Contract: Creative Technologist

Upwork ($UPWK) is the world’s work marketplace. We serve everyone from one-person startups to over 30% of the Fortune 100 with a powerful, trust-driven platform that enables companies and talent to work together in new ways that unlock their potential.

Last year, more than $3.8 billion of work was done through Upwork by skilled professionals who are gaining more control by finding work they are passionate about and innovating their careers.

This is an engagement through Upwork’s Hybrid Workforce Solutions (HWS) Team. Our Hybrid Workforce Solutions Team is a global group of professionals that supports Upwork’s business. Our HWS team members are located all over the world.

We are looking for a Creative Technologist to build and scale a best-in-class automated creative pipeline that supports paid acquisition and growth marketing at scale. Sitting at the intersection of AI, systems design, and high-craft creative production, this role is responsible for evolving an existing performance creative framework into a robust, human-in-the-loop system that consistently delivers static assets (editable in Figma), motion graphics, and video editorial content.

This role will collaborate closely with Paid Acquisition, Growth Marketing, and Creative teams to create tools and workflows that accelerate experimentation, uphold creative quality, and preserve essential human oversight.

Work/Project Scope:

• Architect and implement AI-powered creative workflows that accelerate the production of static, motion, and video assets.
• Design the end-to-end creative system for paid acquisition, from intake to delivery across channels (e.g., Meta, TikTok, YouTube, display).
• Integrate generative AI tools (image, video, audio, and text) into a streamlined pipeline using APIs, low/no-code platforms (e.g., n8n, Make, Zapier), and light scripting.
• Build modular systems and templates in Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud, and motion design tools to increase iteration speed while ensuring brand consistency.
• Establish and document human touchpoints for QA, legal, brand, and performance reviews to maintain oversight and quality standards.
• Produce static assets (editable in Figma), motion content (animations, display), and short-form video optimized for performance marketing.
• Translate growth hypotheses into structured creative systems (e.g., modular headlines, messaging frameworks) that support AI remixing and scalable testing.
• Collaborate with marketing analytics to connect creative variants to performance data (CTR, CAC, ROAS, LTV), then optimize templates and processes based on insights.
• Define and maintain asset libraries, taxonomies, and tagging schemas that support efficient versioning, discoverability, and reuse.
• Create documentation, playbooks, and onboarding materials for cross-functional teams to effectively use and contribute to the creative system.
• Drive continuous improvement by running structured experiments on prompts, templates, workflows, and tooling.

Must Haves (Required Skills):

• 6–10 years of experience at the intersection of creative technology, design systems, performance marketing, and AI-powered workflows.
• Proven ability to design and implement creative automation systems for marketing, not just use AI tools.
• Hands-on experience with AI platforms (e.g., OpenAI, Gemini), automation tools (e.g., Zapier, n8n, Make), and scripting for tool integration.
• Advanced proficiency with Figma (components, libraries, tokens) and Adobe Creative Cloud (especially After Effects and Premiere Pro).
• A strong portfolio of performance-driven creative (Meta ads, display, short-form video) and a clear understanding of channel-specific creative requirements.
• Systems thinker with strong design sensibility and attention to detail—able to operationalize high standards for static, motion, and video creative.
• Effective communicator capable of bridging the gap between creative and technical teams, translating complex workflows into user-friendly systems.

Upwork is proudly committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce. We never discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. Additionally, a criminal background check may be run on a candidate after a conditional offer to perform your services for Upwork is made. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered in accordance with applicable law, including the California Fair Chance Act and local Fair Chance ordinances.