Associate Director, SEO

Chicago, IL (On-site)

$75K/yr – $180K/yrSenior Level5+ years expFull time

Posted 11 hrs ago

Job Summary

Own the SEO and GSO vision for Google product areas, shaping strategic roadmaps, cross‑channel integration, and client leadership across measurement, content, and AI‑driven discovery.

  • Define strategic roadmaps and delivery plans.
  • Lead client engagements and cross‑functional collaboration.

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • Own the SEO and GSO vision for assigned Google products or product areas, connecting technical readiness, content strategy, entity authority, and AI-led discovery to measurable business priorities.
  • Define strategic roadmaps for complex site environments, anticipating evolving search and AI standards and translating infrastructure needs into persuasive business cases for Product, Engineering, Marketing, and other stakeholders.
  • Direct long-term content strategy across traditional and generative search, balancing audience intent, topical authority, brand representation, source inclusion, and emerging AI visibility goals.
  • Own the narrative of SEO and GSO performance by ensuring measurement frameworks, dashboards, and reporting connect search outcomes to broader business KPIs and drive clear stakeholder action.
  • Serve as the primary client partner for the assigned product area, maintaining strong rapport, navigating complex stakeholder landscapes, managing expectations, and ensuring seamless delivery of the overarching search vision.
  • Lead senior client presentations and strategic discussions, translating complex technical, content, and measurement findings into clear recommendations, decisions, and prioritized investment opportunities.
  • Create bespoke scopes, operating frameworks, roadmaps, and delivery plans mapped to client business goals, while proactively identifying strategic growth opportunities and future areas of expansion.
  • Drive operational excellence through expert project management, resource planning, timely task activation, rigorous quality control, and clear accountability across team-led delivery.
  • Formalize integrated Total Search workflows across SEO, SEM, Analytics, Content, Product, Engineering, Social, PR, and other partners so organic insights influence cross-channel planning and optimization.
  • Lead cross-channel analyses, testing roadmaps, and performance validation initiatives that demonstrate the business impact of integrated paid, owned, earned, and generative search strategies.

Requirements

  • A minimum of 5 (five) years of organic search experience, with a proven record of leading high-performance SEO strategies for large or complex organizations; agency or media agency experience is highly desirable.
  • Advanced expertise in technical SEO, content strategy, structured data, entity optimization, topical authority, international search, site migrations, and the signals that support discoverability across traditional and AI-assisted search.
  • Strong understanding of AI Search, LLM platforms, answer engines, and emerging discovery behaviors, with the ability to translate market change into practical client strategy, measurement, and operating approaches.
  • Demonstrated ability to define a strategic vision and convert complex technical, content, and data challenges into clear business cases, prioritized roadmaps, and client-ready recommendations.
  • Strong client leadership and executive communication skills, including experience owning senior stakeholder relationships, leading strategic presentations, navigating difficult conversations, and securing alignment across functions.
  • Advanced analytical and storytelling skills, with experience designing measurement frameworks, maintaining data integrity, interpreting complex datasets, and connecting SEO/GSO performance to broader business KPIs.
  • Experience creating scopes of work, estimating resources, designing operating models, identifying growth opportunities, and managing delivery against commercial and operational expectations.
  • Proven people management and mentorship experience, including coaching managers or Supervisors, improving quality through others, providing actionable feedback, and supporting team development and retention.
  • Experience formalizing ways of working across SEM, Analytics, Content, Product, Engineering, Social, PR, and other cross-functional partners to advance integrated Total Search strategies.
  • Proficiency with relevant analytics, search, crawling, reporting, and productivity platforms, including Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Keyword Planner, Data Studio, Lumar, Screaming Frog, Google AI Studio and Workspace products.
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WPP Media

Media is changing. So are we. We are WPP's global media collective, built for the AI era.We bring the best platform, people, and partners together to create innovative solutions that deliver unparalleled growth for brands - in every market, every day.

30K employees (6,827 in marketing)

Salaries

Posted range

$75K/yr – $180K/yr

Taken straight from the job posting.

See all WPP Media salaries

Traffic Signals

Monthly Visitors
159.3K
Monthly Google Ads Budget
$9.9K
Traffic Source Mix
Search
34.3%
Direct
46.3%
Referral
10.7%
Social
5.7%
Paid
2.7%

Headcount Trend

Current headcount: ~30.1K
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Associate Director, SEO

WPP Media · Chicago, IL · On-site