Associate Search Strategy Director

In this role, you'll lead a high-performing team of search marketers in driving best-in-class search strategies for some of the world's biggest brands.

As an Associate Search Strategy Director, you know how to unlock the stories found in data and translate those stories into opportunities to meet customers wherever they're searching across the evolving digital landscape. You'll use search insights to craft data-driven strategies that demonstrate a deep understanding of our clients' businesses, objectives, and customers. You'll also develop strategic search roadmaps and processes to drive measurable results through content strategy, user experience, and a strong technical foundation.

You'll play a critical role in shaping our Search services and capabilities, building a high-performance team, and helping our clients achieve top-tier performance.

You Will

• Own the creation, definition, execution, and optimization of holistic search strategies
• Represent the search practice within the agency, serving as a strategic thought leader, entrepreneur, advocate, and educator
• Hire, manage, and grow a high-performing team of search strategists
• Serve as an integral part of the account leadership team, making recommendations on strategy and approach to drive innovation and performance
• Use search data (in conjunction with other research sources) to understand user intent, drive content strategies, and identify business opportunities for clients
• Pitch and implement new search projects and service offerings
• Define success metrics and translate search results to business objectives
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to incorporate strategies and best practices
• Deliver actionable insights and strategic recommendations to clients through insightful, visually compelling reports
• Optimize social search channels (e.g. YouTube, TikTok) to maximize brand and content visibility across the digital landscape
• Align paid and organic search strategies to reduce costs while maximizing key business activities
• Conduct regular audits and competitive analyses
• Effectively convey search concepts and success stories in a concise and easy-to-understand manner
• Develop frameworks and processes to systematically track and improve search performance
• Advise on technical website development to maximize search indexability and visibility, including JavaScript SEO and accessibility considerations
• Define search-driven guidelines and requirements for page content, copy, page speed, accessibility, indexability, structured markup, site architecture, URL structure, page titles, meta descriptions, headings, anchor text, internal linking, site maps, etc.
• Monitor, analyze, and report on search results and performance to both internal and external stakeholders
• Keep current with the latest digital trends and changes in the search marketing landscape, identifying new opportunities for clients (e.g. AI and conversational search, ML-driven automation, visual search, voice search, social search, etc.)

You Have

• 7+ years of search experience
• Experience leading and managing a team of search specialists
• Strong communication and presentation skills, with an emphasis on data storytelling
• Proven track record of developing and implementing search strategies that successfully drove traffic and conversion growth
• Strong project management and organizational skills, with the ability to drive progress and manage multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously
• Experience defining and documenting cross-disciplinary internal processes to improve SEO implementation and best practices
• Deep understanding of search engine algorithms, ranking factors, SEO best practices, and technical SEO
• Proficiency in third-party SEO/SEM tools, such as SEMrush, Ahrefs, ScreamingFrog, etc.
• Proficiency in data analytics and visualization tools, such as Google Analytics, Google Data Studio, Adobe Analytics, Google Search Console, Tableau, etc.
• Strong Excel skills, including pivot tables, vlook-ups, and comfort working with large datasets
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret data, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions
• Experience developing and executing content strategies that improve brand visibility, traffic and engagement through content creation and optimization
• A proactive, self-starter attitude
• Excellent business acumen, results-orientation, and written communication skills
• Experience with testing and leveraging AI tools (ChatGPT, etc.) for search
• Passion for staying current in a rapidly evolving digital environment, leveraging new tools, and digital marketing channels to gain a competitive edge

You May Have (ideal But Not Required)

• Experience managing paid search, PPC, or SEM campaigns – or experience integrating SEO/SEM strategies
• Experience with Python
• Local SEO/Google Business Profile experience
• Agency experience

What We Offer

• Global maternity and parental leave
• Competitive benefits packages
• Vacation, compassionate leave, sick days, and flex days
• Access to online services for families and new parents
• Extensive winter holiday office closures
• Diversity and Inclusion Board with 12 affinity groups
• Internal learning and development programs
• Enterprise-wide employee discounts

Our new hires & employees are the future of our organization, and we want to set you up for long-term success. In an effort to do so, we expect our team to work from the Chicago office a minimum of 3 days a week.
We continually review ranges to address skills, experience and markets. Base salaries are determined during our interview process, by assessing a number of factors that include, but aren't limited to, a candidate's experience and skills relative to the scope and responsibilities of the position. For current CM employees, tenure will also be a consideration.

Salary Range

$125,000—$135,000 USD

Critical Mass is an equal opportunity employer.
The Critical Mass Talent Acquisition team will only communicate from email addresses that use the URLs , and us.greenhouse-
We will not use apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or Google Hangouts for communicating with you.
We will never ask you to send us money, technology, or anything else to work for our company. If you believe you are the victim of a scam, please review your local government consumer protections guidance and reach out to them directly.
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If Costa Rica based: *