About the role

We are hiring a Director of SEO & AEO to define the strategic direction of our search practice, lead our Strategy team, and take responsibility for outcomes across our client work.

This is a senior ownership position for someone who can influence how an agency delivers SEO and AEO—not simply run individual campaigns. You will guide the work across the portfolio, develop the people responsible for strategy, and work closely with Engineering as the practice and its supporting systems evolve. Our clients operate in fast-moving technology markets, including AI, robotics, and telehealth.

What you bring

• Substantial, demonstrable SEO experience, supported by real technology-sector case studies, wins, and consistently strong outcomes.
• Significant agency leadership experience, including leading and expanding a strategy or account team.
• Meaningful startup experience and a firsthand understanding of the environment in which startup clients operate.
• A first-principles grasp of SEO and AEO: you understand why approaches work, where to begin when they do not, and do not rely solely on current industry playbooks.
• A proven record of hiring, developing, and holding SEO teams to demanding standards.
• Senior-level client relationship experience with genuine account accountability, beyond simply presenting reports.
• A confident, natural communication style that works equally well with senior leaders in calls and with engineering teams in Slack.

What you will own

• SEO & AEO strategy: Establish the company-wide direction and oversee its application at the client level, covering both LLM-native search and traditional organic results. The team will execute against the standards you set.
• Strategy team leadership: Build, coach, and hold a high-performing Strategy team accountable for exceptional work. This includes hiring, improving team capability, and continually raising the bar.
• Portfolio performance: Take ownership of traffic, revenue, visibility, and performance measures across client engagements. When performance stalls, unfamiliar issues emerge, or something fails, you will lead the diagnosis.
• Agentic tooling: Collaborate with Engineering on agentic systems and internal tools intended to multiply team impact. You will help determine what is built and put it to work in real operating conditions.
• AEO framework: Advance and apply the agency’s proprietary approach to earning visibility in AI-generated answers and LLM-native search, adapting it as search changes.

What this role offers

• Authority to set SEO and AEO direction for the business and determine how it is applied across client engagements.
• Leadership of the Strategy team, including hiring, standards, performance discussions, and career development.
• Strategy accountability for both prospective and current clients, from pitch through ongoing optimization.
• Responsibility for difficult, highly visible, and genuinely new challenges when they arise.
• The opportunity to create the playbooks, processes, and frameworks that help the team scale consistently without requiring your presence in every room.
• The ability to develop the agency’s AEO framework as techniques and major answer-engine technologies change.
• Senior ownership of client relationships: leading when needed and supporting the team’s day-to-day work.
• A close partnership with Engineering on the systems and tools that expand team output and differentiate the agency.

Preferred, but not required

These experiences are advantageous, not prerequisites. Candidates should not self-select out if they do not have them.

• Experience at a startup recognized for SEO or where SEO was a primary growth channel.
• Experience directing strategy at a highly regarded SEO agency.
• CRO experience and a clear understanding of the way organic traffic converts.
• A broader marketing background that connects SEO with paid, lifecycle, content, and brand work.
• Experience partnering closely with engineering teams on marketing tooling or automation.

How to apply

Please share a LinkedIn profile and/or CV. A cover letter is optional. If you have SEO results, case studies, or agency-leadership examples you are especially proud of, include them; additional context is welcome.

Every application is reviewed. We will move quickly if there is a fit.