Associate Director, SEO (Mat leave Contract)

We're looking for an experienced SEO leader who thrives on blending technical expertise with strategic thinking, and who's excited to lead SEO and GEO initiatives across some of Canada's largest automotive accounts. If you're a confident, client-facing strategist who enjoys mentoring a team and staying ahead of how search is evolving, we'd love to hear from you

About us

INNOCEAN Worldwide Canada is an award-winning global marketing and communications company based in Toronto with offices across 16 countries and growing. At Innocean, we believe the future of business belongs to companies and brands that understand how to create memorable customer experiences. We are passionate about creating extraordinary value to our clients, providing bespoke solutions that propel their business forward locally, nationally, and internationally.

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced and strategic associate SEO director to join our Digital Media team at Innocean on a 18 month full-time contract, covering a maternity leave. This role owns SEO strategy and execution across some of Canada's largest automotive accounts, including OEM brand sites and their affiliated dealer networks. You will lead technical SEO, structured data, and generative engine optimization (GEO) initiatives, manage day-to-day client relationships, mentor junior team members, and contribute directly to new business development.

Reporting to the VP, Digital Media, you will set SEO strategy, oversee a team of 3 talented individuals, and act as the primary day-to-day SEO lead across accounts - balancing hands-on technical work with client-facing strategy and cross-functional leadership within our media team of Planners, Buyers, Creatives, SEM, SMM, Programmatic Traders, and Data Analysts.

Key Responsibilities

SEO Strategy & Leadership

• Own end-to-end SEO strategy across OEM and dealer-network accounts, translating business goals into prioritized roadmaps
• Set direction on keyword strategy, content gap priorities, and site architecture recommendations
• Manage, mentor, and review the work of the SEO team members, providing guidance on execution and professional development
• Act as the primary SEO point of contact for clients, presenting strategy, performance, and recommendations directly

Technical SEO & GEO

• Lead technical SEO audits and oversee remediation, partnering with web development on site speed, mobile experience, and crawlability
• Direct structured data and schema markup strategy across brand and dealer sites
• Own generative engine optimization (GEO) strategy, including llms.txt implementation and content structuring for AI-driven search and answer engines
• Guide programmatic SEO initiatives for large-scale dealer networks, ensuring scalable, localized content frameworks

Reporting & Performance Analytics

• Oversee SEO performance reporting across all accounts, ensuring insights are integrated into overall Digital Performance reporting
• Translate data on rankings, traffic, and engagement into clear, actionable recommendations for clients and internal teams
• Establish and monitor KPIs and QA standards for metadata, content, and technical implementation across accounts

Cross-Team Collaboration

• Partner with web dev, content, design, and account service teams to align on optimization priorities
• Share SEO insights and keyword strategy with strategy, account services and other teams to inform integrated campaign planning
• Represent SEO within broader account planning and strategy discussions

New Business Development

• Support new business pitches and RFP responses, including SEO audits, opportunity assessments, and strategic recommendations for prospective clients
• Identify and scope SEO growth opportunities within existing accounts, contributing to upsell and account expansion conversations
• Contribute to proposal materials, capability decks, and competitive positioning related to SEO and GEO services

Industry Knowledge

• Stay current on evolving SEO, GEO, and search engine algorithm developments, and translate implications into strategy
• Identify and champion process and productivity improvements across the SEO function

Qualifications & Experiences

Skills and Behaviour

• Deep, current knowledge of SEO and GEO best practices, including structured data and schema.org markup
• Proven experience managing SEO strategy across multiple accounts or a large, multi-site network
• Experience leading or mentoring junior team members
• Strong client-facing communication and presentation skills, with the ability to translate technical findings for non-technical stakeholders
• Advanced proficiency with SEO and analytics tools (e.g. Screaming Frog, SEMrush, Google Analytics, Google Search Console)
• Working knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and JSON-LD structured data
• Comfort contributing to new business pitches and proposal development
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and capable of managing multiple accounts and priorities simultaneously

Education and Experience

• 4-5 years of SEO experience, including demonstrated strategic and/or people-leadership responsibility
• University or college degree
• Strong knowledge of the media industry and how advertising agencies operate
• Experience in the automotive industry is an asset, but not required

What you’ll love about working at INNOCEAN Canada

• People-first and Inclusive of all — we’re proud to be recognized by ‘Great Places to Work’ FIVE years in a row and counting - overall, as well as for youth, inclusion, and as a Best Place to Work for Women
• Flexible hybrid work set up (2 days in winter; 3 days in summer) with an awesome space at King Street West for collaboration and team get-togethers
• Generous time off plus an end of year winter break; our people also get extra days off when they reach key work milestones!
• Your Wellbeing is all-important - A Fully employer paid benefits coverage, flex spending wellness account, RRSPs, confidential individual counselling, and paid personal days
• Learning and development fund, and coaching and mentorship in your day-to-day to fuel your growth

Target Salary: $90,000 - $100,000 CAD

Additional information:

This is an active, approved role.

Our recruitment team may use AI-assisted tools to help identify and review candidate applications based on job-related requirements and qualifications. All hiring decisions are made by humans.

INNOCEAN Canada is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity, inclusion, and teamwork. We encourage all qualified applicants to inquire below. Any disability-related needs will be accommodated throughout the recruitment process.