DTC Native Ads Graphic Designer | Meta Ads + AI Creative

DTC Native Ads Graphic Designer | Meta Ads + AI Creative We are a growing DTC e-commerce brand in the health and wellness space, and we’re looking for a skilled Graphic Designer who specializes in high-performing native-style ads for Meta/Facebook. Compensation & Contract Structure This Upwork job is posted as a $1,000 project because this represents a minimum commitment of 4 months of work. The actual compensation is $250 USD per month to start. This is not a one-off $1,000 project. We are looking for someone to join us in a long-term role, with the initial 4-month period simply representing the minimum expected duration of the engagement. The role will begin at approximately 5–10 hours per week, with native ads created on demand based on our current creative needs. As our brands grow, we expect the amount of work available to increase. As your hours, responsibilities, experience with our brands, and overall contribution increase, your monthly pay will increase accordingly. We are looking for someone who wants to grow with us long term rather than simply complete a short-term freelance project. About the Role We are not looking for someone focused on polished, traditional static ads. We need someone who understands how to create raw, native, “ugly” creatives that blend into the feed, create curiosity, stop the scroll, and drive clicks. To be considered, include the word “RDM” in the title of your application. You’ll create native ad images on demand whenever we have new hooks, angles, concepts, or copy ready to test. A major part of this role is understanding the marketing behind the creative. We do not want a designer who simply waits to be told exactly what image to make. You should be able to read our native ad copy, understand the target avatar and angle, and independently determine what visual is most likely to grab that person's attention and complement the message. You should be able to identify: * The target avatar * The hook and core problem/desire * The customer’s stage of awareness * The emotion or curiosity gap being used * What image would best reinforce the copy * What would feel believable and native to that audience What You’ll Be Designing Your focus will be native-style Meta image ads, including: * Raw, feed-blending image ads * Screenshot-style creatives * Notes and message-style ads * Article, editorial, and advertorial-style creatives * Headline-driven clickbait ads * UGC-style still images * AI-generated lifestyle and scenario imagery * Curiosity-driven visuals * Hook-first cold traffic creatives The goal is not to make every ad look professionally designed. The goal is to make it feel native, clickable, believable, and highly relevant to the copy and target customer. DTC Creative Research We expect you to actively stay up to date with what is working across DTC advertising. At least once per week, you should review Meta Ads Library and study the native creatives being pushed by successful DTC brands. You should pay attention to: * New native ad formats * Visual styles that brands appear to be scaling * How brands make creatives blend into the feed * Screenshot, UGC, editorial, testimonial, and advertorial trends * How different customer problems are being visualized * New formats or concepts we could adapt and test We can provide an initial list of brands to monitor, but we expect you to go beyond it. You should proactively discover new brands, save strong references, identify trends, and continuously improve your understanding of what leading DTC advertisers are doing. AI Creative Skills We expect you to be highly comfortable using AI image-generation and editing tools. You should be able to use AI to: * Generate realistic people, environments, and lifestyle imagery * Create unique or curiosity-driven concepts * Modify existing images * Generate multiple visual directions quickly * Create assets that would otherwise be difficult to source The final output should feel believable and commercially usable rather than obviously AI-generated. Testing & Iteration When needed, you’ll create multiple variations around promising concepts by changing images, visual angles, layouts, framing, formats, or levels of polish. As performance data comes back, we expect you to learn from it, iterate on winners, and develop repeatable creative frameworks that can be adapted across new hooks, avatars, markets, and products. Who You Are * 1+ year of experience creating direct-response ads for DTC e-commerce brands * Strong understanding of native advertising and direct-response marketing * Good understanding of customer psychology and target avatars * Able to read ad copy and independently choose the strongest visual direction * Familiar with the DTC advertising ecosystem * Regularly studies Meta Ads Library and leading brands * Proactively searches for new trends and creative inspiration * Highly skilled with AI image-generation and editing tools * Experienced with Photoshop, Figma, Canva, or similar software * Strong image manipulation and compositing ability * Comfortable creating raw, organic, imperfect-looking creatives intentionally * Able to work independently with minimal direction * Fast, reliable, organized, and communicative * Available approximately 5–10 hours per week initially * Interested in growing into a larger long-term role We care much more about whether an ad performs than whether it wins a design award. Native/ugly does not mean lazy. It is a deliberate performance strategy. Growth This is intended to be a long-term position. The initial pay is $250 USD per month for approximately 5–10 hours per week, but we do not expect the role to remain at this level permanently. As you become more experienced with our brands, prove the quality of your work, take on more responsibility, and our demand for native creatives increases, we intend to increase both your workload and monthly compensation. Growth Path Native Ads Designer → Senior Native Ads Designer → Lead Designer → Creative Strategist To Apply Please send: 1. Your resume / CV 2. Your portfolio 3. Your strongest native, ugly, or direct-response ad examples 4. Examples showing your use of AI-generated imagery 5. Performance results from ads you have created, if available 6. A short explanation of how you choose an image after reading a native ad copy 7. A short explanation of how you keep up with DTC creative trends Important Include “RDM” in the title of your application or your application will not be considered. Skill Requirements Native Ads Creation · Direct Response Marketing · Graphic Design · DTC E-commerce · AI Image Generation · Meta Ads Library · Creative Research · Photoshop / Figma