Director, SEO

Overview:

Rise Interactive (https://www.riseinteractive.com), a rapidly growing full-service interactive advertising agency, is looking to hire a Director, Search Engine Optimization (SEO). We are seeking a detail-oriented, highly motivated, and tenacious individual who is excited about getting involved in an entrepreneurial company with an expanding Fortune 500 client base.  This is a hybrid position based in our global headquarters in the Chicago Loop (1 S. Wacker Drive).  

Summary and Scope:

The Director, SEO will be responsible for establishing and evolving expertise in SEO offerings and providing thought leadership internally and externally in various forms, with a focus on channel innovation, client retention and revenue growth. As such, their core focus will be on the following areas within SEO:

• Working collaboratively with the client-focused teams mapped to their respective portfolio of accounts to retain and grow current Rise revenue by optimizing for client retention, upsell, and renewal for their respective channel of expertise.
• Building and leading a best-in-class team of practitioners for SEO by maintaining and evolving best-in-class practices and strategies for their channel through partnership with Rise's other directors, vendors, Media Strategy team, etc.
• Supporting new business revenue growth both directly through partnering with the Digital Strategy team on new business initiatives and indirectly through close collaboration with the Innovation team on the development and adoption of performance-focused Connex features for SEO.

The Director, SEO will be expected to operate across a wide variety of internal and external situations, ranging from coaching internal channel managers on complex strategic initiatives to pitching C-Level client contacts on new business opportunities to working with VPs of Client Service to craft compelling narratives to sell strategic growth initiatives. This individual must be well-versed in digital performance management with a very clear mastery of all aspects of SEO. Additionally, this individual must have strong presentation skills, understand client relationship/risk management, and be comfortable leading and co-managing a 5+ person team overseeing large complex accounts with multiple stakeholders in a fast-paced work environment.

Responsibilities:

• Develop a robust SEO channel marketing strategy and work through the team to ensure that the strategy is executed optimally for their respective channel of expertise, including driving channel innovation in SEO.
• Partner with the Group Director and VP of Client Service to isolate areas of low client pulse on their assigned portfolio of accounts and act in a directly client-facing manner to build client trust, address performance issues, overhaul strategy, and help troubleshoot client pulse concerns for SEO.
• Audit prospective client accounts and work with the Group Director and VP of Client Service to craft the most compelling pitch narrative to address opportunities in their current account as well as stated pain points for their respective channel of expertise.
• Define and scale the vision for SEO best practices and evolution, as well as drive adoption of these practices across the portfolio to build out a best-in-class team of SEO practitioners.
• Partner with Rise's internal Innovation team to define performance-oriented features for our proprietary performance management platform, Connex, as well as drive adoption of these features for SEO team

Required Skills:

• 5+ years of experience tactically managing all aspects of SEO, including keyword strategy, on-site SEO, internal and external link analysis, technical SEO, local/mobile SEO, etc. with proven track record of innovation in SEO, including identifying and implementing new ideas, tools, and strategies to improve performance and drive business results. 
• Basic understanding of HTML, CSS and JavaScript
• Familiarity with analytics platforms such as Adobe or Google Analytics, and ranking tools such as Linkdex, SEMRush, Conductor, Moz, etc.
• Experience with additional digital marketing channels outside of SEO, including PPC, Marketplaces, Affiliate, Social, Display is a plus.
• Significant client-facing experience including senior-level client relationship management and demonstrated track record of retaining and growing client revenue through pitching strategy or upselling.
• Demonstrated experience managing strategy for a large dedicated client and/or 5+ partially dedicated accounts, while being held to strict client goals.
• Experience building and leading performance-oriented teams, including evolving and scaling best practices for SEO.
• Advanced level understanding of performance media managemen