---
title: 'Media Strategist, Buying at Blue State'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/media-strategist-buying-blue-state-new-york-m2y59xdcz4zn'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-13'
---

# Media Strategist, Buying at Blue State

- **Company:** Blue State
- **Location:** New York, NY / Washington, DC / Oakland, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-02-19
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-13
- **Apply:** https://www.bluestate.co/careers/?gh_jid=7638239

## Job description

What to know

Execute game-changing advertising strategies that tie engagement to the bottom line. As a Media Strategist, you'll manage the execution of digital advertising campaigns across clients ranging from leading nonprofits to political and advocacy groups to major brands (and everything in between).

This may be the right role for you if you’re someone who is equally strategic, creative, and analytical. Switching seamlessly from a client presentation, to writing an insightful analysis of campaign performance, and rolling up your sleeves to launch new creative are no big deal for you. You’re used to spending most of your day speaking in acronyms — terms like DSP, CPA, IVT, ROAS, and AVOC are major parts of your vocabulary — and you know how to explain them to clients and teammates.

You will use your depth of paid media experience to inform your work but also tap into your digital curiosity and passion for innovation to bring new ideas and thinking to the team.

The company

Blue State is a purpose-driven agency. We partner with leading causes, brands, and campaigns and create real change. From AARP and Doctors Without Borders to Amnesty International and Oxfam, we transform how brands and causes raise money, influence policy, build platforms, and grow communities of supporters. Led by the most creative and analytical minds from the political, nonprofit, and brand worlds, Blue State is an independent agency in the US and London.

The team

As part of the Paid Media team, you’ll work closely with a cross-disciplinary group of Blue State employees who are passionate, geeky, and care about their clients and causes. Blue State fosters an environment where everyone has an opportunity to shape new approaches, grow and learn from their colleagues, and take advantage of a personal development fund to stretch their skills even further. You’ll have the opportunity to work with some of the most inspiring charities, ambitious brands, and passionate advocacy and social change campaigns.

A day in the life

- Build, manage, and optimize media campaigns across multiple platforms, primarily using Meta Business Manager, Google and Bing Ads, Google Campaign Manager 360, and the Yahoo DSP. (Other digital channel expertise is a plus.)
- Translate clients’ strategic visions into media objectives and KPIs to accomplish a wide range of client objectives including direct response (lead gen and fundraising), awareness, persuasion, and advocacy.
- Analyze ongoing and historical performance data to identify opportunities for improvement, make strategic recommendations, and generate reporting and insights to drive optimization.
- Have a strong POV on measurement, attribution, and conversion tracking, and apply that knowledge to strategic recommendations and ongoing campaign management.
- Participate in (and sometimes lead) client-facing interactions — you’ll be the subject-matter expert for the platforms you manager
- Work collaboratively with other internal or external teams, including media planners, strategists, account directors, designers, and analysts, to produce campaigns, creative ideas, audience and target recommendations, and experimental designs.
- Keep up to date with the latest digital media trends by building and stewarding relationships with media partners, and engaging in media R&D projects.

## What we offer

- Unlimited time-off (inclusive of sick, personal, and vacation days)
- $1,250 annually in professional development funds
- Competitive health, dental, and vision insurance
- Inclusive family planning coverage, including fertility, surrogacy, and adoption benefits
- Flexible and health savings accounts
- 401K & employer match
- Generous paid holiday schedule
- 12-week fully-paid parental leave for all parents-to-be
- Short-term and long-term disability insurance
- Pre-tax commuter benefits
- Remote work flexibility

We approach in-office working with a hybrid model. On-site presence is welcome for US staff who are within commuting distance of the NY or DC office. Managers retain discretion to require in-person attendance for folks on their discipline or client teams as necessary, including for those whose roles require them to be in person.

The salary range for this position is $74,750 - $85,000; compensation will be commensurate with experience.

Some things we're looking for

- 2-4 years experience in a hands-on paid media buying role using a mix of digital channels (Social, Search, Display, Video, Native, OOH, etc) - with preference to experience in executing, managing, and reporting on media campaigns with a mix of objectives/goals.
- Ability to effectively manage multiple clients and projects on time, within budget, and meet performance goals.
- High proficiency with digital advertising platforms — you ultimately want to become a master of paid social, paid search, and/or programmatic trading — as well as Google Analytics and other measurement platforms
- Exceptional attention to detail, especially with regards to campaign setup and trafficking, QA, and reporting.
- Ability to adapt to new situations, solve problems on the fly, and communicate with those around you. Teamwork and scrappiness required.
- A shared passion and curiosity for delivering change. This includes comfort with ambiguity, a restlessness that resists the status quo, and a commitment to quality that ensures we’re always making progress.
- A testing evangelist - no result is ever a problem as long as we can learn and improve in future.
- Humble in victory, constructive in defeat. We champion and expect empathy, communication, collaboration, and respect.

