Sr. Engagement Manager

BrightEdge; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

High-impact work

Insurance benefits

PTO + holidays

Pet insurance

Commuter benefit

Therapy & coaching

Fully stocked kitchens

Parental leave

Job summary

BrightEdge is seeking a Sr. Engagement Manager to drive Professional Services sales and high-value engagements for SEO and AEO/LLM visibility. You will build executive relationships across enterprise accounts and lead PS discovery, scoping, and proposals.

This role requires a driven, analytical mindset, and a track record of closing deals in marketing or consulting. You’ll collaborate with internal teams to deliver strategic outcomes and expand existing client relationships.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing or related field.
• 8+ years’ experience in marketing and/or consulting sales, with a proven track record of managing and closing deals.
• Familiarity with SEO and AEO.
• Excellent client management instincts with executive relationships.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience scoping technical projects, developing SOWs, and account planning with global enterprise customers.

Responsibilities

• Drive Professional Services Sales: design high-value services engagements encompassing enterprise SEO and AEO/LLM visibility strategies.
• Lead Discovery & Proposals: own early-stage sales lifecycle, scoping technical projects, drafting SOWs, and leading contract negotiations.
• Upsell & Cross-sell: identify opportunities to expand existing client accounts with new service offerings and AI-readiness packages.
• Practice Development: contribute to development of service offerings, best practices, methodologies, and intellectual capital.

Skills

Sales experience

SEO familiarity

AEO familiarity

Client management

Communication

Technical scoping

Education

Bachelor’s degree in marketing or related field

Job description

About BrightEdge

BrightEdge is a leading enterpriseSEO andcontent performance platform that helps companies understand how their digital content drivesreal businessresults. Founded in 2007,we’retrusted by thousands of organizations across more than 80 countries, including brands like Microsoft and Visa.Our platform combines powerful data and AI-driven insightsallowing our customers to plan,optimize, and measure campaigns based on real-time content performance.

What sets BrightEdge apartareour people.With 400+ global employees across 7 offices, we foster a collaborative,curious,and supportive environment where smart ideas are encouraged and impact is visible.If you enjoy solving meaningful problems, learning new things, and working alongside talented teammates while helping shape the future of digital marketing, BrightEdge isa great placetobuildyour career.

About the Role

BrightEdge is looking for a hands-on, entrepreneurial sales professional who wants to drive sales and high-value services engagements for BrightEdge Professional Services (PS).

Our Professional Services team provides consulting services that have an impact on a client’s digital marketing strategy and helps solve their SEO and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) needs within the BrightEdge platform. The team leverages our proven methodologies to deliver search and LLM (Large Language Model) visibility results and generates revenue for the company.

As the Sr. Engagement Manager, you will develop relationships with top decision-makers to drive business growth within new and existing clients. This is a sales-intensive role that requires a driven individual with a keenly analytical mind, intellectual curiosity to identify new opportunities, and assertive instincts to close deals. You will lead the charge in designing consulting services for enterprise brands to optimize not just for traditional search engines (like Google and Bing) but also for conversational AI and answer engines (like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity).

How You’ll Spend Your Time

1. Business Development & Practice Growth

• Drive Professional Services Sales: Design high-value services engagements that encompass both enterprise SEO and emerging AEO/LLM visibility strategies. Be part of an annual team consulting sales quota, while achieving and/or exceeding monthly and quarterly bookings targets.

• Lead Discovery & Proposals: Own the early-stage sales lifecycle for Professional Services, which includes leading PS discovery conversations, scoping technical projects, and drafting services proposals, Statements of Work (SOWs), and leading contract negotiations.

• Upsell & Cross-sell: Actively identify opportunities to expand existing client accounts by introducing new service offerings, customized technical consulting, and AI-readiness packages.

• Practice Development: Contribute to practice development initiatives through the development of service offerings, best practices, methodologies, and other intellectual capital focused on SEO and conversational search optimization.

1. Client Relationship Management

• Primary Point of Contact: Act as the primary point of contact and strategic sales leader for Professional Services sales across enterprise accounts.

• Relationship Building: Build and maintain strong, executive-level relationships to deeply understand client needs, business objectives, and digital marketing expectations.

• Escalation Management: Act as a critical escalation point for PS services if and when needed, ensuring client satisfaction and project alignment.

• AEO & SEO Evangelism: Educate executive stakeholders on the shifting search landscape, demonstrating how combining traditional SEO with advanced AEO protects and expands their brand’s digital footprint.

1. Team Collaboration & Operational Excellence

• Cross-Functional Delivery Alignment: Collaborate closely with internal Professional Services teams (including consultants and Project Managers) to ensure that proposed deliverables are scoped accurately and delivered seamlessly.

• Client Success Integration: Keep the Customer Success (CS) and Account Management teams fully informed and aligned regarding PS activities, pipelines, and developments within their accounts.

• Value Demonstration & Case Studies: Take an active role in analyzing the ultimate success of PS recommendations. Translate these results into impactful Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) and written case studies to strengthen client relationships, develop new sales collateral, secure MRR and PS retention, and drive further cross/upsell opportunities.

We’re excited about you if you have:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree with experience selling and/or delivering marketing services, or experience with products and/or processes related to digital marketing.

• Experience: 8+ years’ experience in marketing and/or consulting sales, with a proven track record of managing and closing deals.

• Modern Search Competency: At least some familiarity with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).

• Client Management Skills: Excellent client management instincts, with a proven ability to build trust and manage executive-level relationships.

• Communication & Facilitation: Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with an executive presence and extensive facilitation experience.

• Technical Project Scoping: Proven experience scoping technical projects, developing SOWs, and account planning with global enterprise customers.

Benefits

• Motivating, high-impact workthatbuildsyour career
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with multiple package options
• 15-23daysPTOdepending on tenureplus10 paid holidays
• Pet insurance to keep your fur family happy and healthy
• Pre-tax commuter benefit plan and company contribution to help reduce parking/public transit costs
• No orlowcosttherapy and professional coaching sessions through Spring Health
• Fully stocked kitchens at your workplace
• 4-6weeksfully paid parental leave

$180,000 - $220,000 a year

The total compensation for this role (OTE) is based on a 70/30 split of base salary and variable pay. Actual Compensation is based on experience, location, and other job or candidate related factors.

How we work

BrightEdge is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status.