Director, SEO

ABOUT CROUD & ROLE OVERVIEW 

Croud is a global brand and performance media agency that helps businesses drive sustainable growth in an evolving marketing landscape. Combining deep expertise in performance marketing with brand strategy, integrated media, social, creative, and analytics, Croud delivers a Return on Intelligence so brands can make their next best move.

Founded in 2011 to reinvent the agency model, Croud combines 600+ in-house digital experts with a global network of 2,900 on-demand marketing specialists. This unique model enables us to operate with agility, delivering tailored solutions that drive meaningful and measurable growth for our clients in over 120 markets and 60+ languages.

Located in the heart of SoHo, our New York office is home to a group of 100+ highly-skilled marketers, passionate about driving innovation and delivering great work for clients. With a rapidly expanding team and client portfolio, Croud New York offers hands-on experience working with some of the world's leading brands across every industry sector.

Find out more about Croud NYhere!

The Director, SEO is a senior client and commercial leader at Croud. Reporting to the VP, Organic Performance, you will lead a dedicated client pod (comprising Associate Directors, and Account Managers) responsible for setting and executing forward-thinking organic search strategies for a portfolio of client accounts.

Search is undergoing a fundamental shift. In this role, you will champion Croud’s SearchAnywhere™ approach, expanding client organic discovery across traditional search engines, conversational AI platforms (AEO), and generative models (GEO). You will bridge high-level commercial consulting with operational execution, ensuring our client strategies deliver measurable business outcomes while scaling pod productivity through agentic AI workflows.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Commercial Strategy & Executive Advisory

• Architect and lead multi-market organic growth strategies across traditional search engines, AIOs, and conversational generative engines

• Lead and implement annual Account Development Plans (ADPs), identifying growth opportunities and defending client market share against SERP volatility

• Act as a senior strategic advisor to client CMOs and marketing leadership, translating search dynamics into bottom-line commercial metrics (customer acquisition cost, policy/product conversion, and lifetime value)

• Partner with Client Leadership and New Business teams to lead organic pitch strategy and win key enterprise accounts

Team Leadership

• Line manage and mentor a multidisciplinary client pod, including Account Directors, and Managers, conducting regular 1:1s, quarterly performance reviews and career development through goal and objective setting

• Lead the cultural and technical transition toward agentic workflows, guiding your pod to automate routine manual analysis and repurpose hours toward high-value actions

• Champion cross-channel integration, ensuring organic strategies align with Paid Media, Data Solutions, and Brand Strategy teams to drive unified client performance

Commercial Governance & Account Health

• Own portfolio commercial health, manage account staffing, resource allocation and margin targets

• Champion client retention and satisfaction, taking accountability for account NPS and acting as the senior escalation point across managed accounts

• Develop and deliver annual Account Development Plans (ADPs) to uncover organic upselling and cross-selling opportunities across your client portfolio.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE

• 7+ years of progressive organic search experience, with a proven track record of strategic leadership within an agency or fast-paced enterprise brand environment

• Deep fluency in modern search mechanics, specifically GEO, AEO, semantic entity modelling, and how large language models index, retrieve, and cite brand sources

• Demonstrated ability to construct business cases, calculate projected ROI, and influence senior non-technical stakeholders (CMOs, CFOs, VPs)

• Demonstrable experience directly managing team members (Account Directors / Managers), with an empathetic, coaching-led management style

• A forward-thinking, proactive attitude toward AI adoption, automated tooling, and continuous workflow improvement

STAKEHOLDERS

• Line Manager: VP, Organic Performance

• Direct Reports: Account Directors, Account Managers, Copy Editor

• Key Partners: Director, Client Leadership, Technical SEO Lead, Paid Media Directors

COMPANY BENEFITS

Every employee is eligible for the benefits listed on our careers site which include:

● 20 days vacation a year with 12 public holidays observed

● Early finish throughout the summer months

● Enhanced paid parental leave

● Healthy in-office meals and snacks

● 401(k) Savings Plan

● Sales commission with pitch opportunities

● Annual performance bonus

● Pre-tax commuter benefits

● Full paid medical Insurance for employee (including dental and vision)

● Dependent contribution to medical, dental and vision coverage

● Employer paid life insurance coverage

● Monthly wellness membership stipend

● Access to health guidance and wellness resources

● Free Citi bike membership

● Hybrid workspace support - home office setup is provided

● Agile working policy

● Regularly scheduled social events and quarterly team offsites

COMPENSATION

Salary Range for this position is$140,000 - $160,000per year (DOE).

Where an employee or prospective employee is paid within this range will depend on; among other factors, actual ranges for current/former employees in the subject position, market considerations, budgetary considerations, tenure and standing with the Company (applicable to current employees), as well as the employee’s/applicant’s skill set, level of experience, and qualifications.

Standard hours are from 9.00am to 5.30pm, there’s flexibility if agreed in advance with your line managers (it may also be necessary on occasions to work outside of these hours). We operate on a hybrid model of 3 days in office per week.

Croud is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the grounds of a person's gender, marital status, race, religion, age, disability or sexual orientation. All candidates will be assessed based on merit, qualifications and their ability to perform the requirements of the role.