Growth / Paid Media Consultant

🔹 Job Title: Growth / Paid Media Consultant

🔹 Company: Mechanism Ventures

🔹 Location: Remote - United States

🔹 Job Type: Contract / Temporary

🔹 Category: 🎯 Performance Marketing, 🚀 Growth Marketing

🚀 Job Overview

Mechanism Ventures is seeking a growth-focused paid media expert to provide strategic guidance and hands-on leadership for customer acquisition efforts across their portfolio of early-stage startups. In this consultant role, you'll partner directly with portfolio company CEOs to develop and implement paid acquisition strategies, optimize campaigns across multiple platforms, and drive measurable results in a fast-paced venture studio environment. As a critical part of Mechanism's growth team, you'll help launch and scale new businesses by engineering data-driven acquisition strategies in an AI-driven marketing landscape.

📋 Key Responsibilities

• ✅ Partner with portfolio company CEOs to develop strategy recommendations and implement growth initiatives
• ✅ Take ownership of managing multiple PPC campaigns across various portfolio companies
• ✅ Create, optimize, and scale campaigns across paid media channels, primarily Meta and Google
• ✅ Test new relevant ad inventory (e.g., TikTok) and develop best practices
• ✅ Explore and implement AI opportunities to enhance campaign management and creative testing
• ✅ Structure, run, and report on A/B tests to scale campaigns and optimize spend efficiency
• ✅ Provide performance reports to CEOs tracking against growth goals
• ✅ Make strategic recommendations in ambiguous environments with incomplete information
• ✅ Educate portfolio company CEOs on paid media and effectively communicate strategy rationales

🎯 Required Qualifications

Education: Not specified

Experience: 4+ years of strategic and operational experience scaling Google and Meta Ads inventory, with paid media agency experience working with D2C clients

Skills:

• Deep expertise in PPC campaign management, including bid strategies and audience targeting
• Strong analytical mindset and data-driven decision making
• Ability to design and implement effective targeted campaigns
• Experience with ROAS as a key performance indicator
• Context-switching ability to manage multiple portfolio companies
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Exposure to other growth marketing areas (product marketing, SEO, retention)

💰 Compensation & Benefits

Hourly Rate: $125.00 - $175.00 per hour

Benefits: Fully remote work environment, flexible work location

Industry Comparison: The compensation range ($125-175/hour) is competitive for senior marketing consultant roles, representing approximately $260,000-$364,000 annually if calculated on a full-time basis, which positions this contract at the higher end of the spectrum for growth marketing consultants.

ASSUMPTION: The annual equivalent is calculated based on a 40-hour work week for comparison purposes only. The actual hours may vary as this is a contract position.

🔍 Company Context

Industry Position: Mechanism Ventures is an early-stage venture studio that partners with entrepreneurs to launch and scale companies. They identify and validate opportunities before creating businesses, then provide growth expertise and operational support.

Company Size: Not specified

Company Stage: Focused on early-stage companies in the "zero-to-one" phase

ASSUMPTION: Based on the description as a venture studio supporting multiple portfolio companies, Mechanism likely maintains a core team of experts while scaling their impact through their portfolio companies.

📊 Role Analysis

Career Level: Senior

Reporting Structure: Likely reporting to Growth Department leadership while collaborating directly with portfolio company CEOs

Team Size/Composition: Will work with internal paid media team and collaborate with SEO, partnerships, and lifecycle team leads

Growth Opportunities: Exposure to multiple business models and industries across the portfolio; opportunity to shape growth strategies for early-stage companies

ASSUMPTION: The career level is determined based on the required 4+ years of experience and the strategic consultative nature of the role. The reporting structure is inferred from the mention of departmental collaboration and CEO partnerships.

🌍 Location & Work Environment

Office Type: Fully remote

Geographic Context: Must be based in the United States with availability to overlap with US Eastern Time for the majority of the workday

Work Schedule: Part-time with flexible hours, though must align with US ET business hours

Regional Considerations: Specific salary ranges noted for New York, Washington, Colorado, California, and Illinois, suggesting compliance with salary transparency laws in these states

ASSUMPTION: While the listing mentions overlap with US ET, it doesn't specify exact hours required, suggesting some flexibility within those parameters.

