Creative Strategist (AI-Native, Direct Response)

About SweetSpot Heating & Cooling SweetSpot is a growing home-services company in the New York metro, and we are building our creative team from zero. This is the number one creative seat in the company, not a slot in a large agency hierarchy. The strategist hired here owns the function, works directly with the owner, and has a real path to leading the team as we scale. About the role We are hiring a creative strategist who will own paid ad creative end to end: research, angles, hooks, scripts, briefing creators and editors, and the learnings that turn winners into the next batch. This is not a "make pretty ads" role and it is not strategy-only. You will direct really strong video editors and UGC creators, and you will use AI (including Claude Code) as your production engine for research, hooks, scripts and variants. We are honest about the level this role is hired at: we are looking for strong raw talent with real direct-response instincts who wants ownership and serious training, and who wants to grow into a top-tier strategist with us. You will get mentorship, a proven creative system, and weekly learnings reviews. In return we expect pace, curiosity, and work you can defend. What you will do • Build the research base first: homeowner avatars, desires, objections, competitors, and our own ad account history. No angles before research. • Plan concepts in a structured roadmap, each with angle, avatar, desire, mechanism, authority, awareness level, emotion, positioning and urgency. • Write hooks and scripts built for the first 3 seconds: one desire, one avatar, one message per ad. • Brief UGC creators and editors so clearly they can execute with no follow-up call, and review their work to a finished, launch-ready ad. • Run the testing system: from one winning angle, build structured iterations where each variation tests something named. • Run the learnings: label every ad (Breakthrough, Spend Winner, KPI Winner, Loser), state why it performed, and turn that into the next round. • Hit 20 to 30 finished, launch-ready ads per month at full pace, working with our editors and AI workflows. What we are looking for • Direct-response ad experience: you have written ads that ran as paid social (Meta or TikTok) and you can show them. • A testing system, not just good taste. You can explain how you turn one winner into 20 variations. • Research discipline. Your hooks trace to evidence, not guesses. • AI fluency: you already use AI tools in your creative workflow and can show how. • Execution: you have briefed creators or managed editors and shipped finished ads. • Ownership mindset: you talk about business outcomes, not just outputs delivered, and you close feedback loops: you learn, you apply, you show what changed. • Local services or lead generation experience is a plus, not a requirement. Seasonal urgency, emergency calls, proof and trust are the game here. Pay and structure • Contract (1099), remote, month-to-month: $4,000 to $8,000 per month, 40 hours per week, based on experience. • Performance bonus structure discussed after the trial month, tied to winning ads. • Growth path: this seat grows into leading the creative team. One of the paths we model is editor or strategist to team lead as spend scales. Our hiring process (exactly how it works) • Short application: portfolio of ads you wrote that actually ran, plus 3 short answers (your testing system on a real winner; one ad you iterated and what it tested; your AI workflow). • Interview 1 (30 minutes): screening and craft in one call, run as a working session on your past ads: what did you learn, how did you apply it, what feedback loops did you complete. • Paid test: $100 flat, 48 hours, capped at 4 hours of work, paid regardless of outcome. A short research snapshot, hooks, scripts, an iteration plan and an execution plan for a real scenario. • Interview 2 (final, with the owner): we walk your test together and you defend your choices. References are checked after this call (we will ask to speak with one past employer). Two interviews total, no more. • Paid 30-day trial at your full agreed monthly rate, with daily contact, mentorship and a weekly check-in. Written decision at day 30. We hire off the test and the trial, not the interview. If you are the kind of strategist who would rather prove it than pitch it, apply. To apply: https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/sweetspot-heating-and-cooling-creative-strategist-ai-native-direct-response