SEO & AI Discovery Manager — Hybrid, Strategic Leader

dentsu; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 65,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, vision, and dental insurance

Life insurance

Short-term and long-term disability保险

401k

Flexible paid time off

15 paid holidays per year

Paid sick and safe leave

Paid parental leave

Job summary

Merkle in Chicago seeks a Manager of SEO & AI Discovery to lead SEO programs across client portfolios, conducting advanced audits and turning data into measurable business outcomes. You will guide technical SEO workstreams, accountability for delivery, and mentor junior staff while driving client growth and strategic initiatives.

The role blends technical SEO, content and on-page strategy, AI-driven discovery, and performance measurement with executive-level communication and cross-functional

Qualifications

• 3+ years of progressive SEO experience, preferably in an agency, consultancy, or complex multi-stakeholder environment.
• Strong technical SEO capability across crawl, indexation, rendering, site architecture, internal linking, Core Web Vitals, structured data, migrations, and JavaScript SEO.
• Demonstrated capability in SEO analysis and measurement, including the ability to combine multiple data sources and translate findings into business-relevant recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Lead SEO strategy across assigned accounts and connect recommendations to client goals and outcomes.
• Serve as day-to-day search lead; build trusted client relationships and translate priorities into actionable steps.
• Own complex SEO / AI audits and analyses across technical SEO, content, AI visibility, and site architecture.
• Develop measurement frameworks linking organic visibility, technical health, and business outcomes.
• Turn data into decisions using GSC, GA4, crawl tools, rank tracking, and AI visibility platforms.

Skills

SEO strategy

Technical SEO

AI Discovery

Client advisory

Analytics interpretation

Communication

Project ownership

Leadership

Tools

Google Search Console

GA4

Screaming Frog

Sitebulb

Ahrefs

SEMRush

Data Studio

Job description

Merkle in Chicago seeks a Manager of SEO & AI Discovery to lead SEO programs across client portfolios, conducting advanced audits and turning data into measurable business outcomes. You will guide technical SEO workstreams, accountability for delivery, and mentor junior staff while driving client growth and strategic initiatives.

The role blends technical SEO, content and on-page strategy, AI-driven discovery, and performance measurement with executive-level communication and cross-functional