Aquent is hiring: Creative Brand Strategist in San Antonio

Join to apply for the Creative Brand Strategist role at Aquent

This range is provided by Aquent. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

Base pay range

$35.00/hr - $38.00/hr

We are seeking a creative minded, critical thinking Creative Brand Strategist with a proven ability to engage teams and drive results independently in an advertising agency or in-house agency environment. A highly experienced thought leader with a deep understanding of people, culture, and the world, and most importantly, a desire to dig into what makes them tick. Leverages logic and excels at distilling facts and insights to create a highly impactful understanding of the target audience.

Important to Note: We don’t just want Brand Managers, but Creative Strategists—the group of people who studied and do this discipline in creative development.

Our client is a leading provider of insurance, banking, and investment and retirement solutions to more than 13 million members of the U.S. military, veterans who have honorably served and their families.

In this critical role, you will lead creative strategy development through ownership of creative briefs and provision of creative guidance for the in-house agency copy writer, graphic designer, and video teams. You must have experience converting marketing strategy, business, and channel goals into creative strategy and messaging, and maintaining brand standards/guidelines. The role requires a strategist who tells compelling brand stories that excite, inspire, and help partners see opportunities in new ways. You will independently champion large‑scale strategic efforts with little oversight, support other strategists as needed, and conduct other strategy‑related duties as assigned.

What You’ll Do

• Independently develop creative strategy for large‑scale integrated projects and programs via clear yet powerful brand/enterprise creative briefs, including message/communication matrices, and journey mapping.
• Develop inspiring and timely audience profiles, insights, and understanding—targeting new members, existing members, and prospects for initiatives within Marketing/In‑house creative agency as assigned.
• Communicate effectively while collaborating across creative, brand management, and project management teams in support of marketing efforts and advertising campaigns.
• Trusted partner to creative teams supporting them throughout creative development, including brainstorming, concepting, and executional development with strategic guidance.
• Excellent at conveying ideas, highly skilled in writing, and adept at presenting and leading meetings to senior‑level partners and colleagues.
• Champion and bring to life unique military “understanding” so that insights are a critical deliverable of the Brand and Creative Strategy team.
• Support and uphold alignment to branding principles via creative briefs and verbal/written guidance during development.
• Identify and leverage key military and cultural/societal trends that could impact creative briefs, as well as industry trends for the broader Brand & Creative Strategy team.
• Exhibit strategic thought leadership by staying ahead of trends and offering practical inspiration and recommendations.
• Expertise in leading social media strategy planning, full digital upper‑to‑mid funnel campaign cadence resulting in well‑integrated and successful executions.
• Proficient in independently managing and coordinating multiple work streams and deadlines efficiently.
• Lead brainstorming sessions to generate breakthrough ideas, as needed.
• Develop more tactical project creative briefs, as needed.

What You’ll Bring

• Ability to harness intuition to guide development and creative work, and interpret data to develop creative insights.
• Ability to build relationships and influence the creative process.
• Solid presentation and communication skills.
• Engaging storyteller.
• Curious personality.
• Proficient knowledge of the account planning and creative function/discipline and demonstrated application of skills toward work products required.
• Knowledgeable in qualitative and quantitative research and how to leverage it in strategy development.
• Bonus: Experience with syndicated studies such as Experian Simmons.
• Knowledgeable in the creative development process and marketing principles.
• Bachelor’s Degree required, specifically in advertising, communications, or marketing.
• 7+ years of related account planning or brand/creative strategy experience required, including developing creative briefs or creative strategies.
• Experience working with/partnering with creative teams required.
• Experience working in an advertising agency or in‑house agency required.
• Military background/Veteran (self or family) is a plus.

The target hiring compensation range for this role is $28.00 to $38.00 per hour. Compensation is based on several factors including, but not limited to education, relevant work experience, and location.

About Aquent Talent

Aquent Talent connects the best talent in marketing, creative, and design with the world’s biggest brands. Eligible talent gets access to benefits such as subsidized health, vision, and dental plans, paid sick leave, and retirement plans with a match.

Aquent is an equal‑opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. We’re about creating an inclusive environment—one where different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are valued, and everyone can contribute, grow their careers, and thrive.

Seniority level: Mid‑Senior level

Employment type: Temporary

Job function: Marketing

Industries: Financial Services, Banking, and Insurance

Location: San Antonio, TX. Flexible work environment with in‑office requirement 4 days per week. Relocation assistance not available.