SEO Associate Director

Assembly Global; Dubai; On-site; AED 420,000 - 540,000; Full time

Job summary

Assembly Global is seeking an Associate Director (SEO) to lead advanced organic growth strategies across the MENA region from Dubai. This strategic leadership role demands deep expertise in international multilingual SEO, regional search behaviours, and the evolving AI-driven discovery landscape.

You will drive measurable business impact for high-profile clients, build and mentor a high-performing team, and partner with paid media, content, PR, and social to embed SEO into integrated campaigns.

Qualifications

• 8+ years’ experience in SEO, including senior leadership roles.
• Proven success managing enterprise, international, and multilingual SEO programmes.
• Deep understanding of MENA search behaviour, regional markets, and localisation strategy.
• Advanced experience with enterprise SEO and analytics platforms (OnCrawl, Ahrefs, Semrush, Screaming Frog, etc.)
• Exceptional stakeholder management and presentation skills, with experience influencing senior leadership and C-suite
• Fluent in English (Arabic is a strong advantage)

Responsibilities

• Define and execute regional SEO strategies aligned to client business and digital transformation goals
• Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing SEO team across technical, content, and AI-driven search disciplines
• Foster innovation through adoption of emerging tools, automation, and AI-led optimisation
• Lead strategies addressing AI-driven discovery, conversational search, and zero-click environments
• Optimise for AI-generated answers, Featured Snippets, and LLM visibility across evolving platforms
• Identify opportunities for responsible use of generative AI in content creation and optimisation
• Conduct enterprise-level technical audits across multilingual and international websites
• Optimise site architecture, crawlability, indexing, and Core Web Vitals performance
• Implement structured data and technical frameworks to enhance AI-driven search visibility
• Translate complex SEO data into strategic insights tied to business outcomes
• Develop advanced reporting frameworks and dashboards tracking regional and global KPIs
• Continuously refine strategy based on performance trends, algorithm shifts, and market changes
• Partner with Paid Media, Content, PR, and Social teams to embed SEO into integrated campaigns
• Align SEO with regional Martech ecosystems to drive personalisation and customer experience
• Act as a senior strategic advisor to enterprise clients and C-suite stakeholders
• Present performance, strategy, and growth opportunities with clear commercial impact
• Navigate complex market dynamics including AI disruption, competition, and evolving search behaviours
• Represent Assembly at regional industry events, conferences, and forums
• Stay at the forefront of search innovation including AI, LLMs, and algorithm evolution
• Drive market-leading thinking across the agency and client ecosystem

Skills

Strategic leadership

Stakeholder management

Team coaching

AI-driven search

Multilingual SEO

Tools

OnCrawl

Ahrefs

Semrush

Screaming Frog

Job description

We are seeking a forward-thinking Associate Director (SEO) to lead advanced organic growth strategies across the MENA region, based in Dubai.

This is a strategic leadership role requiring deep expertise in international and multilingual SEO, regional search behaviours, and the rapidly evolving search landscape — including AI-driven discovery, large language models (LLMs), and cross-channel integration.

You will drive measurable business impact for high-profile clients while positioning SEO as a core engine of digital growth.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Team Management

• Define and execute regional SEO strategies aligned to client business and digital transformation goals
• Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing SEO team across technical, content, and AI-driven search disciplines
• Foster innovation through adoption of emerging tools, automation, and AI-led optimisation

Adapting to the Future of Search

• Lead strategies addressing AI-driven discovery, conversational search, and zero-click environments
• Optimise for AI-generated answers, Featured Snippets, and LLM visibility across evolving platforms
• Identify opportunities for responsible use of generative AI in content creation and optimisation

Technical SEO Excellence

• Conduct enterprise-level technical audits across large, multilingual, and international websites
• Optimise site architecture, crawlability, indexing, and Core Web Vitals performance
• Implement structured data and technical frameworks to enhance AI-driven search visibility

Data & Performance Leadership

• Translate complex SEO data into strategic insights tied to business outcomes
• Develop advanced reporting frameworks and dashboards tracking regional and global KPIs
• Continuously refine strategy based on performance trends, algorithm shifts, and market changes
• Partner with Paid Media, Content, PR, and Social teams to embed SEO into integrated campaigns
• Align SEO with regional Martech ecosystems to drive personalisation and customer experience

Client & Stakeholder Leadership

• Act as a senior strategic advisor to enterprise clients and C-suite stakeholders
• Present performance, strategy, and growth opportunities with clear commercial impact
• Navigate complex market dynamics including AI disruption, competition, and evolving search behaviours

Thought Leadership

• Represent Assembly at regional industry events, conferences, and forums
• Stay at the forefront of search innovation including AI, LLMs, and algorithm evolution
• Drive market-leading thinking across the agency and client ecosystem

Qualifications & Experience

• 8+ years’ experience in SEO, including senior leadership roles
• Proven success managing enterprise, international, and multilingual SEO programmes
• Deep understanding of MENA search behaviour, regional markets, and localisation strategy
• Advanced experience with enterprise SEO and analytics platforms (OnCrawl, Ahrefs, Semrush, Screaming Frog, etc.)
• Exceptional stakeholder management and presentation skills, with experience influencing senior leadership and C-suite
• Fluent in English (Arabic is a strong advantage)

Why Join Assembly

• Lead transformational SEO programmes for globally recognised brands
• Shape the future of search in an AI-driven landscape
• Work within a global, innovation-led, data-first organisation
• Collaborate with world-class talent across strategy, media, data, and technology
• Be part of a network redefining modern marketing