Director, SEO & AI Search (Hybrid - Marina Del Rey)

What We’re Looking For
GR0 is seeking a strategic and charismatic Director of SEO & AI Search to lead our SEO function into its next evolution. This is a critical leadership role at the intersection of technical SEO, AI-powered innovation, and client experience. We're looking for someone with deep SEO expertise, a builder's mindset, and the ability to lead through influence, someone who thrives in an agency setting, loves working with clients, and brings strong business acumen to every conversation. The ideal candidate is a confident strategist and operator with a passion for AI, a talent for team development, and a proven track record of improving performance, increasing retention, and generating revenue. If you’ve got big ideas and the drive to bring them to life, we want to meet you.

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Lead GR0’s SEO department with a focus on innovation, performance, and retention across a diverse portfolio of D2C clients.
• Build full-funnel strategies grounded in data, user journey insights, and enterprise-level SEO needs from technical audits and content roadmaps to backlinking and digital PR campaigns.
• Manage and develop managers, including interviewing, hiring, performance reviews, compensation recommendations, and professional development planning for SEO talent at all levels.
• Own team P&L, budget forecasts, and resource allocation in collaboration with Finance and Executive Leadership.
• Identify and lead revenue-generating projects and multi-year expansion opportunities across accounts.
• Win over C-suite stakeholders and maintain long-term client satisfaction by quickly building trust, demonstrating results, and proactively evolving SEO strategy to meet business goals.
• Recover at-risk campaigns with speed and creativity, applying advanced SEO knowledge including JavaScript rendering, server logs, international SEO, and cross-platform strategies (e.g., Google, Bing, Amazon, App Stores).
• Build internal systems for knowledge management, QA processes, and training — ensuring consistency and growth across junior to senior SEO levels.
• Support Sales by creating compelling audits, proposals, and presentation materials. Join pitch calls to help close strategic opportunities.
• Stay on top of AI innovations and new tools that enhance SEO impact, reduce costs, or unlock new capabilities. Proactively evaluate and implement tools that drive performance.
• Work cross-functionally with leaders in Creative, Paid Media, Email & SMS, and Content to deliver cohesive omnichannel strategies and cross-sell complementary services.
• Represent the agency externally as a charismatic presenter, subject matter expert, and evangelist of GR0’s SEO methodology.

Required Skills/Abilities:

• Strong leadership with 5+ years of hands-on SEO experience and 2+ years in a people management role, with mandatory agency experience.
• Proven ability to manage managers and lead high-performing SEO teams, including both in-house and offshore contributors.
• Deep SEO expertise spanning technical, content, and off-site disciplines, including recovery and re-optimization of at-risk campaigns.
• Enthusiastic about AI’s role in marketing  from prompt engineering to tool evaluation and excited to lead the department into the future of search.
• Financial acumen with direct experience managing team P&L and influencing profitability.
• A caring, team-first leader who inspires through action, elevates others, and builds trust through transparency and accountability.
• Track record of success cross-selling services, upselling accounts, and expanding enterprise relationships.
• Strong understanding of backlink strategies, content marketing, digital PR, and persona-driven content strategy.
• Comfortable on sales calls and presenting to clients, prospects, and internal stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working with D2C brands and understanding the performance metrics that drive that space.
• Prior success working with offshore talent and managing multi-time-zone workflows.
• Entrepreneurial mindset and a history of launching new initiatives within an agency or startup environment.

Physical Requirements:

• This is a hybrid office position based in Los Angeles, CA. Candidates must be comfortable working onsite with cross-functional leaders and contributing to a highly collaborative environment.

What does the hiring process entail?

• Stage 1 (Recruiter Screen) - After you submit your application, our talent recruitment team will review and reach out to candidates. During this 30-minute phone call, we’ll discuss your career journey and professional motivators while learning about GR0 overall and the Creative Producer opportunity.