Associate Director, SEO/AEO

ABOUT SINGLE GRAIN

Single Grain is a Revenue Marketing agency. We build pipeline-focused systems that compound — not campaigns that expire. We've helped 500+ companies, from venture-backed startups to the Fortune 500, drive measurable growth, influencing billions in revenue with a 3.2x average ROI.

Our portfolio includes:

• Single Grain Agency — enterprise digital marketing services across SEO, paid media, creative, CRO, and AI-driven growth strategy.

• ClickFlow — our AI-powered content optimization platform that helps companies unlock hidden growth from their existing content by identifying high-impact SEO opportunities and improving rankings with AI insights.

• Karrot — a LinkedIn advertising and landing page platform built specifically for B2B companies running demand generation programs.

• Single Brain — the complete client operating layer: one agent interface for the human, one agent fleet commander for execution, an agent fleet of worker operators, and vertical specialists that handle the actual work.

We are evolving into a tech-enabled services (TES) company, where software, automation, and services combine to create leverage. Our CEO Eric Siu hosts the Leveling Up podcast and co-hosts Marketing School with Neil Patel, reaching millions of marketers and founders every month — a brand ecosystem most agencies don't have.

We are fully remote, and we operate as an AI-native team: every role at Single Grain is expected to use AI to increase speed, quality, and leverage.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Associate Director, SEO/AEO operates as the mini-GM of a strategic organic-visibility portfolio. You exist to grow and retain a $1M+ book of business while building the systems, playbooks, and AI workflows that make every manager on the team faster, sharper, and more proactive.

Your job is to drive portfolio growth and net revenue retention while serving as the primary escalation layer for clients — so that our Head of SEO can focus on function-level strategy instead of firefighting.

This is a people-leverage role. You are differentiated from a Senior Manager by what surrounds your book: You partner with sales on new business, you enable the entire pod (not just your own accounts), and you design systems that scale to the team.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own and grow a $1M+ portfolio of strategic accounts, driving ≥20% portfolio growth through expansion and new-business contribution.

• Achieve Net Revenue Retention across the portfolio to ≥110%, with ≥95% client retention.

• Serve as the primary escalation layer for clients, reducing Head of SEO firefighting to ≤10% of their time.

• Partner with sales on new business — bring strategic insight into deal cycles, contribute to pitches, and shape scopes that win.

• Develop proactive, forward-looking account roadmaps across SEO, AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), Reddit, and LLM-driven discovery — surfacing risks and opportunities before they escalate.

• Design and roll out AI workflows that improve team efficiency by ~50%, and codify them into reusable playbooks.

• Mentor and elevate the managers on your pod, raising their output without becoming a bottleneck.

• Contribute to function-level strategy by surfacing portfolio insights that shape how the broader SEO team operates.

• Proactively surface strategic shifts and insights to clients and communicate effectively to build trust

• Collaborate with sales team on new client pitches

OUTCOMES YOU'LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR

Primary KPI

• Net Revenue Retention ≥110%

• Client retention ≥95%

• Reduce Head of SEO firefighting to ≤10%

• Improve operational efficiency by ~50% through AI

6-Month Expectations

• Fully own 4–6 strategic accounts and oversee team’s book of business with no unforced churn

• Establish proactive account management across the portfolio

• Close 2–3 expansion or new-business events

• Deliver clear roadmaps with no reactive surprises

• Improve client confidence and trust

12–18 Month Expectations

• Grow portfolio to $1.2M+

• Build a repeatable expansion engine

• Standardize AEO, Reddit, and LLM visibility monetization

• Deliver ~50% efficiency gains across the team

• Improve account margins and output per manager

YOU MAY BE A GOOD FIT IF

• You have 8+ years in SEO / organic visibility, and 3+ years owning multi-account client portfolios at $1M+ in scale (agency, in-house, or consulting equivalent — we count the work, not the title).

• You connect organic visibility directly to pipeline, revenue, and business outcomes — and you can point to specific examples where you've done it.

• You build trust quickly with senior client stakeholders and expand accounts through insight, not just execution.

• You anticipate problems early and take full accountability for outcomes — including the ones that aren't strictly in your remit.

• You communicate clearly and directly under pressure, and you create confidence with clients and internal partners alike.

• You develop the people around you. The managers and analysts you work with grow faster because they work with you.

• You think in systems. When you see a problem twice, you build a workflow that prevents it from happening a third time.

• You actively use AI to increase speed, output quality, and leverage — and you can point to specific workflows you've built or improved.

• You have working fluency across SEO, AEO, Reddit and community-driven discovery, and LLM visibility / AI search.

WHAT THIS ROLE IS NOT

This role is likely not a fit if your experience is primarily:

• Executing SEO tasks without tying them to pipeline or revenue.

• Reacting to client requests instead of leading strategy.

• Managing deliverables and timelines rather than owning outcomes.

• Operating as a strong individual contributor without enabling a wider team.

• Avoiding AI, or using it only at a basic prompt level.

If you read this list and recognize yourself in the opposite of each line, you'll likely thrive here .

COMPENSATION

Compensation for this role is $100,000 - $120,000 annually. Final compensation will be determined based on the candidate's experience, skills, and qualifications.

BENEFITS

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance on the 1st of the month after you join

• 401(k) with 100% match up to 3% of your salary

• $50K life insurance policy, paid 100% by the company

• 12 weeks of paid family leave, effective after the first year of employment

• Flexible Unlimited Paid Time Off

• $100 utilities stipend, paid out as an extra $50 per paycheck

• $60 UberEats credit each month

• A MacBook

• $500 WFH office reimbursement

• Fully remote — work from anywhere

Apply

Submit your application at singlegrain.com/apply by completing our Beat Claude Challenge . Select the "seo-strategy-003" assessment.