When I created this JD, I was at a point where I wanted to evolve my role to be more focused on strategy and organizational architecture, as the rest of the SEO team had been absorbed into individual business units within individual product areas. To get the necessary buy-in from leadership on scoping the role, I knew that I needed to clearly explain both the evolution of SEO at the company as well as the skill set and experience that would be needed for someone in this position to tie all functions of SEO together in a way that would take our program to the next level of search-marketing maturity.

When I proposed this role, there were no principals on our team. While there were three senior managers who had people-management responsibilities, they’d recently taken on responsibility for each executing the SEO strategy within a single product area. Given this new focus for them, my proposal was for the director role to become a principal architect, with responsibility for setting the stage for an internal governance body for the SEO strategy and insights. This new role would be focused on formalizing SEO processes, structure, and governance to get the necessary consistency across different product areas that now had SEO managers executing the strategy for that product area.

While I did not see this through, as I moved companies after I proposed it, it was received well by my manager, who indicated that this would feed into how the role of the SEO team evolved into a situation where leads were executing on specific product areas while a principal growth lead oversaw all these program-specific activities.

Beyond these qualifications, there were a few other qualities that I knew would be particularly useful for someone in this position—regardless of whether or not it was me who was taking it on. Since this would require regular work across multiple product areas, I knew it would be ideal to have someone with the ability to develop frameworks to standardize work and shape the direction of teams across all those areas, while displaying an exceptional level of trust and credibility across each. I also thought it would be useful to find someone with experience in consultative sales, since this would give them the ability to build relationships across product areas and demonstrate the value of adopting defined, validated practices, structures, agencies, tools, and tests.

Arpana Tiwari

I put together this JD for our org’s first SEO Principal at a time when we were transitioning our strategy in a manner that demanded a centralized leader to help drive alignment across work in multiple product areas.

Identify SEO and content growth opportunities by analyzing existing content and information architecture, keyword constructs, and data/traffic metrics.

Perform user intent research, refine prompts and and project manage and web pages

Serve as the internal guide on SEO and content, advising and championing the growth lever

Design and implement processes and programs that enable cross functional collaboration with designers, writers, engineers, product marketers and more.

Work closely with web development teams on new features that contribute to SEO as well as technical SEO site needs

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced SEO Growth architect to join our team. In this role, you will be responsible for defining our company's search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. You will be a subject matter expert in all aspects of SEO and will be responsible for developing and communicating our point of view, KPIs, frameworks, and insights to internal and external stakeholders.

Develop and implement a comprehensive SEO strategy that meets business goals and objectives

Stay up-to-date with the latest developments in search engine algorithms and ranking factors, and communicate insights and recommendations to stakeholders

Define and communicate KPIs for measuring the success of our SEO efforts

Develop frameworks for conducting SEO audits, competitor analysis, keyword research, and technical SEO

Work closely with cross-functional teams, including content, product, design, and engineering, to ensure all SEO best practices are being followed

Analyze and interpret data to identify opportunities for optimization and make data-driven recommendations to stakeholders

Act as an internal and external thought leader, delivering presentations and training sessions on SEO best practices and industry trends

8+ years of experience in SEO, with a proven track record of delivering results

Deep knowledge and experience in all aspects of SEO, including on-page optimization, link building, technical SEO, and content optimization

Strong understanding of search engine algorithms and ranking factors, and the ability to apply this knowledge to real-world situations

Excellent communication, leadership, and presentation skills

Ability to analyze and interpret complex data and make data-driven recommendations

Strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills

Experience working in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment

[Insert company-specific benefits and unique selling points]

If you're a thought leader in SEO with a passion for delivering results and driving innovation, we'd love to hear from you! Please submit your resume and a cover letter outlining your qualifications and experience.

SEO Principal and Growth Architect Job Description at Large Enterprise

Sign up to see more