Social Media Marketing + Graphic Design Associate

We're building the in-house creative function for a Japan-based fintech platform, and we're looking for someone we can grow from the ground up — not just a designer who fills briefs, but someone who takes genuine pride in how our brand shows up in public. This role blends design with judgment: you won't just produce assets; you'll read what's actually landing with our audience and adjust.

This is not a template-filling role. You'll be shaping how a financial product presents itself to real users — where a sloppy asset or a careless caption costs us trust, not just engagement. Our audience is discerning, and much of it is Japanese. Quality is the only standard. We train every associate to think critically and reach the right creative call on their own, using AI as a support tool rather than a substitute for taste. Once you've proven you can consistently get it right, you'll be trusted to move fast — real speed is earned through skill, not shortcuts.

We're a growing team, and we mean that literally — the brand guidelines, content calendar, and asset library you'll work with are still being shaped, and we actively want someone who takes initiative to help build them. The culture here is built on mutual trust, shared accountability, and a genuine respect for doing things well. If that resonates with you, keep reading.

Responsibilities:

• Design static creative for social, community channels, and campaigns — posts, banners, announcement cards, event graphics, presentation assets
• Own the content calendar: plan it, keep it filled, and keep it shipping on schedule
• Publish and monitor posts across our channels, and track how each one actually performs
• Recognize what's working and bring that back into the next round of creative — not just produce volume
• Report on performance in numbers, not impressions of impressions — you should be comfortable saying which post did what, and why
• Maintain and extend our brand system — colors, type, templates, asset library — so the whole team can move faster
• Use AI tools to sharpen your own well-considered concepts, not to generate work you haven't thought through
• Keep organized, accessible files — versioned, named properly, findable by someone who isn't you
• Escalate anything involving financial claims, promotions, or numbers to your Lead before it goes out — nothing about money publishes unreviewed
• Follow team rules, protocols, and brand guidelines diligently — structure exists for a reason and will be respected
• We believe every public post is a first impression for someone, and deserves your full presence and care

What We're Looking For:

Non-negotiables — read these carefully:

• Real graphic design experience. Not "I've used Canva." You should have designed for a brand or client with an actual audience, and be able to walk us through your choices.
• A social account you personally ran, with the numbers to show for it. This is the core of your portfolio. We want to see accounts you managed — the graphics you made for them, and the performance behind those posts: impressions, likes, retweets/shares, follower growth over a stated period. Screenshots of your analytics are exactly what we're asking for. A portfolio of pretty graphics with no audience data attached will not get you through this stage.
• Japanese market experience is highly preferred. If you've designed or run social for a Japanese brand, a Japan-facing account, or a JP audience — say so early and show it. This is the single biggest differentiator in this search.

Also required:

• Strong with Figma, Canva, or Adobe — whichever you use, you should be genuinely fluent in it
• A body of work that shows range and taste — we care far more about what you've actually made than where you studied
• High energy and quick on your feet — comfortable with fast, informal communication (voice notes, memes, Slack chaos included) and unfazed by a startup's rough edges
• Confident — you can explain why you made a design choice, and defend it or drop it without going quiet
• Understands hierarchy — you know what you can ship yourself and what needs your Lead's eyes, and you act without being told
• Conscientious — deadlines hold, files are clean, nothing gets published with a typo in it
• Audience-minded — you can tell the difference between a post that looks nice and a post that works
• Follows rules diligently — brand guidelines aren't suggestions
• Strong written English — clear, warm, and professional, and able to write a caption that doesn't sound like a press release
• Sharp critical thinking — you can reason through a brief yourself, not just execute the literal request
• Comfortable using AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Midjourney, or similar) as an aid, not a crutch
• High discretion — you'll see campaign plans and product information before they're public
• Startup mindset — adaptable, steady, and not easily rattled

Bonus Points (not required, but we will prioritize you):

• JLPT N2/N1 or business-level Japanese — especially if you can review Japanese-language creative for tone, not just accuracy
• Short-form video or motion graphics ability (Reels, TikTok, CapCut, After Effects)
• Experience running paid social or reading analytics beyond surface-level metrics
• Familiar with crypto, DeFi, or fintech products — and the visual language that comes with them
• Google AI Essentials or equivalent AI literacy certificate
• Meta Blueprint, HubSpot Marketing, or similar certification
• Has grown an account from zero to a real audience
• Illustration, 3D, or photography skills

Reporting to: Growth Operations Lead and CMO

Setup:

• 100% WFH from day one
• Flexible hours, output-based — you'll need meaningful overlap with Philippine business hours (JST business hours) for team syncs and reviews, but we're not counting the hours you spend at your desk
• No time tracker
• Deadlines are firm; how you get there is yours to manage
• Team communication via Slack
• BYOD — your own machine capable of running your design tools, plus stable fiber internet
• Confidentiality/NDA agreement required before you see any campaign or product information
• Paid training and evaluation period — Part-Time status running through the 30th of the month you're hired (this lines up with our salary reporting cycle)
• Promotion to Full-Time is based on your evaluation — if your work is clearly solid early on, that promotion can happen before the 30th too
• Initiative is welcomed — stepping up when it's needed is part of the culture here
• Internal growth and promotions for top performers

To Apply:

Start your message with the subject line:
[Social + Design] – [Your Name] – [City]

Then send the following. We read every response personally — take your time with these.

1. Your portfolio, which must include:

The social account(s) you personally ran — handle or link, and what your actual role was (you ran it solo, you handled design only, you shared it with a team — just be honest)
The numbers. Impressions, likes, retweets/shares, follower growth, over a period you state clearly. Analytics screenshots are ideal. If an account was small, show it anyway — we'd rather see 3,000 real followers you grew than a vague claim about a big one.
The graphics you made for those accounts — so we can connect the design work to the results it produced
Any Japanese-market work, called out specifically

If your best work is under NDA or on an account you no longer have access to, tell us what you can and show what you have. We're reasonable about this — we're not reasonable about people who skip the numbers entirely.

2. Answer all three questions:

Pick your best-performing post and your worst-performing post from the same account. What was different about them? (Numbers, then your read on why.)
If we give you a chance at this role, what is the one thing you can promise us?
Think of a time you were part of a startup, org, or company — what's one initiative you personally established that's still in use today (or was used before you left), and became part of how that company actually operates?

A note on AI: using it to help you write or ideate is fine — we use it ourselves. But we can tell when an answer wasn't reviewed by the person sending it, and we can tell when a portfolio piece was generated rather than made. Edit before you submit.

Important: Do not use any of the following words anywhere in your application — passionate, dedicated, hardworking, committed, team player, fast learner, creative, or go-getter. Applications containing these words will not be reviewed. We want your real voice, not resume language.

Applications without the correct subject line, a portfolio with performance numbers, and all three answers will not be reviewed.