Consultant, Paid Media (Boston)

Consultant, Paid Media – Boston

Hybrid (3 days in-office)

Rival is a marketing consultancy for challengers—and we’re looking for a Consultant to join our Boston team.

This isn’t a role for someone who wants to do “business as usual.” Our clients come to us because they need breakthrough marketing strategies that cut through complexity, beat incumbents, and create disproportionate impact.

As a Consultant, you’ll lead consulting engagements that combine exceptional media, data and technology capabilities with creative challenger thinking—helping brands unlock growth with premium, high-impact solutions.

What You’ll Do

• Media Planning: Assist with brand and performance client media planning, successfully balancing long-term brand investment with near-term demand efficiency across a diverse mix of digital and traditional channels.
• Consultative Media Execution: Partner closely with specialized media buying teams to guide campaign strategy, ensuring rigorous A/B testing, precise audience segmentation, and alignment with overarching business goals.
• Data & Measurement: Assist clients and internal data specialists turn complex measurement frameworks (such as MMM, MTA, and incrementality testing) into clear, actionable business insights
• AI Workflow & Capability Innovation: With the product team, develop novel, AI-driven workflows and capability solutions. Identify opportunities to integrate agentic AI and automation into daily operations to create resilient, scalable competitive advantages for both the agency and our clients.
• End-to-End Project Management: Working with senior team members, drive the operational workflow across integrated projects, ensuring seamless cross-functional collaboration, on-time campaign delivery, and rigorous adherence to budgets and timelines
• Client Relationship Leadership: Cultivate and manage strong, trusted client partnerships, serving as the day to day point of contact for both media and integrated clients 

Why Rival, Why Now

• A consultancy built differently. We’re four years in, growing fast, and proving there’s a premium alternative to the bloated incumbents.
• Global perspective. Work with ambitious clients across North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
• Small team, big impact. With boutique sizing, every project is high visibility and high impact—no hiding in the back row.
• Direct influence. Work alongside Rival’s founders, shaping the consultancy’s future as much as our clients’.

Who Thrives Here

We don’t hire CVs, we hire people who think and act like challengers.

• You’ve run client projects in a consultancy or agency, delivering premium marketing strategies.
• You bring both expertise and opinion across paid media planning, buying, analytics, or data 
• You’re highly organized and deliver excellence without compromise.
• You think like an entrepreneur—curious, bold, and unafraid to get stuck in.

Extra points if…

• You’ve helped scale a start-up, agency, or consultancy.
• You’ve lived the battle of challengers vs. incumbents.

Premium Compensation, Real Upside

We believe in rewarding excellence with premium upside, not average paychecks.

• Base Salary: Competitive within consultancy/agency benchmarks.
• Profit Share: Twice-yearly distributions (eligibility after 90 days), tied to performance.
• Employee Liquidity Plan (“shadow stock”): Share in Rival’s long-term success—without the friction of traditional options (eligibility after 1 year)

At Rival, our approach to compensation is mid-market base, top-market upside — we invest in our people and ensure everyone shares in the success we build together.

• Health & Dental Insurance – 50% employer-covered
• 401(k) Match – up to 4% of pay
• 21 Days Paid Vacation+ public holidays
• Profit Share – paid twice yearly
• Employee Liquidity Plan (ELP) – shadow stock with real upside
• Paid Family & Medical Leave (MA employees)
• Office-first, flexible work model (3 days in office)
• All the tech + tools to do your best work, wherever you are
• Quarterly Team Weeks & global collaboration
• All-expenses-paid Rival Retreats
• Year-round “surprise & delight” experiences

About Rival

Rival is a marketing consultancy built for challengers. Incumbent best practices deliver average results—we don’t do average. We apply challenger brand thinking to help CMOs achieve outsized impact with smarter, leaner, bolder marketing strategies.

Our Hiring Philosophy

We’re building a consultancy that’s both premium and progressive—a home for the world’s best marketing talent and a model for diversity in our industry.

Our commitments:

• Clarity and fairness in every process
• Respect for candidates’ time (including paid tasks)
• Speed and transparency in communication
• Feedback opportunities throughout
• You’ll speak to a range of people in different roles, to give you a flavour of what it’s like here

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We know diverse perspectives drive better strategies. Rival is committed to building a consultancy where individuality fuels innovation. Authenticity isn’t an initiative—it’s a requirement.