At Blue State, diversity is a necessity, not a nice-to-have. We encourage those from underrepresented communities — women, people of color, LGBTQIA+, immigrants, those with disabilities and people at all the intersections in between — to apply. Even if you don’t think your current skill set checks every box below, but this role seems to align with your strengths, we want to hear from you.

Blue State is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible application and interview process. If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation for a disability, including the use of AI tools throughout the hiring process, please contact us at recruiting@bluestate.co with the subject line: Accommodation Request to get started.

This position is part of the CWA collective bargaining unit; ie, the Blue State Union. Your privacy is important to us.  You can find out more information on how we handle your data for recruiting purposes in our [Privacy Policy for Recruitment](https://www.bluestate.co/privacy-policy-for-recruitment/).

## About Blue State

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Blue State is a purpose-driven creative and technology agency that partners with causes, companies, and campaigns to mobilize people around a common purpose.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Privately Held)
- **Headquarters**: Brooklyn, New York, United States
- **Founded**: 2004 (some sources cite 2009; the company’s origin as Blue State Digital traces to 2004, with the agency formally launched in 2009)
- **Founders**: Joe Rospars (CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Advertising Services, Digital Strategy, Fundraising & Grassroots Mobilization, Strategic Communications, Technology Consulting
- **Target customers**: Nonprofits, political campaigns, mission-driven brands, forward-thinking organizations (B2B, B2G, B2C for causes)
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “We believe there’s no force more powerful than people taking collective action on the things they care about.”

## Products & Services
For each major offering:
- **Fundraising & Growth Strategy**: Data-driven fundraising programs, donor acquisition and retention, and growth planning for nonprofits and campaigns.
- **Grassroots Mobilization**: Building and scaling grassroots movements through community organizing, volunteer engagement, and advocacy tools.
- **Customer Engagement Strategy**: Personalized, insight-led experiences that turn customers into brand champions.
- **Strategic Communications & Video**: Messaging, storytelling, and video production that shape influence and drive public opinion.
- **Technology Consulting & Web Development**: Custom platforms, CRM integrations, data architecture, and website design/development (often using Drupal, WordPress, Snowflake, etc.).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue estimated at $25M–$50M (LinkedIn, 2025)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not applicable (privately held). Key past clients include Obama for America, Elizabeth Warren for President, and numerous national nonprofits. Strategic partners referenced include EveryAction (now Bonterra) and various tech platforms.
- **Growth Signals**: Job postings surged +557% YoY (from low base), with 46 active openings as of mid-2025. However, headcount decreased 19% YoY (to ~105 employees), suggesting a shift in skill mix. Office expansion includes locations in London, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington DC, and Brooklyn HQ.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Political campaign DNA**: Pioneered digital organizing and online fundraising for presidential campaigns, giving deep expertise in high-stakes, fast-moving mobilization.
- **Data-first, people-first approach**: Combines rigorous analytics (using tools like Tableau, Snowflake, Python, dbt) with human-centered design.
- **End-to-end capability**: From creative and content to technology build and CRM strategy, the agency offers integrated services under one roof.
- **Purpose-driven brand**: Strong mission alignment attracts talent and clients who want to drive social change, not just commercial growth.

## Strategic Focus
- **Expanding into commercial brand work** while retaining nonprofit and political roots.
- **Deepening data and technology offerings** – hiring for analytics, product management, and engineering roles.
- **Building a global presence** – offices in US and UK, with remote/hybrid flexibility.
- **Growing paid media and customer engagement** practices (evidenced by new Media Strategist and Media Planner roles).

## Why Work Here
- **Culture highlights**: Values-driven agency with a clear social mission (“Make good trouble,” “Put people first”). Emphasis on curiosity, data-led decisions, and collective action.
- **Remote/hybrid policy**: Flexible – Built In notes “typical time on-site: none,” with many roles listed as “Contract (Evergreen)” and open to multiple cities. Offices available in NY, DC, LA, Boston, and London.
- **Notable perks**: Unlimited PTO, generous parental and family leave, childcare benefits, 401(k) matching, healthcare/dental/vision, commuter benefits, job training and conference attendance.
- **Engineering/tech culture**: Small tech team (~8% of workforce) that works closely with strategists and creatives; tech stack includes Python, React, Drupal, Snowflake, dbt, GitHub Actions, and modern data tools.

## Sources
1. [Blue State Official Site](https://www.bluestate.co/)
2. [Blue State About/Who We Are](https://www.bluestate.co/who-we-are/)
3. [Blue State Careers Page (Greenhouse)](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/bluestatedigital)
4. [Blue State LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/blue-state)
5. [Blue State on Built In](https://builtin.com/company/blue-state)

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