Search Engine Optimization Team Lead

The SEO Team Lead is accountable for the performance, quality, and growth of Saltbox’s organic search practice, spanning search engine optimization (SEO) and visibility across AI-powered discovery and answer platforms (AEO/GEO).

This is a player-coach leadership role: the SEO Team Lead remains hands-on with client strategy and selected high-impact execution while building the people, systems, and service offerings that enable the practice to deliver excellent work consistently and profitably. Success is measured not only by individual technical output, but by the results and health of the organic practice as a whole.

Working closely with agency leadership, paid media, and analytics, this leader connects organic visibility to client business outcomes and helps Saltbox evolve its services as search behavior changes.

Key Responsibilities

Practice Leadership and Business Performance

• Own the overall quality, delivery performance, client experience of the organic practice.
• Plan team capacity, assign and prioritize work, and manage delivery efficiency to support sustainable account profitability.
• Establish and improve repeatable processes, service standards, documentation, templates, and quality assurance practices.
• Evaluate performance across organic accounts, identify operational or strategic problems early, and lead corrective action.
• Partner with agency leadership on service scope, pricing, staffing plans, investments, and practice growth priorities.

Client Strategy and Delivery

• Develop and oversee SEO and AI discovery strategies aligned with each client’s business objectives, audience, and competitive position.
• Remain actively involved in strategy and high-impact implementation, including keyword and intent research, content strategy, technical SEO, structured data, site architecture, indexation, and entity or brand visibility.
• Set priorities based on expected business impact, implementation effort, and client constraints rather than the volume of recommendations produced.
• Oversee the quality of organic work across accounts, including work delivered by analysts, writers, and external contributors.
• Communicate roadmaps, tradeoffs, and results clearly to clients, connecting technical work to qualified traffic, leads, conversions, and revenue where measurable.

People Leadership and Team Development

• Set clear expectations and accountability for organic team members, with regular feedback, coaching, and performance conversations.
• Delegate effectively, develop team capabilities, and reduce unnecessary dependence on any single individual for delivery.
• Identify skill gaps, training opportunities, and staffing needs as the practice evolves.
• Build a culture of ownership, sound judgment, continuous improvement, and collaboration.

Client and Agency Growth

• Support organic assessments, discovery, proposals, and pitches for qualified prospective clients.
• Identify opportunities to expand existing client relationships where there is a clear business case.
• Collaborate with paid media and analytics teams to develop integrated strategies and identify cross-channel opportunities.
• Help refine and package organic services so they are differentiated, clearly scoped, repeatable, and commercially viable.

Innovation and Measurement

• Monitor meaningful changes in traditional search, AI-powered answers, and digital discovery, translating them into practical client recommendations.
• Test emerging approaches to AI visibility, technical optimization, content, automation, and measurement; document what works and what does not.
• Build practical reporting approaches for organic and AI visibility, distinguishing reliable business outcomes from directional or experimental metrics.
• Use AI and automation to improve the speed, consistency, and quality of delivery without compromising professional judgment.

Decision Rights and Collaboration

The SEO Team Lead owns day-to-day organic delivery standards, client-strategy recommendations, work prioritization, team assignments, and process improvements within agreed client scopes and agency budgets.

Major hiring and compensation decisions, material budget changes, and final commercial pricing decisions are made with agency leadership. The role is expected to raise risks, propose solutions, and make recommendations proactively.

Key Performance Indicators

• Organic client retention and account health
• Organic practice gross margin and delivery efficiency
• On-time, high-quality work and client satisfaction
• Consistent execution of documented operating standards
• Relationship expansion of existing accounts 
• Contributions to new business opportunities and cross-channel collaboration

What Success Looks Like

A successful SEO Team Lead builds a practice that delivers strong, measurable client value without relying on personal heroics. Clients receive clear strategies and consistent execution; team members understand their responsibilities and grow in capability; account delivery is efficient and profitable; and Saltbox develops a differentiated, scalable organic offering that adapts intelligently to changes in search and AI discovery.