2027 Summer Associate - Richmond

Prophet Application•Richmond, VA

About The Position

The Summer Associate Program is an eight-week internship designed to teach consulting from the ground up through hands-on work on clients’ business challenges. Summer Associates collaborate with colleagues across disciplines and contribute to research, analysis, strategy, and storytelling aimed at driving client growth. They take on meaningful responsibilities, work with leaders and clients, and develop consulting skills through real project work and regular feedback and mentorship. Associates investigate industries, markets, and customer behavior; combine creative and analytical thinking; synthesize interviews, data, and market research into insights; and help develop recommendations, presentations, and frameworks. They collaborate on multidisciplinary challenges involving growth, brand, transformation, platforms, and market entry, using traditional research and analysis as well as AI tools where useful. They also contribute to proposals, office initiatives, social events, and thought leadership, and build relationships across the firm through intern events, coffee chats, and firm-wide programming. The internship is based in Richmond. The program is intended to provide full-time offers upon completion. Candidates who require sponsorship now or in the future are not eligible to proceed. Any post-internship full-time offer would be for the same office as the internship.

Requirements

Be a rising senior earning a BA or BS degree and demonstrate academic performance.
Demonstrate critical thinking, problem-solving, and creative-thinking capabilities.
Be comfortable using AI tools for research, synthesis, and building, and be curious about exploring new tools.
Have superior verbal and written communication skills.
Show business acumen and an interest in understanding what grows and transforms companies, including brand, digital, and marketing strategy.
Have a curious mindset and a strong commitment to finding answers, testing approaches, learning skills, and challenging assumptions.
Be comfortable with ambiguity and able to adapt and change direction in response to client, project, and team circumstances.
Be able to work in the Richmond office; any post-internship full-time offer will be for the same office.
Not require employment sponsorship now or in the future.

Nice To Haves

Business, Economics, or Management major (preferred, not required).

Responsibilities

Research industries, markets, and customer behavior using primary and secondary research to identify insights that support client growth and transformation.
Apply business acumen and creative thinking across brand, culture, digital, marketing, operations, and strategy challenges.
Synthesize interviews, data, and market scans into a clear point of view, moving beyond AI outputs and desk-research reporting to identify implications.
Analyze data, develop hypotheses, and turn research into persuasive presentations and frameworks with recommendations for internal leaders and clients.
Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams on challenges such as growth, brand, transformation, new platforms, and market entry.
Use traditional research and analysis tools alongside AI and other new tools where they can help the work.
Take ownership of assigned work, follow through, flag risks early, and maintain quality and deadlines; track notes, decisions, and project status.
Support proposals, office initiatives, social events, and thought leadership beyond client project work.
Develop a point of view in writing, presentations, and discussions through exposure to senior teammates and clients, feedback, and mentorship.
Build relationships across offices and disciplines through intern events, coffee chats, and firm-wide programming.