Manager, Creative Strategy (Digital Gaming)

CREATIVITY IS OUR SUPERPOWER. It’s our heritage and it’s also our future. Because we don’t just make toys. We create innovative products and experiences that inspire fans, entertain audiences and develop children through play. Mattel is at its best when every member of our team feels respected, included, and heard—when everyone can show up as themselves and do their best work every day. We value and share an infinite range of ideas and voices that evolve and broaden our perspectives with a reach that extends into all our brands, partners, and suppliers.

The Team:

Mattel Game Studios’ mission is to harness the power of Mattel's iconic brands and IP to create a wide variety of engaging digital games. Our team is guided by industry leaders with decades of experience in various facets of the gaming industry. We are seeking talented individuals to join us in our mission to create innovative and engaging digital experiences that resonate with our beloved brands. If you are passionate about gaming and eager to be part of a dynamic, forward-thinking team in family entertainment, this is the opportunity for you! 

The Opportunity: 

Mattel Games Studio is seeking an experienced Creative Strategy Manager to lead the ideation, development, production, delivery, testing, and optimization of user acquisition, retargeting, and ASO creatives across our global portfolio. This role will blend creative vision with analytical rigor - turning performance insights into high-impact concepts that resonate with diverse player audiences. You will establish and own our in-house creative strategy function, partner cross-functionally to ensure creative excellence, and set the standard for how beloved Mattel brands become global mobile gaming hits. 

What Your Impact Will Be: 

• Develop and own a portfolio-wide creative strategy that adapts to each title's lifecycle stage, using data-driven plans to fuel performance across UA, Retargeting, and ASO. 

• Translate strategy into structured briefs, hypothesis maps, and creative testing plans rooted in benchmarks and player motivations. 

• Manage the end-to-end creative lifecycle: from ideation and partner briefing to production, iterative testing, and executive-ready reporting. 

• Track emerging creative trends across ads, competitors, and UGC; distill insights into concepts, hooks, and narratives that inform testing 

• Develop and execute creative experiments designed to isolate variables, optimize early-funnel signals (CTR, IPM), and translate insights into modeled performance outcomes. 

• Drive funnel conversion and App Store performance by developing storefront creative strategies (icon, screenshots, video) in close collaboration with UA, Live Ops, and Brand teams. 

• Streamline creative production through AI-assisted tooling, taxonomy/versioning systems, and scalable workflows. 

• Safeguard brand/IP integrity and ensure platform compliance by setting performance-optimized guardrails in collaboration with Legal and Brand. 

• Oversee timelines, budgets, and vendor/agency resources to maximize throughput and output quality. 

• Adapt and localize creatives for international markets without compromising brand consistency or performance goals. 

What We’re Looking For:

• 4+ years in creative strategy / UA creative / product marketing for mobile games, with clear KPI impact (CTR, CVR, IPM, CPI, ROAS). 

• Strong analytical chops: comfort with campaign dashboards and competitive intel (e.g., Data.ai, Sensortower) to generate actionable insights. 

• Advanced knowledge of ad platform ecosystems such as Meta, Google, TikTok, Unity Ads, AppLovin. 

• Demonstrated ability to envision, articulate, and document strategies that connect player motivation, brand/IP, and performance KPIs. 

• Proven ability to synthesize data into creative insights, run structured experiments, and scale winners. 

• Excellent cross-functional communication and stakeholder alignment skills. 

• Experience managing creative agencies, vendors, or internal production resources. 

• Passion for mobile gaming and a curiosity for creative innovation. 

• Demonstrated a growth mindset by staying curious and continuously learning, embracing challenges, and improving themselves.

​Nice to Have 

• Familiarity with privacy-centric performance constraints (e.g., SKAN signal loss considerations) and how to design tests accordingly. 

• Experience with creative automation / DCO and AI-assisted creative workflows. 

• Prior experience with branded IPs or licensed games. 

 The annual base salary range for this position is between $80,000 and $125,000.
**This range is indicative of projected hiring range, however annual base salary will be determined based on a candidate’s work location, skills and experience. Mattel offers competitive total pay programs, comprehensive benefits, and resources to help empower a culture where every employee can reach their full potential.

Don’t meet every single requirement? At Mattel, we are dedicated to an inclusive workplace and a culture of belonging. If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we still encourage you to apply. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

How We Work:

We are a purpose driven company aiming to empower generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential. We live up to our purpose employing the following behaviors:

• We collaborate: Being a part of Mattel means being part of one team with shared values and common goals. Every person counts and working closely together always brings better results. Partnership is our process and our collective capabilities is our superpower.
• We innovate: At Mattel we always aim to find new and better ways to create innovative products and experiences. No matter where you work in the organization, you can always make a difference and have real impact. We welcome new ideas and value new initiatives that challenge conventional thinking.
• We execute: We are a performance-driven company. We strive for excellence and are focused on pursuing best-in-class outcomes. We believe in accountability and ownership and know that our people are at their best when they are empowered to create and deliver results.

Who We Are:

Mattel is a leading global toy and family entertainment company and owner of one of the most iconic brand portfolios in the world. We engage consumers and fans through our franchise brands, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, American Girl, Thomas & Friends, UNO, Masters of the Universe, Matchbox, Monster High, MEGA and Polly Pocket, as well as other popular properties that we own or license in partnership with global entertainment companies. Our offerings include toys, content, consumer products, digital and live experiences. Our products are sold in collaboration with the world’s leading retail and ecommerce companies. Since its founding in 1945, Mattel is proud to be a trusted partner in empowering generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential.

Mattel’s award-winning workplace culture has been recognized by Forbes, Fast Company, Newsweek, Great Place to Work, TIME, and more.

Visit us at https://jobs.mattel.com/ and www.instagram.com/MattelCareers.

Mattel is an Equal Opportunity Employer where we want you to bring your authentic self to work every day. We welcome all job seekers, and all applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, veteran and protected veteran status, disability status, and or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state or local law.

Pursuant to the Los Angeles Fair Chance Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act, qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment.

Videos to watch:
The Culture at Mattel
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