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 nected 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 work streams 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.

• 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 You Tube 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.

• 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.

• 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…