Manager, Data Planning (London)

Rival is a marketing consultancy for challengers-and we're looking for a London-based Manager, Data Planning to join our Media & Data 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 Manager, Data Planner you will play an exciting part in developing and delivering business changing strategy & thinking for clients, as well as new business and new agency offerings. You will be a strategic leader at the intersection of media, analytics, and marketing technology. You will own data strategy for key accounts, translating client business challenges into actionable data frameworks, and guiding how data fuels targeting, measurement, and media performance.

This role requires both hands-on expertise and consultative leadership. You'll mentor junior planners, challenge client thinking, and partner with senior agency leadership to raise the standard of how data drives marketing effectiveness.

What You'll Do

• Lead the development of holistic data strategies for clients, aligning first-party, third-party, and retail media data to business objectives.
• Proactively identify opportunities for clients to advance their data maturity, advising on CDP activation, measurement frameworks, and governance best practices.
• Champion the integration of data insights into media planning and buying across all channels, including digital, retail media, and above-the-line.
• Design measurement blueprints, segmentation strategies, and test-and-learn agendas for high-value campaigns.
• Translate complex datasets into compelling narratives that influence client decision-making at a senior level.
• Oversee the creation of dashboards and performance reports that surface actionable insights and forecast business impact.
• Partner with martech, analytics, and data engineering teams to ensure interoperability between systems, platforms, and agency tools.
• Stay ahead of emerging trends in data, privacy, and media measurement; bring innovative solutions to agency and client leadership.
• Support econometrics and advanced analytics projects with structured inputs and actionable recommendations.
• Act as a trusted senior advisor in client meetings, articulating the value of data strategy in achieving business outcomes.
• Build strong cross-functional relationships with media planning, buying, and creative teams to embed data thinking throughout.

Why Rival, Why Now

• A consultancy built differently. We're four years in, growing fast, and proving there's a premium alternative to yesteryear's holding company incumbents.
• Global perspective. Work with ambitious clients across North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
• Small team, big impact. With boutique sizing, you'll be firmly in the fray and expected to produce -no hiding in the back row.
• Direct influence. Work alongside Rival's founders and Creative/Design directors, 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're highly organized and deliver excellence without compromise.
• You think like an entrepreneur-curious, bold, and unafraid to get stuck in.
• We do not require a minimum years of experience, but you do need to have significant experience in data strategy, analytics, and planning, ideally with an agency background.
• Expertise in and a strong point of view on the role of data in brand strategy, creative, paid media, and overall effectiveness measurement.
• Deep understanding of how data drives modern media investment across channels (predominantly, CTV, retail media, social, and search).
• Strong knowledge of major marketing technology providers and tools (our partners include marketing automation like Braze; DSPs including the Trade Desk; CDP providers like Rokt/formerly mParticle; reporting platforms like AdVerity, among others)
• Proven ability to design measurement frameworks, manage data governance considerations, and translate insights into business growth.
• You've helped scale a start-up, agency, or consultancy.
• You've lived the battle of challengers vs. incumbents.
• You have experience inputting and developing advanced marketing analytical models or data science outputs, including media mix modelling,

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 90 days),

Benefits Designed for Impact

• 25 discretionary vacation days + public holidays
• Group Life Insurance + Income Protection
• Pension scheme from day one
• Office-first culture (Tues/Thurs + Weds encouraged), with grown-up flexibility
• All the tech + tools to do your best work, wherever you are
• Quarterly "Team Weeks" for collaboration, development, and global exposure
• All-expenses-paid Rival Retreats in amazing locations
• Year-round Rival "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.