Darkroom is the leading next-generation growth marketing firm engineering the brands of tomorrow. Founded in 2017, we set out to redefine what a modern agency could be, by replacing the inertia of legacy advertising behemoths with a model built for speed, intelligence, and measurable impact.
At our core, Darkroom is a human services company powered by Shadow, a universal AI commerce layer that integrates executive-level strategy with proprietary agentic technology. This fusion enables our teams to deliver outsized returns by enhancing creative output, operational efficiency, and revenue generation across every stage of the customer journey.
Our track record speaks for itself: billions in attributable revenue driven across e-commerce marketplaces, media networks, DTC ecosystems, and social commerce platforms. Every engagement feeds into our proprietary data infrastructure, enabling a continuous feedback loop that accelerates growth, improves margins, and compounds results across our client portfolio.
What began as a boutique design studio has evolved into one of the fastest-growing private companies in America (Inc. 5000) and among the most effective performance media agencies of the 2020s (Varos). Our founders were recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 for advancing the intersection of technology, marketing, and advertising, cementing Darkroom's role as a defining player in the future of media innovation.
This is a dedicated, senior role on a single account, helping a key client bring a brand new product to market, with Darkroom owning all media channels. You are the creative lead on that engagement, accountable for the brand's whole creative story, from positioning and messaging down to the hook on a 15-second ad.
That makes this different from a typical agency creative role. You are not spreading yourself across a portfolio. You are going deep on one enterprise client, setting creative positioning with their leadership, then sitting with designers and editors to tighten the frame across paid, social, and retention.
The role is based in San Jose, CA and requires 4–5 days per week in the office.
Responsibilities:
Brand & Creative Positioning: Own creative positioning for the brand and its new product launch. Turn brand strategy, audience insight, and competitive context into a clear point of view on what a brand says and how it looks and sounds.
Copy & Messaging: Lead copy and messaging end to end, from messaging frameworks, taglines, and campaign lines to ad copy, email, and SMS. Flex tone by channel and funnel stage, and be the person who delivers when a client asks you to "punch up the copy."
Full-Funnel Creative Strategy: Lead creative strategy across paid (Meta, TikTok, YouTube, Amazon), organic social (Instagram, TikTok), and retention (email, SMS, lifecycle), so every channel ladders up to one brand story.
Campaigns: Concept and lead the launch campaign and the large, integrated campaigns that follow, from the big idea through briefs, production, launch, and measuring what they actually did.
Testing & Learning: Own the testing roadmap: what gets tested, in what order, against what hypothesis, and what a real win looks like before spend goes live. Balance brand-building work with performance.
Hands-On Creative Direction: Work directly with Designers and Editors, briefing statics, motion, short-form video, UGC, and storyboards. Give sharp, tactical feedback on design, pacing, and edit structure, and jump into Figma or an edit yourself when it's faster. This isn't the role for strategy-only folks.
Data Analysis: Read performance data across paid, social, and retention, from ad metrics to open rate, click rate, and repeat purchase, and turn it into the next concept.
Executive Presentation & Client Leadership: Present creative strategy and campaigns to the client's leadership with clarity, confidence, and strategic rationale. Own the creative relationship on the account and navigate pushback with ease.
Cross-Team Partnership: Work daily with Paid Media, Analytics, and the client's own program leads so creative and media run as one program.
Team Leadership: Lead the creative team on the account, raise the bar on craft, and build the processes, frameworks, and AI-enabled workflows that keep quality high as volume grows.
6+ years in creative strategy, brand marketing, or creative leadership, including 3+ years at Director level or above.
Brand marketing experience. You've shaped positioning, messaging, and brand voice for consumer brands, in-house or agency side.
Creative experience across paid, social, and retention. You've led work on Meta and TikTok ads, organic social, and email/SMS, and you understand how each channel works and where they connect.
You've directed large-scale, integrated campaigns, including OOH, from the big idea through launch and results.
You're a strong writer and lead copy and messaging yourself.
A portfolio of proven brand-scale and go-to-market case studies, showing brand, performance, and campaign work across statics, short-form video, motion, OOH, and lifecycle, with context on the results it drove.
You've owned production end to end, from brief and pre-production through shoot, post, and delivery, on time and on budget.
You speak in hooks, angles, and metrics. You know thumb-stop rate, 3-second hold, hook retention, CTR, and CPA, and you use them to decide what to test next.
You're comfortable working directly with designers and editors. You can storyboard, give frame-by-frame feedback, and jump into Figma or Adobe Creative Suite to polish assets.
You already use tools like Claude, Midjourney, Perplexity, Runway, or similar to increase speed and volume. You have shipped work with AI-assisted elements, not just experiments.
Team management: You've managed and grown creative teams. You lead with clarity, direct feedback, and a high bar, and people want to work for you.
Stakeholder management: You have enterprise client experience and keep everyone, from the client's C-suite to their program leads, aligned without slowing the work down.
Communication: You're an excellent communicator, both in writing and when presenting to senior clients.
Ownership: You take a program from brief to delivery and are accountable for the outcome, not just the idea.
High EQ, low ego: You give and take direct feedback, stay calm under pressure, and know where every person on your team truly sits.
No brand marketing or positioning experience. Performance-only with no brand point of view is not a fit.
No paid social creative experience on Meta or TikTok.
Can't lead copy and messaging.
No portfolio link or no results context.
Strategy-only, with no hands-on work alongside designers and editors.
Not excellent in client presentation and salesmanship.
Darkroom is not a typical agency. We are looking for A players who want to build something great. We move fast, think deeply, and expect every team member to bring insight and rigor to everything they touch. We hold a high bar for performance, creativity, and ownership — but we also support each other relentlessly. No egos, no red tape — just world-class talent building something remarkable.
We believe in autonomy with accountability, truth over comfort, and outcomes over optics.
Unlimited PTO + US holidays: Rebooting is part of the work. Take the time you need to stay sharp.
Embedded with the client: This role is based in the San José Area and works from the client's office four to five days a week, as part of a 150-person independent agency.
Health & Wellness: Company-sponsored medical, dental, and vision coverage.
Finances, growth, and retirement: Darkroom offers a robust 401(k) program with company match and profit-sharing opportunities to help you save and grow as the company grows.
Parental Leave: Flexible parental leave to support new parents during this important transition.
Growth: Our interdisciplinary model gives every Darkroomer exposure far beyond their core role. Grow your skills, expand your influence, and stay at the forefront of the industry.
Compensation: The base salary range for this role is $160,000 to $220,000 per year. This range represents the anticipated minimum and maximum for this position and applies to candidates based in New York, including New York City, in compliance with the New York State Pay Transparency Law and the New York City Salary Transparency Law. Actual compensation within this range will be determined based on experience, skills, and qualifications.
Darkroom is an equal opportunity workplace, we are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national orientation, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.