Silverback Strategies is a performance marketing agency built to help marketers grow and capitalize on change. Ad Age, Inc Magazine, The Washington Post, The Washingtonian, and The Washington Business Journal have recognized Silverback as one of the best places to work.
We hire the best and help them get better. Silverbackers are supported, challenged and inspired by their peers. Regardless of title or tenure, every Silverbacker plays a role in helping our agency get better. This is a place where you can make a difference.
Silverback’s next Associate Director of SEO will act as the second-in-command to the SEO department head (Senior Director of SEO), and will work closely with the Senior Director to coach & manage an industry-best team.
We’re not looking for “just anybody” to be our next Associate Director of SEO. We need someone who is uncommonly driving, trailblazing, and self-motivated by nature. We’re looking for a person who is eager to roll up their sleeves and lead the charge on SEO product innovation at Silverback, helping our agency level up the ways in which we deliver value to our clients through SEO and AIO / GEO. Our ideal candidate also has a strong Content Strategy background to help our team streamline & modernize our Content product & processes.
Finally, we’re looking for an individual with a strong player-coach mentality — once you’re fully ramped up, you’ll be leading day-to-day strategy & management of a portfolio of 2-3 clients yourself. You’ll also oversee a team of 1-2 SEO Account Managers, and will help them be successful with their own unique client portfolios through proactive coaching and strategic training.
—What You’ll Do—
Leadership: Partner with the Senior Director of SEO as the second-in-command leader of Silverback’s SEO department, helping set direction, priorities, and standards for the team.
Coaching & People Management: Manage and support an industry-best organic search team, including direct oversight of 1–3 SEO Account Managers. Proactively identify coaching & upskilling opportunities, and deliver timely, candid, constructive feedback to your team.
Client Ownership: Stay hands-on in client delivery by owning a small (2-3 accounts) portfolio of some of the agency’s key organic search clients, leading day-to-day strategy and relationship management.
Content-Focused: Use your robust content background to streamline and modernize Silverback’s Content product and processes, bringing stronger structure, consistency, and scalability to content strategy work
SEO Product Innovation: Roll up your sleeves and lead the charge in collaboration with the Senior Director of SEO on SEO product innovation. Help us create & deliver SEO products and services that are measurable, reliable, and impactful in the “modern era” of search engines & user behavior.
SEO Process Automation: Implement efficiency improvements across the SEO team by identifying & building automation opportunities/workflows — without sacrificing product quality.
Well-Rounded Marketing Expertise: While you have a background in SEO & Content, you flex broader marketing chops to more effectively understand all the pieces of a puzzle in clients’ marketing strategies.
Focus on Impact: Directly tie your work (and your team’s work!) back to revenue & business impact for your clients. Deprioritize “vanity metrics” and focus on real results.
AIO / GEO Enablement: Drive the evolution of the agency’s approach to AIO / GEO, translating changes in search engines & user behavior into practical strategy, process, and client value.
Initiative & Ownership: Operate as a self-motivated, trailblazing leader who identifies opportunities, pushes work forward, and elevates the team without needing heavy direction.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work with internal teammates across measurement, paid media, and creative to bring strategies for multi-service clients to life.
—What You’ll Need to Succeed—
Agency Background: You must have previous experience/tenure at an agency with a performance marketing focus. (While in-house experience is always welcome, qualified candidates for this role need to have prior agency experience and be eager to participate & lead in a fast-paced agency environment!)
Years of Experience: Although skills alignment is more important than years of experience for this role, we’re requiring all candidates to have at least 4 years of marketing experience in order to be considered.
People Management Experience: Qualified candidates for this role will have at least 1 year of people management experience under their belt, and a proven track record of managing, coaching, and developing great talent.
Deep Content Expertise: Proven experience leading content strategy for SEO, including topic planning, keyword-to-intent mapping, content briefs, and performance-driven optimisation. Ideally, you’ve built or optimized content processes for others to follow before.
AI Search Testing & Optimization: You have hands-on experience optimizing for AI search (not theoretical; actual tests). You don’t have all the answers — nobody does! — but you’re excited to test, experiment, and figure it out.
Client-Facing Comfortability: This role is not a good fit for someone who doesn’t want to talk directly to clients. You must be comfortable building rapport, establishing expertise / credibility, and serving as the face of the SEO engagement with your assigned clients, as well as serving as a point of escalation for your direct reports’ clients.
“Get Sh*t Done” Mentality: You’d rather take a big swing and miss than sit around twiddling your thumbs. You’re energized by & thrive in an environment where no two days are the same, and results are king.
Independence & Reliability: Because you’ll be a leader within the department (and within the company as a whole!), we’re looking for people who pride themselves on a driving, results-oriented, independent work style — and who we know we can count on to produce results.
Business Acumen: Being able to build & execute SEO strategies across multiple industries is crucial, but your ability to tie SEO wins to a measurable impact on the clients’ business, bottom line, etc is what will make you a superstar.
—Why Silverback?—Silverback isn’t for everybody. If you’re an A player, you will get paid more, learn more and grow faster with support from a smart and fun team. If you’re a B player, you will be miserable.
Work with the A team: We are ruthless about putting the best possible team on the field.
Make an impact: We’re a small agency. Everybody has the opportunity to drive change and impact.
Get paid: We hire the best and pay them generously.
Do cool sh*t: From media to SEO to measurement, learn the cutting edge of what works.
—Benefits & Perks—
Unlimited PTO
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans
Monthly Team Events and a fun, casual, inclusive company culture
Company-paid ClassPass membership
12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave
Summer Fridays
401(k) with Employer Match
Silverback Strategies is an equal opportunity employer. If you believe you meet the qualifications for the position, then we invite you to apply. We celebrate the free flow of conversation, ideas and opinions at Silverback, but actions such as bullying, discrimination, harassment or retaliation of any kind are strictly prohibited in our workplace. We are committed to providing a safe, open and accommodating environment that allows all of our team members to thrive. Employment decisions are made without regard to age, color, disability, family, genetic information, origin, race, religion, sex. For more information, we invite you to visit eeoc.gov. 
