Are you ready to turn creative instinct into measurable growth? We are seeking a curious, data-driven Creative Strategist to lead performance creative for Ariat's paid social channels. The Creative Strategist will report to the Sr. Manager of Digital Brand Content on the Digital Brand Marketing Team and will work closely with brand marketing, brand creative, brand & ecommerce paid media teams, and external creators and agencies to develop, test, and scale ad creative that drives customer engagement, acquisition and revenue.

This role is based in San Leandro, CA / hybrid. This role sits at the intersection of data and creativity. You will write briefs grounded in audience insight and competitive research, run a continuous creative testing program across paid social and digital channels, and read performance data to decide which angles, hooks, and formats to iterate on, scale, or retire.

The ideal candidate is comfortable being wrong often and fast, is motivated by business results over personal taste, and builds the kind of trust with crossfunctional partners and leadership that gets great work made and shipped.

You’ll Make a Difference By

• Owning the performance creative strategy and testing roadmap for Ariat eCommerce across paid social, paid video, and digital channels., with a testing cadence that delivers meaningful creative diversity at volume.
• Writing clear, insight-led creative briefs that articulate the audience, the problem the product solves, the angle, the hook, and the success metric for every concept.
• Conducting ongoing competitive and category research to identify creative trends, formats, and messaging opportunities relevant to riders, workers, and outdoor consumers.
• Mining customer reviews, search data, site behavior, and CRM insights to surface the motivations and objections that shape high-performing creative.
• Partnering with brand creative, in-house production, and external creators and agencies to bring briefs to life as static, video, UGC, and motion assets that meet Ariat brand standards and ladder up to seasonal campaign strategies and product stories.
• Partnering with the paid media team to structure creative tests, and read results across hook rate, thumb-stop rate, click-through rate, cost per acquisition, and return on ad spend.
• Analyzing creative performance weekly, diagnosing why concepts win or lose, and translating findings into the next round of iterations and net-new concepts., scaling proven angles and formats while retiring fatigued creative on a disciplined cadence.
• Using AI tools to accelerate research, scripting, and variant production while maintaining Ariat brand quality.
• Presenting creative performance recaps and learnings to eCommerce, brand, and marketing leadership with actionable recommendations.
• Maintaining a creative learnings library and naming taxonomy so insights compound across teams and seasons.
• Assisting with other responsibilities based on business needs.

About You

• 4+ years of experience in creative strategy, performance marketing, or growth marketing for a direct-to-consumer or eCommerce brand.
• Strong data and analytical skills to translate data into creative insights and future briefs.
• Proven track record of briefing and testing paid social creative that improved acquisition efficiency at meaningful spend.
• Portfolio or case studies showing creative tests you've run, what you learned, and the business results.
• Fluent in performance creative metrics (hook rate, hold rate, click-through rate, cost per acquisition, return on ad spend) and able to separate creative taste from what the data says.
• Strong writer who can turn insight into a tight brief and a sharp hook.
• Comfortable with failure as part of the process; treats underperforming creative as information, not a mistake.
• Skilled relationship builder who earns trust with designers, editors, creators, and media buyers and can influence the final output without owning the pen.
• Working knowledge of Meta Ads Manager and creative analytics tools such as Motion; experience with TikTok, YouTube, or programmatic video is a plus.
• Exceptional cross-functional collaboration and project management skills; able to run multiple concepts through brief, production, launch, and readout at once.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, to pivot, and balance multiple priorities.
• Experience in footwear, apparel, or outdoor and equestrian categories is a plus

About Ariat

Ariat is an innovative, outdoor global brand with roots in equestrian performance. We develop high-quality footwear and apparel for people who ride, work, and play outdoors, and care about performance, quality, comfort, and style.

The salary range for this position is $120,000 - $140,000 per year.

The salary is determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data for geographic locations. Ariat in good faith believes that this posted compensation range is accurate for this role at this location at the time of this posting. This range may be modified in the future.

Ariat’s holistic benefits package for full-time team members includes (but is not limited to):

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance options
• Expanded wellness and mental health benefits
• Paid time off (PTO), paid holidays, and paid volunteer days
• 401(k) with company match
• Bonus incentive plans
• Team member discount on Ariat merchandise

Note: Availability of benefits may be subject to location & employment type and may have certain eligibility requirements. Ariat reserves the right to alter these benefits in whole or in part at any time without advance notice.

Ariat will consider qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with state and local laws. Ariat is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetics or any other basis protected under federal, state, or local law. Ariat is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to candidates with disabilities. If you need an accommodation during the application process, email [email protected].

Please see our Employment Candidate Privacy Policy at www.ariat.com/careers to learn more about how we collect, use, retain and disclose Personal Information.

Please note that Ariat does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of a signed Agreement, Ariat will not consider or agree to payment of any referral compensation or recruiter/agency placement fee. In the event a recruiter or agency submits a resume or candidate without a previously signed Agreement, Ariat explicitly reserves the right to pursue and hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted directly to hiring managers, are deemed to be the property of Ariat.