Business Unit: Performance: We help brands show up in the right place, at the right time, to the right people, with data driven campaigns.
Team: Creative Services
Reporting to: Head of Creative Service
Location: Barcelona (office+hybrid)
ABOUT
GAIN is a creative‑led, insight‑driven company that blends data, tech and creativity. We believe the best ideas emerge where intelligence and creativity unite, where insight sparks imagination, and where innovation turns possibility into progress. We are explorers of new frontiers, shaping bold strategies that move people, brands, and businesses forward. Individually and together, our specialist teams provide the vision, data, and confidence brands and organisations need to make braver, more impactful decisions. Today as GAIN, we work as a united force, using data to fuel creativity, and technology to unlock new possibilities. As imagineers we don’t just embrace innovation – we engineer it, transforming information into action, and ideas into breakthroughs. This is where rebel thinking, smart technology, and data‑driven creativity shape the future.
Through our five specialist teams – Creative Studio, Conversion, Customer Science, Experience, and Performance – we fuel growth and deliver measurable impact.
THE ROLE
GAIN is hiring a Performance Creative Strategy Lead to drive the quality, consistency, and delivery of creative strategy across our paid media portfolio, while remaining hands‑on with key client work. This role blends strategic leadership with performance‑focused creative craft. You’ll lead a team of Creative Strategists, ensuring our creative output is not only compelling but grounded in data and designed to convert.
As a senior member of the Creative Services leadership team, you’ll report to the Head of Creative Services and work closely with the Design Team Lead to ensure GAIN consistently delivers excellence across performance strategy, design, and content production.
FOCUS PILLARS
* Creative Strategy Quality – elevating the standard of performance‑led creative thinking and execution.
* Process & Delivery Consistency – ensuring all creative strategy work follows a structured, scalable framework.
* People Leadership – developing, mentoring, and managing the strategist team to perform at their best.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Hands‑On Creative Strategy for Top Clients
* Act as the lead strategist on select high‑value accounts, developing and presenting outstanding, data‑driven creative strategies that drive measurable performance outcomes (CPA, ROAS, CTR, CVR).
* Conduct deep‑dive creative analyses to identify winning patterns, testing opportunities, and areas of fatigue across paid social platforms.
* Write high‑impact creative briefs that balance platform best practices with insight‑driven storytelling optimized for Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and other paid channels.
* Partner with Paid Media and Account teams to align creative testing priorities with spend, audience, and performance goals.
* Confidently lead client calls and performance reviews, communicating insights clearly and connecting creative ideas to business outcomes.
* Stay ahead of creative trends and platform evolutions, ensuring GAIN remains a thought leader in performance creative.
Strategic Leadership & Team Development
* Line‑manage a team of 5–6 Creative Strategists, providing direction, coaching, and performance feedback through regular 1:1s.
* Build team capability in performance‑led creative strategy, turning data, insights, and testing results into actionable creative direction.
* Foster collaboration between Strategy, Media, and Design teams to strengthen the connection between paid performance and creative execution.
* Lead the evolution of best practices for creative performance reviews, testing roadmaps, and data‑led learning documentation.
* Oversee team workload and resourcing to ensure effective prioritisation and consistent delivery quality across clients.
Creative Quality & Delivery Oversight
* Own the consistency and quality of all Creative Strategy deliverables, ensuring every output is grounded in data, testing learnings, and paid media performance objectives.
* Standardise QA processes across documentation, testing frameworks, and creative reports for clarity and comparability.
* Review and sign off on strategy decks, creative trackers, and testing frameworks before client delivery.
* Ensure creative storytelling is performance‑first actionable, measurable, and aligned with platform algorithms and ad formats.
* Champion precision, structure, and results in every stage of the creative process.
Process, Resourcing & Traffic Management
* Oversee workload allocation, project flow, and resource optimisation across the Creative Strategy team.
* Collaborate with the Head of Creative Services and Traffic Manager to forecast capacity and prevent bottlenecks.
* Implement systems that improve operational efficiency from creative documentation and naming conventions to testing schedules.
* Ensure smooth, consistent delivery across strategy, design, and UGC workflows.
QUALIFICATIONS
* 6+ years in performance creative strategy, growth marketing, or paid media, ideally within an agency or DTC environment.
* Proven experience managing and mentoring a team of strategists or creatives.
* Strong understanding of paid social performance metrics (CPA, ROAS, CTR, CVR, Hook Rate, Hold Rate) and their creative implications.
* Experience developing and QA’ing creative testing frameworks, insight decks, and performance‑driven creative reports.
* Exceptional ability to translate performance data into strategic creative recommendations that directly impact results.
* Deep platform expertise across Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and other paid social environments.
* Excellent communication and presentation skills; comfortable leading client discussions and internal reviews.
* Skilled at managing resourcing, priorities, and workflow in a fast‑paced environment.
WHO YOU ARE
* A natural coach and leader with a deep understanding of performance‑focused creative strategy.
* Equally comfortable developing frameworks, optimising delivery systems, and creating world‑class strategic work for clients.
* Analytical and creative in equal measure; you can move fluidly between data insights and storytelling.
* Calm, structured, and proactive under pressure.
* You’re hands‑on with data: you love diving into Excel, Google Sheets, or Ads dashboards to uncover patterns, understand why creatives perform or fatigue, and turn that into clear creative hypotheses.
* You let data guide your creativity: using metrics to validate ideas, refine messaging, and inform testing strategies.
* Passionate about elevating creative work that not only looks great but performs.
WHY JOIN
* Lead the evolution of GAIN’s performance creative strategy offering, driving excellence across strategy, design, and UGC.
* Balance hands‑on creative strategy with leadership and team development.
* Collaborate with an ambitious, forward‑thinking leadership team redefining what performance creative means.
* Work in an environment that values curiosity, accountability, and creative excellence with measurable impact.
HOW YOU’LL WORK
* Constant curiosity: think critically and understand the data, knowing where to take action.
* Pushing boundaries: make the most efficient use of technology, suggest process improvements.
* The power of our imagination: solve problems, go the extra mile, and find the best approach with clients to get results.
* Making it happen: proactive, use sound judgement, take responsibility.
* Putting people first: build effective relationships internally and externally, understanding business and client needs.
EEO STATEMENT
GAIN is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity.
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