaptation is a central driver of client value. Product‑Led Develop advanced Creative Strategy outputs, including creative audits, creative effectiveness roadmaps, messaging architectures, CAB systems, testing frameworks, and pitch narratives. Help improve Creative Strategy frameworks, templates, and methods through strong examples, feedback, and applied craft leadership. Use AI, creative analytics, audience research, and platform tools to improve strategy development, insight quality, and workflow efficiency. Partner with Creative Studio and cross-functional teams to ensure strategy inspires strong creative output and translates clearly into executional guidance. Contribute to case studies, thought leadership, and internal enablement that help the agency understand and sell Creative Strategy. Data & Measurement‑Driven Synthesize complex inputs across performance data, audience insight, creative analytics, category context, and platform signals into clear strategic conclusions. Build testing roadmaps and learning agendas that connect creative hypotheses to measurable business and marketing outcomes. Interpret creative performance and testing outcomes at a strategic level, identifying what should change in messaging, structure, audience framing, or platform adaptation. Partner with Analytics, Media, and channel teams to make creative learning more decision-useful and cumulative over time. Help clients understand the relationship between creative effectiveness, performance outcomes, and longer-term brand growth. The Tinuiti Way Bring a high standard of Creative Strategy craft to priority work, helping teams move from observations to insight, from insight to brief, and from brief to measurable learning. Help clarify when Creative Strategy should lead versus when work belongs with Communications Planning, Creative Studio, Performance Design, channel teams, or Analytics. Stay deeply current on creative effectiveness, platform behavior, consumer and cultural trends, AI, and emerging creative technologies. Contribute senior strategic thinking to integrated planning workstreams, pitches, annual planning, and major client growth opportunities. Raise the quality of creative thinking across teams through informal coaching, examples, and constructive feedback. Owner Mindset Own the quality, rigor, and usefulness of senior strategic outputs with limited oversight. Proactively identify opportunities to improve client strategy, creative performance, testing rigor, and cross-functional ways of working. Use senior judgment to simplify complexity, make trade-offs, and keep teams focused on the right strategic problem. Mentor and support other strategists through feedback, examples, and partnership, without requiring formal management authority. Create reusable thinking, tools, and examples that raise the overall capability of the Creative Strategy team. ​Ways of working and values Greatness attracts Greatness: Raise the craft bar through senior strategic thinking, strong examples, feedback, and responsible use of new tools and AI. Clients grow, we grow: Anchor creative strategy in business outcomes, audience insight, and measurable learning. Culture of ownership: Lead ambiguous work with clarity, rigor, speed, and accountability. Professional & Technical Qualifications 8-10+ years of experience in creative strategy, brand strategy, communications strategy, performance creative strategy, or related strategic roles. Demonstrated ability to lead complex strategic work independently across major clients, pitches, or high-value workstreams. Strong expertise in messaging strategy, creative effectiveness, creative testing, audience insight, and performance-informed creative recommendations. Advanced ability to synthesize data, research, cultural signals, platform behavior, and business context into clear strategic direction. Strong client-facing presentation and storytelling skills, including senior stakeholder influence. Experience partnering closely with Creative Studio, Media, Analytics, Communications Planning, Client Partnership, and channel teams. Strong fluency with paid social, video, streaming, display, web, commerce, and related digital environments. Comfort using AI and creative analytics tools to improve quality, efficiency, and insight generation with strong judgment and validation. Ability to travel for key client meetings, pitches, and internal working sessions as needed. The hiring salary range for this role is $100,000 - $120,000 plus a discretionary performance bonus. Hiring salaries are determined through interviews and a review of education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities of the applicant, parity with other team members, and alignment with market data. We will provide more information on our benefits, incentive pay, and equity upon request. Disclosure as required by the Colorado Equal Pay for > Equal Work Act, C.R.S. § 8-5-101 et seq. FLSA Classification: Exempt We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation. Benefits: Unlimited PTO: At Tinuiti, we believe you deserve time to rest, recharge, and enjoy life unplugged. When you prioritize time for yourself, you're able to bring your best self to work. That’s why we offer unlimited paid time off, a fully remote environment, and flexibility to take the time you need, when you need it. On top of that, we provide 20 paid holidays, including multiple long weekends, to ensure you have dedicated time to step away and disconnect. We're proud to offer above-industry standard work-life balance, consistently rated as one of the most loved benefits by Tinuitians year after year. Healthcare: Medical, Dental, Vision, Life & Disability, Flex Spending Accounts Retirement: Match up to 4% of your contributions at 100% Perks and Wellness: Fringe, Forma, Unlimited Telemedicine and Teletherapy available at no cost, Thankful giving, Equity Parental Leave: Birthing parents receive 16 weeks of leave with 100% pay (partners 12 weeks) after the birth or adoption of a child. Learning and Development: On-demand learning, mentorship program, leadership and management development programs and resources Disclaimer: This description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this position. The actual duties, responsibilities, and qualifications may vary based on assignment or group. Tinuiti is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, marital status, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other protected status.