{"id":1213601,"url":"https://alion.io/job/dentsu-manager-seo-ai-discovery","title":"Sr. Strategist, SEO & AI Discovery","company":{"id":888,"name":"dentsu","domain":"dentsu.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/dentsu-polska","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":79,"open_postings":142,"ghost_share":0.007,"stale_share":0.803,"repost_share":0.028,"time_to_fill_p50_days":29,"computed_at":"2026-10-23T05:54:15Z"}},"role":"Marketing","role_family":"Marketing","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Chicago, United States","Toronto, Canada"],"countries":["US","CA"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":69000,"max_usd":139000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":2824},"experience_years_min":3,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Ahrefs","optional":false},{"name":"GA4","optional":false},{"name":"Google BigQuery","optional":false},{"name":"JavaScript","optional":false},{"name":"LLM","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Screaming Frog","optional":false},{"name":"SQL","optional":false}],"status":"closed","first_seen_at":"2026-09-24T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-28","last_verified_at":"2026-10-23T18:16:59Z","board_verified":false,"closed_at":"2026-10-23T18:16:59Z","days_open":29,"trust":{"level":"not_scored","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":29},"description":"Job Description:\nAs a Sr. Strategist, SEO & AI Discovery at Merkle, you will lead SEO strategy across a portfolio of client accounts, setting program direction, owning complex audits and recommendations, and translating search performance into business outcomes. This role is built for a senior individual contributor who can move comfortably between technical SEO, content and on-page strategy, AI-driven discovery, performance measurement, and client advisory. You will serve as a trusted lead for assigned accounts, helping clients understand what is happening, why it matters, and what to do next.\nCore Responsibilities\nLead SEO strategy across assigned accounts: Set search program direction, prioritize workstreams, and ensure recommendations connect to client business goals, marketing priorities, and measurable outcomes. \nServe as the day-to-day search lead: Build trusted relationships with client stakeholders, understand their goals, KPIs, business context, priorities, and decision-making dynamics, and translate search priorities into clear, business-relevant action. \nOwn complex SEO / AI audits and analyses: Independently diagnose performance opportunities across technical SEO, content and on-page optimization, AI Search visibility, competitive landscape, and site architecture. \nDevelop measurement frameworks: Define SEO reporting structures that connect organic visibility, technical health, content performance, classic SERP visibility, AI Overview presence, LLM visibility, and business outcomes. \nTurn data into decisions: Analyze data from GSC, GA4, crawl tools, rank tracking, log files, AI visibility platforms, and third-party tools to identify patterns, explain performance shifts, and prioritize action. \nCreate actionable recommendations: Translate findings into prioritized recommendations with clear impact, effort, dependencies, confidence level, and implementation guidance for client, content, and engineering teams. \nLead technical SEO workstreams: Guide recommendations across crawl, indexation, rendering, JavaScript SEO, Core Web Vitals, site architecture, internal linking, schema, structured data, migrations, and re-platforming. \nAdvance content and AI Search visibility: Lead search intent mapping, topical authority planning, SERP feature analysis, AI Overview evaluation, LLM visibility analysis, entity and brand authority recommendations, and scalable on-page optimization frameworks. \nOwn delivery quality: Manage assigned SEO workstreams end-to-end, including scoping, work planning, QA, stakeholder updates, timeline management, and on-time delivery. \nMentor and review junior work: Coach consultants and staff consultants on analysis planning, data interpretation, recommendation quality, deliverable structure, and client-ready communication. \nSupport account growth: Identify organic growth opportunities, contribute SEO expertise to pitches, RFPs, renewals, and SOW scoping, and help shape work that is clearly scoped, valuable to clients, and feasible for the team to deliver. \nImprove the SEO practice: Contribute to internal templates, playbooks, QA standards, training materials, AI-assisted workflows, and process improvements that help the team deliver better work at scale. \nWhat You’ll Bring\n3+ years of progressive SEO experience, preferably in an agency, consultancy, or complex multi-stakeholder environment. \nStrong technical SEO capability across crawl, indexation, rendering, site architecture, internal linking, Core Web Vitals, structured data, migrations, and JavaScript SEO. \nDemonstrated capability in SEO analysis and measurement, including the ability to combine multiple data sources and translate findings into business-relevant recommendations. \nHands-on experience with tools such as Google Search Console, GA4, Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, Ahrefs, SEMRush, enterprise crawlers, rank tracking platforms, Data Studio, and AI visibility tracking platforms. \nAbility to build clear, persuasive client deliverables, including audits, executive summaries, dashboards, roadmaps, and strategic recommendation decks. \nStrong written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to adjust communication for executives, marketers, engineers, content teams, and internal stakeholders. \nExperience leading client conversations, answering questions in real time, and explaining and supporting recommendations with evidence, context, and judgment. \nWorking knowledge of AI