Brand & Creative Strategist | Contract in Reading

Aura is building a new kind of end-of-life company — one that brings clarity, warmth and modern thinking to a category most brands get wrong. We’re already one of the UK’s leading funeral plan providers, and we’re expanding into a broader platform for peace-of-mind planning.

We need someone who can turn customer insight into high-performing creative, run a relentless testing engine, and scale what works — all within a category that demands sensitivity, authenticity and emotional intelligence. This is a senior, hands-on leadership position for someone who wants full ownership of creative strategy across paid social, with the commercial accountability that comes with it.

• Paid social creative strategy
• Own the end-to-end creative strategy for paid social across Meta, TikTok, YouTube and emerging platforms.
• Build and run a high-velocity creative testing programme designed to learn quickly and scale winners.
• Partner closely with performance marketing to align creative testing with commercial targets — MQLs, SQLs and revenue.
• Translate performance data into creative insight, and creative insight back into measurable improvement.
• Push creative boundaries while respecting the sensitivity and responsibility of the category.

• Creative production and velocity
• Own the creative pipeline from ideation through to production, QA and handoff to the performance team.
• Use AI tools, templates and smart workflows to increase output without sacrificing quality or originality.
• Manage external creative freelancers and production partners where needed.
• Bring deep, instinctive understanding of how social algorithms, placements and formats influence creative performance.
• Design creative for distribution as well as aesthetics — native, scroll-stopping, platform-appropriate.

• Organic social and brand voice
• While paid creative is the core of this role, you will also have a hand in shaping Aura’s organic social presence and voice.
• Contribute to the organic content strategy, balancing storytelling, education and cultural relevance.
• Help build a distinctive Aura social voice that is compassionate, modern, confident and human.
• Spot trends early and adapt them in a way that feels authentic and on-brand.
• Work as a senior peer alongside Content, Design, Performance Marketing and Product.
• Lead and develop junior social managers, creatives and freelancers as the function grows.
• Set clear standards for creative quality, pace and commercial rigour.
• Be hands-on where it matters while building towards a scalable, repeatable function.

Paid social creative performance is improving consistently month-on-month against defined commercial KPIs. Creative testing is systematic, fast and insight-led — not reactive or ad hoc. You have a clear, data-informed view of what creative messages, formats and hooks work for each audience segment. The creative pipeline is running at velocity without bottlenecks or quality drops.

Proven track record producing high-performing paid social creative that drove measurable commercial results. Significant experience across Meta Ads (essential) and ideally TikTok, YouTube or other paid platforms. Strong creative judgement paired with genuine commercial awareness — you understand CAC, ROAS and funnel metrics. Experience working closely with performance marketing teams and optimising creative based on data. Experience building or scaling creative testing programmes.

Bonus, not essential:

• Experience in a sensitive, regulated or trust-dependent category (health, finance, end-of-life, insurance).
• Experience with PMAX or broader Google Ads creative.
• Familiarity with AI-powered creative tools, production workflows or testing methodologies.
• Creative, curious and deeply interested in people — what moves them, what they fear, what they need to hear.
• Motivated by building something meaningful, not just something loud.
• Someone who wants to use their creative powers for good.