Director, SEO

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. With exceptional talent, trusted data and intelligence, and world-class partnerships – all united by ourpioneeringagentic marketing platform, WPP Open – we help clients navigate change, capture opportunity, and deliver transformational growth.

WPP Media is WPP’s AI-driven media operating unit, bringing together media, data, and partnerships to deliver creative personalisation at scale. Connected through WPP Open and powered by Open Intelligence, clients see exactly where, how, and why their media investment is working.

The Director, SEO is the day to day leader for all SEO and Generative Search Optimization (GSO) activities across an agency client portfolio. You provide attentive oversight of assigned client accounts, direct a talented team of search marketing specialists, and serve as the subject matter expert and primary point of contact for all things organic search and GSO for your agency teams.

You will achieve client outcomes by leading the right strategies, developing POVs, providing thought leadership at the account level, and driving innovation in execution. The overarching strategies you build anchor and glue the workstreams together, from technical SEO and content to GSO and cross channel integration with Paid Search. You will also play a hands on role in new business development and in growing existing client relationships.

Responsibilities

Account Leadership & SEO/GSO Strategy

• Develop a strong understanding of each client's products, competition, industry, marketing goals, and KPIs, and translate that into SEO and GSO strategies that drive measurable business performance.
• Serve as the subject matter expert across the full SEO discipline, including:
  • Keyword research and search intent modeling
  • Technical SEO and site audits
  • Website migration strategy and support, site relaunches
  • Competitive landscape and organic visibility analyses
  • Content gap analysis, content audit, strategy, creation and translation
  • eCommerce SEO and YouTube SEO optimization
  • Local SEO management
  • SEO implementation support and developer enablement
• Lead Generative Search Optimization activities, building approaches that improve brand visibility, citation, and recommendation rates across LLM driven environments (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews).
• Apply technical and strategic fluency across structured data, feeds, and other signals consumed by both search engines and LLMs.
• Analyze performance data to develop strategic insights for SEO and cross channel opportunities, and provide analysis, QA, and insights for performance reports.
• Work closely with SEM and Paid Search teams to align strategies, find synergies, and deliver integrated wins to clients.
• Partner with Planning teams for alignment SEO opportunities, and define project planning, scope, and timelines.

New Business Support & Client Growth

• Support new business pitches by contributing SEO and GSO strategy, capabilities content, and POVs, and represent the practice in client meetings and workshops.
• Help reframe Search conversations with clients from rankings and CPCs to business outcomes, brand authority, and futureproofing in an AI driven, zero click environment.
• Drive growth across the client portfolio by actively identifying upsell, cross sell, and integration opportunities, and by embedding SEO and GSO into the broader paid media, commerce, and content strategy.
• Develop scopes of work, staffing estimates, and commercial proposals for new and expanded engagements in partnership with the SVP and Finance.
• Surface client feedback, market signals, and competitive intelligence to inform the practice's product and capability roadmap.

Team Management & Development

• Lead a team of SEO specialists across all levels, directing, coaching, and developing them to think strategically about organic search's role in the media mix.
• Evaluate team performance constructively and frequently, providing recognition, mentorship, and career development planning.
• Cultivate an environment that supports intelligent risk taking, innovation, and creativity.
• Own hiring, onboarding, training, and retention for the SEO team in your portfolio.
• Contribute to the development of new product offerings and practice innovations, including GSO playbooks, tools, and automated workflows.
• Collaborate with counterparts across WPP Media on corporate initiatives, automation projects, process changes, and roll outs.
• Stay current with industry trends, algorithm updates, and the evolution of generative search, and share POVs with teams and clients.
• Be a catalyst for SEO and GSO learning to fellow Directors and Group Directors across Paid Search, Social, Programmatic, Analytics, eCommerce, and Digital Planning.

Qualifications

• Minimum 6+ years of relevant Organic Search experience with a track record of leading SEO initiatives and growth for large scale clients, ideally at an agency.
• Hands on experience in organic strategies, processes, analytics, and cross discipline collaboration, with a clear history of exceeding client goals and KPIs.
• Working fluency in Generative Search Optimization, understanding how LLMs surface, cite, and recommend brands, and how to influence those signals.
• Strong knowledge of the integration points of Organic and Paid Search; SEM or Paid Search experience an asset.
• Proven experience with site side analytics platforms (Google Analytics suite, Adobe Analytics) and modern SEO tooling.
• Prior experience managing and growing a team, including training, mentoring, and developing junior members.
• Proven contribution to new business pitches and to growing existing accounts, including building scopes, capacity estimates, and commercial proposals.
• Ability to think strategically and drive solid results, and to influence cross functional and matrixed teams through partnership and clear communication.
• Excellent verbal and written communication, exceptional organizational skills, multi tasking ability, and attention to detail.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
• Passion for SEO, the future of search marketing, and how it fits into the larger digital, media, and brand strategy.
• Experience with Conversion Rate Optimization and/or Testing (A/B, MVT) a plus.

Life at WPP Media & Benefits

Our passion for shaping the next era of media includes investing in our employees to help them do their best work, and we’re just as committed to employee growth as we are to responsible media investment. WPP Media employees can tap into the global WPP Media & WPP networks to pursue their passions, grow their networks, and learn at the cutting edge of marketing and advertising. We have a variety of employee resource groups and host frequent in-office events showcasing team wins, sharing thought leadership, and celebrating holidays and milestone events. Our benefits include competitive medical, group retirement plans, vision, and dental insurance, significant paid time off, preferential partner discounts, and employee mental health awareness days.

WPP Media is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.
We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office around four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

While we appreciate all applications received, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

The base salary for this position at the time of this posting may range between the values at the bottom of this posting. Individual compensation varies based on job-related factors, including location, business needs, level of responsibility, experience, and qualifications.

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$110,000 - $160,000 CAD

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