Associate Director of SEO

Silverback Strategies is a performance marketing agency built to help marketers grow and capitalize on change. Ad Age, Inc Magazine, The Washington Post, The Washingtonian, and The Washington Business Journal have recognized Silverback as one of the best places to work.
We hire the best and help them get better. Silverbackers are supported, challenged and inspired by their peers. Regardless of title or tenure, every Silverbacker plays a role in helping our agency get better. This is a place where you can make a difference.

Silverback’s next Associate Director of SEO will act as the second-in-command to the SEO department head (Senior Director of SEO), and will work closely with the Senior Director to coach & manage an industry-best team.

We’re not looking for “just anybody” to be our next Associate Director of SEO. We need someone who is uncommonly driving, trailblazing, and self-motivated by nature. We’re looking for a person who is eager to roll up their sleeves and lead the charge on SEO product innovation at Silverback, helping our agency level up the ways in which we deliver value to our clients through SEO and AIO / GEO. Our ideal candidate also has a strong Content Strategy background to help our team streamline & modernize our Content product & processes.

Finally, we’re looking for an individual with a strong player-coach mentality — once you’re fully ramped up, you’ll be leading day-to-day strategy & management of a portfolio of 2-3 clients yourself. You’ll also oversee a team of 1-2 SEO Account Managers, and will help them be successful with their own unique client portfolios through proactive coaching and strategic training.

—What You’ll Do—

• Leadership: Partner with the Senior Director of SEO as the second-in-command leader of Silverback’s SEO department, helping set direction, priorities, and standards for the team.
• Coaching & People Management: Manage and support an industry-best organic search team, including direct oversight of 1–3 SEO Account Managers. Proactively identify coaching & upskilling opportunities, and deliver timely, candid, constructive feedback to your team.
• Client Ownership: Stay hands-on in client delivery by owning a small (2-3 accounts) portfolio of some of the agency’s key organic search clients, leading day-to-day strategy and relationship management.
• Content-Focused: Use your robust content background to streamline and modernize Silverback’s Content product and processes, bringing stronger structure, consistency, and scalability to content strategy work
• SEO Product Innovation: Roll up your sleeves and lead the charge in collaboration with the Senior Director of SEO on SEO product innovation. Help us create & deliver SEO products and services that are measurable, reliable, and impactful in the “modern era” of search engines & user behavior.
• SEO Process Automation: Implement efficiency improvements across the SEO team by identifying & building automation opportunities/workflows — without sacrificing product quality.
• Well-Rounded Marketing Expertise: While you have a background in SEO & Content, you flex broader marketing chops to more effectively understand all the pieces of a puzzle in clients’ marketing strategies.
• Focus on Impact: Directly tie your work (and your team’s work!) back to revenue & business impact for your clients. Deprioritize “vanity metrics” and focus on real results.
• AIO / GEO Enablement: Drive the evolution of the agency’s approach to AIO / GEO, translating changes in search engines & user behavior into practical strategy, process, and client value.
• Initiative & Ownership: Operate as a self-motivated, trailblazing leader who identifies opportunities, pushes work forward, and elevates the team without needing heavy direction.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work with internal teammates across measurement, paid media, and creative to bring strategies for multi-service clients to life.

—What You’ll Need to Succeed—

• Agency Background: You must have previous experience/tenure at an agency with a performance marketing focus. (While in-house experience is always welcome, qualified candidates for this role need to have prior agency experience and be eager to participate & lead in a fast-paced agency environment!)
• Years of Experience: Although skills alignment is more important than years of experience for this role, we’re requiring all candidates to have at least 4 years of marketing experience in order to be considered.
• People Management Experience: Qualified can