Direct Response Copywriter / Creative Strategist

DIRECT RESPONSE COPYWRITER / CREATIVE STRATEGIST
Blackboard · Remote (Philippines) · Full-time
AUD $48,000 per year (approx. ₱180,000 per month) + performance bonuses

We're looking for an expert direct response copywriter who can write UGC scripts for paid social at volume, and use ad data to d ---------- what gets written next.

------------------------------------------------------------

ABOUT BLACKBOARD

Blackboard is a creative and paid social agency in Richmond, Melbourne. We work with DTC brands across supplements, health, beverage and consumer goods, and we do everything in-house, from strategy and scripts through to casting, shooting, editing and running the media. The work ranges from full production days with a crew to a creator filming a street interview on their phone, and all of it is built to sell on Meta.

We're small and growing quickly. The people joining now will be running the teams in a couple of years.

------------------------------------------------------------

THE ROLE, AND WHERE YOU'D SIT

This is a fully remote role, working with our team in Melbourne. You'd own the creative strategy across our accounts. You'd be reading what's working in the ad accounts, d ---------- what gets made next, writing the scripts and the creator direction, and then checking what comes back against what you intended.

Your main job is scriptwriting, at around 50-100+ scripts a month, plus the hooks, ad copy and creator direction that go with them. That volume means you need to be fast without the quality dropping off, and you need frameworks rather than inspiration to get there.

You'd work most closely with our talent manager, who casts and briefs every creator, and with our post-production team. You'd also be on client calls monthly, walking them through performance and pitching the next round of ideas.

Because you're remote, communication matters more than it would in an office. Almost everything happens over Slack, email, Loom and video calls. You need to write clearly, explain your thinking without being asked twice, flag problems early, and keep the team updated without anyone chasing you. If your work only makes sense once you've explained it on a call, this isn't the right role.

------------------------------------------------------------

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

Creative strategy and data

- Review creative performance across accounts and identify what's scaling, what's fatiguing and what's worth iterating on
- Build the testing roadmap for each client: the angles, the formats, the messaging territories, what we try next depending on the result
- Run deep competitor and category research through the Meta Ad Library, TikTok Creative Center, landing pages and customer reviews
- Take competitor ads apart: which audience it's for, which objection it handles, where in the funnel it sits

Scripting

- Write direct response scripts for Meta and TikTok across every format we shoot: UGC, founder explainers, podcast-style formats, street interviews, demos, testimonials, animated ads, vlogs etc.
- Structure scripts around market awareness level and match the angle to where the customer actually is in the funnel
- Own the hooks and CTAs, and be able to justify every line in a script
- Turn winning scripts into iteration sets: new hooks, new openers, new CTAs on a proven body
- Write UGC that sounds like the way people actually talk

Working with the team

- Write creator direction specific enough that nobody needs a follow-up call: what they say, how they say it, what they're doing on camera, what's in frame when they film
- Hand scripts and direction to our talent manager, who takes it from there with the creators
- Review edits from post against the original strategy and catch it when a cut has lost the angle
- Be the creative lead across talent and post so the finished ad matches what was planned
- Contribute to our scripting standards and review frameworks as the team grows
- Work overlapping hours with Melbourne (AEST) so you're available when the team and clients are

Clients

- Monthly deep dives with clients on what ran, what happened and what's next
- Communicate creative strategy in plain language
- Turn client feedback into sharper briefs rather than just revisions

------------------------------------------------------------

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

- 5+ years in direct response copywriting, creative strategy or performance creative, in an agency or a brand spending real money
- Hands-on experience with paid ads. Not adjacent to it. You've worked inside accounts with budget behind them
- Real direct response scripts that ran as paid media, and the ability to explain the strategy behind them: who it was for, what awareness level, what objection it handled, what the numbers did
- Proven ability to write at volume across multiple brands without the standard slipping
- A solid grasp of direct response fundamentals: market awareness levels, funnel stages, offers, objections and proof
- A real understanding of the psychology behind why an ad works
- Able to navigate Meta Ads Manager and read creative-level performance without help
- Active enough on TikTok and Instagram to spot a format early
- Excellent written English. Your copy goes straight to clients and creators, and most of your communication with us is written
- Strong at working remotely: clear updates, fast responses during working hours, and comfortable on video calls with clients
- Organised across multiple brands and multiple scripts in flight
- Reliable internet and a quiet setup for client calls
- Based in the Philippines

------------------------------------------------------------

NICE TO HAVE

- Agency background
- DTC / eCommerce experience
- TikTok Ads Manager
- Experience directing creators or working on shoots
- Comfortable filming or editing your own low-fi content
- AI tools already in your workflow. We build our own internal software with AI and it's a real part of how we work, so there's room here for someone interested in it
- Have built or documented a testing framework before

------------------------------------------------------------

WHAT'S ON OFFER

- AUD $48,000 per year, paid monthly in AUD (approx. ₱180,000 per month at current rates)
- Performance bonuses
- Fully remote
- Ownership of the creative standard across the agency, growing into leading the creative team as we hire
- We've built our own reporting, so you'll see exactly how every script you write performed

------------------------------------------------------------

HOW TO APPLY

We're hiring one person, and we'll hire the one who proves they can make our ads perform better. So this isn't a resume-and-cover-letter application. Show us your work and your thinking.

Email me directly with:

1. Two or three direct response scripts you wrote that ran as paid ads. For each one, tell us the strategy behind it: who it was for, what awareness level you wrote it for, what angle or objection you were working, and what happened when it ran. Numbers if you have them.

2. Your understanding of Meta Ads Manager. How you read creative-level performance, what you look at, and how you d ---------- what gets written next.

3. Your tools and process. Any frameworks, testing systems, AI tools or internal processes you've built or use to write at volume. Show us, don't just list them.

4. One ad you've seen recently that you think is excellent, and why.

5. What you'd bring that we don't have. What skill, system or way of working would make our agency better the month you start.

6. Email must be titled "Blackboard Agency Application - Direct Response Copywriter [insert name] - all others will not be reviewed

No cover letter needed. We'll read every application and reply to the ones that show real work.

----------