Associate Principal​/Ad Tech Specialist; Forensic Services practice

About Charles River Associates

CRA is a leading global consulting firm that provides independent economic and financial analysis behind litigation matters, guides businesses through critical strategy and operational issues to become more profitable, and advises governments on the economic impact of policies and regulations. Our two main services – economic and management consulting – are delivered by practice groups that focus on specific areas of expertise or industries.  

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CRA’s Forensic Services practice supports companies’ commitment to integrity by assisting them and their counsel in independently responding to allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, misconduct, and non-compliance. We are noted for deploying cross-trained teams of forensic professionals to assist our clients in gaining deeper insights and greater value more quickly. We provide accounting and forensic services as well as cybercrime investigation services.

As an Associate Principal, you will lead projects that help clients navigate the intersection of advertising technology, privacy compliance, and litigation risk. You will serve as a strategic and technical advisor across legal, marketing, web, and engineering functions, helping clients design compliant AdTech solutions and improve their compliance and litigation readiness. This role also involves evaluating how marketing technologies, analytics tools, and data collection practices interact with privacy requirements and emerging regulatory risks.

• Analyze advertising technologies such as pixels, SDKs, tag managers, and server-side tracking.
• Advise upon technical engineering and industry data sharing standards impacting upstream and downstream participants in the digital advertising lifecycle.
• Lead project delivery across client engagements, ensuring high-quality execution and on-time delivery.
• Advise clients on privacy compliant AdTech strategy, platform implementation, and data collection.
• Support litigation, regulatory response, and internal investigations by analyzing AdTech systems, data flows, and tracking technologies.
• Design privacy-compliant media and data activation strategies, including clean room use, consent management, and signal architecture.
• Evaluate AdTech stacks and data sharing practices for legal risk and technical effectiveness.
• Provide input and requirements for internal and client-facing tool development.
• Lead assessments to map and analyze personal data flows across web, mobile, and media platforms.
• Draft reports and develop material to be used in testimony or similar contexts.
• Deliver clear, actionable insights to legal counsel, marketing executives, and technical stakeholders.
• Assess development of advertising technologies in support of identify privacy implications, data integrity issues, and potential compliance gaps.
• Partner with marketing and product teams to translate complex privacy and AdTech findings into practical guidance that informs digital roadmap decisions and reduces exposure to regulatory and litigation risk.
• Develop bespoke analytics and investigatory tools to support client and counsel in AdTech litigation, regulatory compliance, and investigations.
• Contribute to internal knowledge development in AdTech, privacy engineering, and data monetization strategy.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Marketing Technology, or related field.
• 7-10+ years of experience in AdTech, Mar Tech, or digital media strategy, preferably within a consulting firm, agency, or platform development.
• Deep understanding of programmatic advertising, data management platforms, tracking methods (client/server-side), Real-Time Bidding, and  methods.
• Familiarity with key regulations and litigation trends affecting AdTech and data privacy.
• Experience with tools such as Google Ads/CM360, Trade Desk, Live Ramp, Adobe Launch, and clean rooms.
• Strong client-facing skills with the ability to translate technical complexity into strategic recommendations.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional projects under deadline pressure.

To be considered for a pos…