Creative Strategist, Paid Social (Durham)

Location: Durham, NC (in person)

Reports to: Cofounder and COO

Type: Full time, salaried

How to apply

Write a paragraph, in your own words (not AI), on why you want this role and what you would bring to it. Include your portfolio and any examples of the content you are most proud of.

Email it to View email address on apply.placed-app.com with your resume attached as a PDF. We read every application that comes in this way.

About Carpe

Carpe is the fastest growing deodorant brand in the US. Our team is made up of smart people who care about the work, building together in person in downtown Durham, NC. The office is open, with plenty of quiet niches when you need to focus, and the pace is fast.

Who we're looking for

Carpe is the fastest growing deodorant brand in the US, and our creative is a big reason why. Our ads outperform the market, and the person in this seat is a big reason why.

We make some of the best performing video ads in the category, and we're looking for an in house video producer to help fuel that engine. You will have real freedom to create across a wide range of concepts and styles, and a genuine say in what we make. You will also get plenty of direction and support from our creative team, so you are never figuring it out alone.

The feedback loop is fast. You film this week, your content is live next week, and a few days later you know exactly how it performed. Then you fold in what you learned and build on your next ad. Almost nobody in this industry gets to see their work perform that quickly.

If you know how to turn a good idea into something people actually want to watch, you will feel at home here. Your main job is to make paid social ads that engage people and sell. You do not need to be on camera. You are the person who finds the talent, sets up the shot, coaches the performance and gets it done.

If this excites you but you do not check every box below, we would still love to hear from you.

What you'll do

Make great ads

• Run efficient shoot days directing real people, creators, and professional talent

• Concept and create across a wide range of styles and formats: UGC, street, podcast, studio, founder led, static to video, whatever the insight calls for

• Move between an iPhone in a parking lot and a lit studio set with ease

• Keep enough ideas queued that we are never waiting on something to shoot

Think like a strategist

• Spot high potential concepts and angles using data, comments, reviews, and competitive research

• Ship tests deliberately, track how they perform, and feed the learnings into what you make next

• Know your numbers: hook rate, hold rate, CTR, CPA, and which of your ads are actually carrying spend

Move at volume

• Several productions live at once, none of them dropped

• A steady weekly output of new concepts and variations, rather than one big swing a month

• Repeatable formats we can run, not just one off hero pieces

Collaborate with the editing team

• Organize your footage and give editors the direction they need to bring your content to life

• Give editors the context, hooks, and coverage they need to cut fast

Own your work

• Shoots end to end: budgets, casting, creators, locations, props, product, gear, schedule

• Work with creators, crew, and studios, and everything else a shoot touches

• Build a roster of creators, talent, and crew, and keep growing it

What we're looking for

The core of the job is this. If most of these are true, please apply.

• You have made short form video, ideally ads for paid social

• You have a portfolio you can show, with some sense of how the work performed (sales, signups, spend, retention, anything)

• You are comfortable directing and coaching people on camera

• You can cut a rough version yourself when that is faster (Premiere, Final Cut Pro, or similar)

How you work

• You take direction and run with it

• You can keep several productions moving without losing track of any of them

• You are good on set, with both real people and professional talent

• You are resourceful with a budget

• You move fast and iterate quickly on feedback

• You care about getting better at this craft

Nice to have

• CPG, DTC, or consumer brands

• Paid social creative for Meta, TikTok, and YouTube

• UGC and creator led content at volume

• On the street shoots with real people

• Photography or studio lighting

• A roster of creators, talent, and crew you could call today

How to apply

Write a paragraph, in your own words (not AI), on why you want this role and what you would bring to it. Include your portfolio and any examples of the content you are most proud of.

Email it to View email address on apply.placed-app.com with your resume attached as a PDF. We read every application that comes in this way.