💼 Interview & Application Insights

Typical Process: For senior consulting roles in venture environments, expect initial screening, case studies demonstrating paid media strategy, portfolio review, and interviews with both core team members and potentially portfolio company CEOs

Key Assessment Areas: Strategic thinking, analytical skills, paid media expertise, ability to communicate complex concepts clearly, adaptability across different business models

Application Tips: Highlight specific metrics and ROAS achievements from previous campaigns, demonstrate experience across diverse industry verticals, showcase both strategic and hands-on operational capabilities

ATS Keywords: paid media, Meta ads, Google ads, PPC, ROAS, growth marketing, campaign optimization, A/B testing, data analytics, media buying, performance marketing

ASSUMPTION: The interview process and assessment areas are based on standard practices for senior marketing consultant roles in venture/startup environments.

🛠️ Tools & Technologies

• Meta Ads Manager
• Google Ads
• TikTok Ads Manager
• Analytics platforms (likely Google Analytics, Amplitude, or similar)
• A/B testing frameworks
• AI tools for campaign optimization

ASSUMPTION: While Meta and Google platforms are explicitly mentioned, the other tools are standard for this type of role. The job specifically mentions exploring AI opportunities, suggesting familiarity with AI tools for marketing would be valuable.

👔 Cultural Fit Considerations

Company Values: Data-driven decision making, entrepreneurial mindset, continuous learning, analytical thinking, outcome-oriented approach

Work Style: Fast-paced, high-velocity environment with emphasis on driving measurable results; ability to context-switch between different companies and challenges

Self-Assessment: Do you thrive in ambiguous environments? Are you comfortable making recommendations with incomplete information? Do you enjoy working with early-stage companies where processes may not be fully established? Are you passionate about growth marketing and entrepreneurship?

ASSUMPTION: The cultural values are inferred from statements like "we don't guess, we engineer" and descriptions of the ideal candidate as someone who "thrives in a high-velocity, outcome-oriented environment."

⚠️ Potential Challenges

• Managing multiple portfolio companies simultaneously requires exceptional organization and context-switching abilities
• Making strategic recommendations in ambiguous environments with incomplete data
• Balancing strategic guidance with hands-on campaign management
• Working with early-stage companies that may have limited historical data or established processes
• Needing to adapt quickly as the paid media landscape and AI technologies evolve

ASSUMPTION: These challenges are identified based on the job description's emphasis on working across multiple companies, making recommendations with incomplete information, and the rapidly evolving nature of paid media in an AI-driven world.

📈 Similar Roles Comparison

This Growth/Paid Media Consultant role differs from standard agency roles by focusing specifically on early-stage companies in a venture studio model. Unlike in-house paid media managers who typically work for a single company, this role requires advising multiple portfolio companies simultaneously. The role combines elements of:

• Marketing Agency Director: Similar in providing strategic guidance across accounts, but more embedded with each business
• Fractional CMO: Similar consultative approach, but more specialized in paid acquisition
• Growth Marketing Lead: Similar focus on driving acquisition, but spread across multiple businesses

ASSUMPTION: This comparison is based on standard industry structures and the unique venture studio model described.

📝 Sample Projects

• Developing a comprehensive paid media strategy for a zero-to-one stage portfolio company, including channel selection, budget allocation, and KPI framework
• Conducting a systematic creative testing program across Meta platforms to improve conversion rates for a D2C portfolio company
• Implementing and optimizing auto-bidding strategies across Google Ads campaigns to improve ROAS
• Evaluating and launching TikTok as a new acquisition channel for appropriate portfolio companies
• Developing an AI-enhanced approach to campaign optimization that can be scaled across the portfolio

ASSUMPTION: These projects are derived directly from the responsibilities outlined in the job description, particularly around optimizing campaigns, testing new channels, and leveraging AI.

❓ Key Questions to Ask During Interview

• How do you typically structure the working relationship between consultants and portfolio company CEOs?
• Can you share examples of how portfolio companies have successfully scaled their customer acquisition through paid channels?
• What are the current biggest challenges your portfolio companies face with paid acquisition?
• How do you measure success for this role beyond standard campaign metrics?
• How much autonomy would I have in implementing new strategies or testing new channels?
• How do you see AI changing your approach to paid media, and what initiatives have you already explored?

ASSUMPTION: These questions are designed to help candidates understand the operational dynamics, expectations, and opportunities within the role based on the job description.