Full-time Creative Director

Company Description

Schaefer is a paid media agency laser-focused on food and beverage brands. What sets us apart is our proprietary "Why People Buy" research model. We speak directly to food shoppers to understand why they buy before any media strategy is built. That original intelligence shapes everything: how we segment audiences, who we target, and where we spend. It also leads to big results for our clients. We're a close-knit, strategic team that moves fast, thinks big, and genuinely loves the brands we work with.

Role Description

We're looking for a full-time Creative Director to join Schaefer as our first creative hire — the person who sets the standard for what great looks like, both for our clients and for our own brand.

This is a dual-mandate role: 60% driving creative for our F&B client portfolio, and 40% shaping Schaefer's own brand identity, marketing materials, and creative presence. You'll lead from day one and grow the function around you... starting with a contractor network and building toward an internal team.

Application Requirements

• Resume
• Portfolio PDF / Link with work samples

What You'll Do

• Lead paid media creative strategy across the client portfolio — primarily Meta, Google, YouTube, CTV, Pinterest, TikTok
• Get your hands dirty in production — you're not just directing, you're doing; we expect you to produce ads yourself, especially early on
• Translate audience insights from our Why People Buy framework into creative briefs, concepts, and direction
• Build and own the creative production process, with AI tools at the center — from concepting and copywriting to asset generation, iteration, and versioning

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• Continuously explore emerging AI capabilities and rebuild the workflow around them; this process is never finished
• Manage and quality-control a network of freelance designers, motion artists, and copywriters — growing toward an internal team
• Own Schaefer's brand identity — visual system, tone, design language, and how we show up across all channels
• Lead creative development for Schaefer's own sales and marketing assets: decks, case studies, proposals, and the SchaeferOS platform
• Show up on LinkedIn as a credible F&B creative voice — sharing trends, POVs, and category observations that build Schaefer's authority in the space
• Stay close to performance data and feed learnings back into creative iteration

What We're Looking For

• 7+ years in creative roles with meaningful hands-on production experience — you've made ads yourself recently, not just managed people who make them
• Strong portfolio spanning paid digital advertising and brand identity — F&B or CPG experience preferred
• Deep, genuine curiosity about AI creative tools — you're already using them, already experimenting, and actively rebuilding workflows around emerging capabilities
• Experience building or rebuilding creative production systems; you think in systems, not just executions
• Comfortable managing freelancers and contractors while staying personally involved in the work
• Fluent in performance creative — great work has to perform, not just look good
• A credible, confident voice comfortable representing Schaefer's POV publicly, including on LinkedIn
• Collaborative with strategists and media buyers — you see data as a creative input, not a threat

Bonus Points

• Direct experience with F&B or CPG brands
• Familiarity with Meta, YouTube, CTV, or streaming ad formats
• Background at a boutique or independent agency
• An existing presence or audience in the food, beverage, or marketing space

What We Offer

• Salary: $95,000–$125,000, based on experience
• Performance bonus
• Fully remote position
• Health, vision, and dental insurance — 70% company covered (employee + dependents)
• Basic life insurance — 100% company covered
• 401k match up to 4%
• Career growth opportunity — you're building the creative function from the ground up
• A small, collaborative team where your work actually matters
• The chance to work with some of the most exciting brands in food and beverage