Brand & Creative Strategist

About Shinzo Matcha

Matcha is one of the fastest-growing functional beverage subcategories. Most cafés added a matcha option in the past few years, to the point where it's odd if a café doesn't offer matcha. Shinzo is making matcha more accessible through ready-to-drink sparkling matchas and single-serve matcha pouches, designed for the rapidly growing crowd switching to matcha for smooth, steady energy.

We are an early-stage, founder-led brand in stores nationwide and growing quickly. The people we bring on now will help shape how Shinzo shows up.

The Role

We're looking for a fractional Brand & Creative Strategist who thinks deeply about Shinzo and how it resonates, then turns that thinking into direction other people can make.

You'll define how Shinzo looks and feels: a visual world that makes matcha feel easy, portable, beneficial, and worth buying. From there, you set creative direction around our value props, brief each batch, and oversee the people who make the work. That includes directing UGC creators, creator outreach, and feedback to editors. You can design statics and capture footage yourself, and achieve polished content with the help of a video editor.

You do not edit the video yourself. Plan and capture the footage so an editor can cut ads and posts from it. You work directly with the founding team.

Responsibilities

1. Brand strategy

Learn the product inside and out: the premium feel, the branding, and the value props.
Get to know our consumers: café regulars who want matcha at home, daily matcha drinkers, and people moving off energy drinks who are not necessarily regular matcha drinkers. Find what resonates.
Define how Shinzo looks and feels: mood boards, color, settings, props, styling, and tone of voice that make matcha feel easy and modern.
Write a simple brand playbook (voice, visual rules, and do's and don'ts) so every freelancer and creator stays on-brand.
Keep an eye on matcha brands, functional drinks, and energy drinks, and find where Shinzo can stand out.

2. Creative direction and operations

Turn our value props into clear creative angles: ready in 60 seconds with no whisk, café quality for less, and smooth, steady energy.
Write a creative brief for each content batch or campaign.
Direct UGC creators and run creator outreach.
Give clear, specific feedback to editors and creators so the work stays on the brief.
Watch which hooks, angles, and formats perform, and build the next round from that.

3. Occasional content

Sometimes design static ads and graphics, such as product shots, benefit highlights, and comparisons.
Sometimes plan and shoot iPhone footage for an editor to cut: scroll-stopping hooks, a stick-to-drink demo in 60 seconds, and lifestyle moments. Lit, steady, and organized.
This is not the bulk of the role, and it is not an editing job.

Who We Are Looking For

3 to 5 years in brand strategy, creative strategy, or content for a DTC or consumer brand in food and beverage, or at an agency serving CPG food and beverage brands.
A portfolio that shows the strategic thinking behind a brand, plus statics and some video you have made yourself.
Comfortable running the work, not only making it: briefing creators, outreach, and clear notes for an editor.
A strong visual eye. You can build a whole story around a product, not just a single post.
You can design polished statics in Canva, Figma, or Adobe.
You can shoot high-quality iPhone video and photos when a shoot is needed, with a real feel for light and movement.
You know short-form video and paid social: what makes a hook work, and why people stop scrolling.
Experience directing UGC creators or influencers.