SEO Lead | Remote for U.S.-Based Higher Education Marketing Agency

Company Overview Our client is a performance marketing agency specializing in mission-driven organizations across higher education and nonprofit sectors. They combine sharp strategy, creative excellence, and data-driven execution to help universities and organizations achieve measurable growth — enrollments, applications, inquiries, and awareness. In this role, you'll own project planning, process, and delivery across the agency — guiding client work from conception to completion, on time and within budget, across every service line. Your Role As SEO Lead, you'll own the strategy, execution, and optimization of SEO initiatives across multiple partner accounts. You'll develop long-term organic growth strategies, lead technical and content optimization efforts, analyze performance, and identify new opportunities across SEO, Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Success in this role requires balancing strategic thinking with hands‑on execution while collaborating across Content, Web Development, Analytics, Paid Media, and Account Management teams. Key Responsibilities Develop and execute SEO, AEO, and GEO strategies across multiple higher education partner accounts Build SEO roadmaps aligned with enrollment goals and business objectives Conduct keyword, topic, competitor, entity, and search intent research Lead technical SEO initiatives including site audits, crawl analysis, indexing, Core Web Vitals, structured data, and internal linking Partner with Web Development teams to prioritize and implement technical SEO improvements Optimize website content, landing pages, and content hubs for search visibility, user experience, and AI discoverability Identify content gaps and opportunities to strengthen topical authority across the student journey Monitor rankings, organic traffic, conversions, and other SEO KPIs to deliver actionable insights Own monthly SEO reporting and communicate strategic recommendations to stakeholders Stay current on search algorithm updates, AI search advancements, and evolving SEO best practices Evaluate emerging search technologies and AI tools to improve workflows and search performance Contribute to SEO documentation, operational standards, and continuous process improvements You Bring 5+ years in SEO, with at least 3 focused on technical SEO, ideally at an agency or across multiple sites at once. A track record of uncovering the highest-impact issues on a site, prioritizing them, and getting them fixed. We care more about your judgment than the length of your checklist. Deep hands‑on experience with Google Search Console, GA4, Screaming Frog, and Ahrefs or Semrush. Strong working knowledge of WordPress: how themes, plugins, redirects, and schema work, and enough to spec fixes precisely even when you're not the one building them. Advanced, hands‑on experience with Claude, including building agents and AI‑assisted workflows that other people use in real work. Clear written communication. You can write a spec a developer can act on and a recommendation a client can understand. Bonus Points Experience in higher education, enrollment marketing, or education technology Previous agency experience managing multiple client accounts Familiarity with CRM platforms and enrollment-focused reporting Experience using AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, AirOps, or similar Passion for emerging AI search technologies and the future of organic search What's Offered Fully remote work environment Competitive compensation based on experience Opportunity to work across a diverse portfolio of higher education institutions Exposure to cutting‑edge SEO, AEO, GEO, and AI search initiatives Collaborative, cross‑functional team environment Opportunity to influence the evolution of the agency's SEO services and best practices Interview Process Application Review — resume and SEO experience Intro Call — background, technical expertise, and client experience Hiring Manager Interview — SEO strategy, technical knowledge, and analytics Team Interview — collaboration, communication, and problem‑solving approach Offer Stage — final discussions and onboarding This is an opportunity for an experienced SEO professional who enjoys combining technical expertise, content strategy, and data-driven decision‑making to help higher education institutions grow through organic search while staying at the forefront of AI‑driven search innovation. #J-18808-Ljbffr Atomic Hr