Search, including AI Overviews, LLM-powered discovery, citation visibility, entity authority, and AI-assisted SEO workflows. \nStrong project and workstream ownership, including the ability to manage timelines, flag risks early, coordinate with PMs and cross-functional teams, and keep stakeholders informed. \nComfort mentoring consultants and staff consultants and reviewing their work for analytical accuracy, strategic clarity, and client readiness. \nPreferred / Bonus Experience\nBigQuery, SQL, Python, server log analysis, API-based reporting, or other scalable data workflows. \nExperience with international SEO, e-commerce SEO, local SEO, video/image SEO, link building, digital PR, or SEO testing. \nExperience developing reusable SEO templates, processes, playbooks, training materials, or productized service offerings. \nLeadership & Ways of Working\nYou are proactive, responsive, and self-directed. You readily provide status/account updates, risks, or next steps. \nYou can manage multiple accounts or workstreams at once without losing quality, context, or follow-through. \nYou are comfortable with ambiguity and can turn broad client questions into structured analysis plans and practical recommendations. \nYou raise risks early, propose paths forward, and balance client needs with team capacity and scope boundaries. \nYou help make the team better by sharing what you know, improving how work gets done, and creating space for consultants and staff consultants to grow. \nThe annual salary range for this position is 65K- 75K. Placement within the salary range is based on a variety of factors, including relevant experience, knowledge, skills, and other factors permitted by law.\nBenefits available with this position include:\nMedical, vision, and dental insurance,\nLife insurance,\nShort-term and long-term disability insurance,\n401k,\nFlexible paid time off,\nAt least 15 paid holidays per year,\nPaid sick and safe leave, and\nPaid parental leave.\nDentsu also complies with applicable state and local laws regarding employee leave benefits, including, but not limited to providing time off pursuant to the Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, in accordance with its plans and policies. For further details regarding Dentsu benefits, please visit www.dentsubenefitsplus.com.\nTo begin the application process, please click on the \"Apply\" button at the top of this job posting. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, and qualified candidates will be contacted for next steps.\nAt dentsu, we believe great work happens when we're connected. Our way of working combines flexibility with in-person collaboration to spark ideas and strengthen our teams. Employees who live within a commutable distance of one of our hub offices, currently located in Chicago, metro Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York City, are required and expected to work from the office three days per week (two days per week for employees based in Los Angeles). Dentsu may designate other Hub offices at any time. Those who live outside a commutable range may be designated as remote, depending on the role and business needs. Regardless of your work location, we expect our employees to be flexible to meet the needs of our Company and clients, which may include attendance in an office.\n#LI-EB1 #LI-HYBRID\nLocation:\nChicago - N. StateBrand:\nMerkleTime Type:\nFull timeContract Type:\nPermanentDentsuis committed to providingequal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees. We do this without regard to race, color, national origin, sex ,sexual orientation, gender identity, age, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, political affiliation, religious practices and observances, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.\nDentsuis committed to providing reasonable accommodation to, among others, individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans. If you need an accommodation because of a disability to search and apply for a career opportunity with us, please send an e-mail to  by clicking on the link to let us knowthe nature of your accommodation request and your contact information. We are here to support you.","description_format":"text","description_chars":8764,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":3,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["401k plan","Dental insurance","Growth opportunities","Life insurance","Parental leave"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Media & Entertainment","Creative Agencies","E-commerce Marketing","Digital Marketing"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-25T06:06:46Z"},{"event":"close","at":"2026-10-23T18:16:59Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 13","filings_12m":13,"filings_prev_12m":11,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":97500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-15T11:24:14+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":null,"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/dentsu-manager-seo-ai-discovery","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/dentsu-manager-seo-ai-discovery.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-24T03:49:33Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":6031,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-25T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":888},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=888"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fdentsu-manager-seo-ai-discovery"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fdentsu-manager-seo-ai-discovery"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fdentsu-manager-seo-ai-discovery"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/dentsu-manager-seo-ai-discovery\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fdentsu-manager-seo-ai-discovery"}]}