Creative Strategist

Primary Function

We are seeking an experienced Creative Strategist who excels at uncovering insights, shaping creative direction, and inspiring powerful, resonant creative work. This role is not a copywriting, design, or brand marketing position. Instead, this individual serves as the strategist partner to both the Brand Marketing team and the Creative team, translating business goals and audience understanding into the creative strategies that bring the brand to life.

As a partner to Brand Marketing, this strategist engages upstream as marketing plans are developed to ensure the creative strategy and direction effectively deliver on the marketing opportunity and objectives.

As a partner to Creative, this individual develops the rich audience understanding – profiles, tensions, and insights – which inform core creative strategy that is then synthesized into the creative brief and corresponding message/communication matrices. They guide creative teams with clear insights, strategic direction, and deep cultural understanding throughout brainstorming, concepting, and execution.

This strategist works within the enterprise master brand creative platform (“big idea”), ensuring all creative strategy and briefs align to the shared long-term creative direction.

The ideal candidate is naturally curious, deeply analytical, and skilled at transforming data and cultural understanding into meaningful, inspiring creative direction. They bring clarity, inspiration, and strategic rigor to every project, while fostering strong relationships across teams. Preferred but not required, fluent in leading both qualitative and quantitative research during the creative development process.

This position requires in-office presence four days per week in San Antonio, TX.

Pay: $90-100k

• A Creative Strategist / Account Planner responsible for shaping insights, messaging, and creative direction
• The strategic bridge between Marketing (the what/why) and the Creative teams, defining the how through insight, audience understanding, and clear creative strategy (the how)
• Not a brand marketer – but the partner who helps shape the upstream marketing ask and transforms it into the creative strategy
• Not a copywriter or designer – but the partner who provides the insights and strategy that supports, informs, and unlocks their best work
• A strategic partner to Creative, responsible for the brief, insight, tension, and strategic guidance
• The owner of the thinking that unlocks the creative

• Demonstrated ability to lead and own the development of creative strategy, not just support or execute creative work.
• Fluency in qualitative and quantitative research methods and strong ability to extract actionable insights from both.
• A strong storyteller skilled at identifying audience tensions, cultural truths, and insights that shape meaningful, resonate storytelling within the established creative platform.
• Natural collaborator who forms strong strategic partnerships with both Brand Marketing and Creative teams.
• Deep understanding of creative brief development, messaging architecture, consumer insights, and integrated campaign planning.
• Strong understanding of marketing principles, brand strategy, and the creative development lifecycle.
• A curious, empathetic, and culturally aware mindset, with a passion for understanding people and how they make decisions.

• B.A. or B.S. in Advertising, Communication, Marketing, Business or related field preferred.
• Proven experience as a Creative Strategist, Account Planner, Brand Strategist, or Communications Strategist within an ad agency or in-house agency.
• Experience developing message/communication matrices and messaging ecosystems.

Team People, a division of System One, is an organization dedicated to providing superior customer service. Outstanding customer service encompasses everything from performing the technical, creative and operational aspects of our jobs to the best of our ability, to going the extra mile to assist our customers and colleagues in any way. Team People not only serves as a valued partner for our clients, but we offer eligible employees…