Director, SEO

Summary

Join VaynerMedia as their SEO Director to lead and elevate the agency's search engine optimization. You will craft the strategic SEO vision for multiple clients, overseeing execution and driving organic growth. Key responsibilities include integrating local SEO tactics, leveraging AI-driven tools, and guiding a team of SEO professionals. The role requires collaboration with other departments to ensure clients achieve their organic traffic and conversion goals. This senior position demands a data-driven approach, adapting strategies based on analytics and algorithm updates. Success in this role hinges on improving organic performance, increasing search rankings, traffic, and conversions.

Requirements

• 8–12 years of SEO experience, with a proven track record of developing and executing successful SEO strategies
• Several years should be in a senior or leadership capacity overseeing SEO for multiple websites or clients
• Deep expertise in all facets of SEO: technical SEO (site architecture, page speed, indexing, structured data), on-page optimization (keyword research, content optimization), off-page SEO (link acquisition strategies), and local SEO best practices
• Hands-on experience with multi-location SEO and optimizing for local search is essential
• Familiarity with utilizing AI and automation in SEO workflows
• You stay informed on emerging trends like generative AI in search and have ideas on how to leverage AI tools or algorithms to improve content, keyword research, or other SEO activities
• Strong analytical skills and proficiency with SEO and web analytics tools: expert user of Google Analytics and Google Search Console, as well as professional SEO suites such as SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz, BrightEdge, or similar
• Able to analyze large data sets (e.g., keyword rankings, traffic by page) to identify trends and opportunities
• Experience leading and mentoring a team of SEO specialists or content marketers
• Effective at project management and coordinating team efforts, with the ability to collaborate with stakeholders across content, engineering, and marketing to drive initiatives forward
• Excellent communication skills – capable of explaining SEO concepts and results to non-SEO audiences (clients or other internal teams) in a clear and meaningful way
• Comfortable presenting strategy and results to executive-level stakeholders
• Demonstrated success in improving organic performance for websites (increased search rankings, traffic, and conversion from organic channels) through data-driven strategy and persistent optimization
• A results-oriented mindset with attention to ROI and tangible outcomes from SEO efforts
• Up-to-date knowledge of search engine algorithms (Google core updates, etc.), ranking factors, and industry trends
• Proactive in adapting strategies to algorithmic changes and in adopting new best practices (mobile-first, Core Web Vitals, E-E-A-T principles, etc.)

Responsibilities

• Develop and define the overall SEO strategy for each client, aligning SEO initiatives with the client’s business objectives and growth goals
• Oversee the strategic planning, implementation, and management of on-site and off-site SEO efforts across all accounts
• Lead and mentor the SEO team (e.g. SEO Managers, Analysts), providing direction, setting performance goals, and ensuring best practices are followed in all SEO campaigns
• Foster an environment of continuous improvement and innovation within the team
• Build comprehensive SEO audits and technical improvements for client websites – including site architecture optimization, page speed and Core Web Vitals enhancements, mobile optimization, and implementation of schema markup – to ensure sites are technically sound for crawling and indexing
• Simultaneously guide on-page/content SEO strategy by conducting keyword research, supervising content optimization, and shaping link-building plans to boost rankings and organic traffic
• Drive local SEO strategy: implement GEO-targeted SEO tactics for clients (such as optimizing Google Business Profiles, managing local listings, and creating location-specific content) to improve visibility in local search results
• Ensure that multi-regional or multi-location clients have SEO plans tailored to local search behavior and international localization needs as appropriate
• Leverage emerging technologies and AI tools in the SEO process to scale and enhance results – for example, using generative AI for scalable content optimization or analysis – while staying within search engine guidelines
• Stay ahead of industry trends (like search engines’ AI features) and adapt strategies proactively
• Monitor and analyze SEO performance data for all clients, using tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and enterprise SEO platforms
• Track key KPIs (organic traffic, keyword rankings, click-through rates, conversion from organic, etc.) and provide regular performance reports
• Use a data-driven approach to adjust strategies in response to analytics insights or algorithm updates
• Collaborate cross-departmentally to champion SEO best practices: work closely with content writers, designers, developers, and marketing managers to ensure SEO considerations are embedded in content creation, site development, and campaign planning
• Advocate for SEO in all aspects of digital strategy and ensure that website changes or new content align with SEO objectives
• Track Google core updates and the rapid rollout of AI-search features (AI Overviews, SGE, Perplexity, ChatGPT Search)
• Pilot cutting-edge GEO tactics: feed structured data and advanced schema to LLMs, optimize content for citation within generative answers and featured snippets, and build new metrics that quantify brand visibility inside AI answer engines
• Test AI/ML-powered tooling for automated internal-linking, entity extraction, and real-time intent shifts—then roll proven methods across all accounts to keep clients winning organic and AI surfaces

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, computer science, or related field preferred
• Relevant certifications (Google Analytics, SEO certifications) are a plus