Director of Search Strategy

I’m hiring a Director of Search Strategy at Orchestra.

But this isn’t a typical SEO role.

Yes, SEO experience matters. So does comfort with SEO data. But the remit is much bigger than optimizing for Google.

Search is becoming broader, messier, and a lot more interesting.

People are searching on YouTube and TikTok. Gen Z and Gen Alpha are using social platforms as search engines. And more and more, people are getting answers directly from AI-powered search results, ChatGPT, Claude, and other answer engines.

That shift creates a whole new set of questions for brands, institutions, and organizations: What are people really asking? Where are they asking it? Who or what is shaping the answer? How do we use that intelligence to build smarter communications and marketing strategies?

This role sits on our Strategic Insights team and uses search data as a form of market research. It’s part strategy, part analysis, part product-building, and part client thought partnership.

The right person will have SEO experience, but they’ll also like working with abstract data sets, building repeatable frameworks, thinking beyond the obvious, and helping clients make sense of a space that is changing quickly.

We’re already seeing growing demand for this work across clients in nonprofit, higher ed, sports, consumer, and other sectors, especially as questions around AI, misinformation, and "visibility" in these platforms becomes more urgent.

I’m excited to find someone who sees search as more than a channel, but as a window into how people understand the world. (Bonus points if you've read the book "Everybody Lies.")

Link to the job posting is below. Feel free to DM me with questions, or share this with someone who might be a fit.

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ABOUT ORCHESTRA

Orchestra is a strategic communications and marketing company built for today’s complex and fragmented world. From decoding audiences to designing bold strategies, Orchestra integrates people, platforms, and stories that stick to help clients build lasting influence. The company offers programs that span from the highest level strategic business counsel through to tactical execution. Orchestra brings together 700+ people with experience across consumer and lifestyle, technology, nonprofit and philanthropy, real estate, sports, travel, hospitality, and more. Made up of leading firms BerlinRosen, Civitas Public Affairs Group, Derris, Glen Echo Group, Inkhouse, M18, Message Lab, Onward and Small Girls PR. It also launched Brightmode, a talent acquisition firm for communications professionals, and Versus Media Group, a strategy-first political media team. Learn more at www.orchestraco.com.

People of all backgrounds and abilities are strongly encouraged to apply. Orchestra is committed to building and maintaining a diverse staff, and recognizes that its continued success depends on hiring and retaining high-quality creative professionals with a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Opportunities for advancement exist, and we are committed to helping all staff develop and grow.

ABOUT THIS ROLE

The Director, Search Strategy is a strategic leader responsible for building, scaling, and operationalizing Orchestra’s AEO (AI-Enhanced Optimization) intelligence offering. You will architect the frameworks, tools, methodologies, and insight engines that power our clients’ discoverability in an AI-driven search landscape.

This role elevates beyond execution — it is about designing the system that enables Orchestra to deliver cutting-edge search intelligence at scale.

You will develop a cohesive AEO insights discipline that blends data science, AI-driven search analytics, strategic storytelling, and audience understanding; ensuring our clients not only appear in traditional search but are also surfaced, summarized, and recommended by emerging AI-driven engines and multimodal interfaces.

You will collaborate extensively across the Strategy, Insights,search and  Product teams to translate complex AEO data into compelling narratives and actionable recommendations. In close partnership with the Product team, you will help shape the development of new systems, data models, automation workflows, and internal platforms that advance Orchestra’s search intelligence capabilities — enabling the organization to lead the industry in AI-powered search strategy.

Role location: This role is fully remote (within the United States).

ACCOUNTABILITIES & QUALIFICATIONS

As the Director, Search Strategy, you will…

• Build and formalize Orchestra’s AEO Insights framework: Architect scalable, repeatable processes for analyzing search behavior across traditional SEO channels and emerging AI-driven discovery systems. Define methodologies, taxonomies and KPIs that standardize how insights are generated and applied across teams. Work strategically to ensure these frameworks inform platform development, internal tooling and new productized insight capabilities.
• Develop and continuously refine the AEO tool kit: Identify, evaluate and operationalize a suite of advanced analytics, LLM-powered platforms and search intelligence tools to support semantic analysis, intent clustering, SERP modeling and AI search monitoring. Partner with Analytics, Search and Product teams to co-develop integrated dashboards, automation workflows and internal utilities that scale across Orchestra’s ecosystem and evolve with emerging AI search behaviors.
• Transform data into compelling insights & intelligence: Synthesize large, complex data sets into clear, actionable stories that elevate brand strategy, inform content ecosystems and guide decision-making. Present insights to senior client stakeholders with clarity, confidence and strategic precision. 
• Integrate search intelligence into brand and communication strategies: Collaborate with integrated strategy, creative, insights, product and channel teams to embed AEO insights into brand positioning, messaging architectures, editorial planning and cross-channel activation. Ensure insights from Product-led tools and models are fully leveraged in strategic planning.
• Design measurement frameworks and intelligent reporting systems: Define how AEO effectiveness is measured across engagements. Build dashboards, reporting structures and analysis cadences that connect discoverability metrics to meaningful business outcomes and campaign performance. Work closely with the Product team to design reporting features, data models and measurement systems that reflect evolving AI search behaviors.
• Ensure technical and contextual readiness for AI-driven discovery: Oversee recommendations related to schema, structured data, content architecture and semantic alignment to ensure clients’ digital ecosystems are optimized for both human users and AI retrieval models. Collaborate with the broader Search team to validate technical requirements, prioritize enhancements and inform platform-level optimizations.
• Support  innovation in AI search intelligence: Stay at the forefront of emerging search and LLM technologies, experiment with new methodologies and guide the organization in adapting to shifting AI search behaviors. Train teams, publish internal frameworks and contribute to Orchestra’s thought leadership in AI-driven discoverability. Pilot new tools, test prototypes and define future-facing capabilities that strengthen Orchestra’s leadership in AI-powered search strategy.

Essential Skills

• 8–12 years of experience in SEO/AEO, digital strategy, or content intelligence, ideally in an agency or consultancy environment
• Deep expertise in search algorithms, structured data and semantic optimization
• Strong understanding of audience intent and narrative strategy
• Hands-on experience using AI and LLM tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity) to inform strategy or workflows
• Ability to synthesize large data sets into clear, visual and actionable insights
• Experience productizing insights into scalable tools, frameworks, or platforms
• Familiarity with search tools (Ahrefs, SEMrush, Screaming Frog, Google Search Console) and emerging AI analytics platforms
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to communicate complex ideas to non-technical audiences
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Curiosity and vision for how search is evolving in an AI-powered ecosystem

WORKING AT ORCHESTRA

Salary range (commensurate with experience and skills): $110,000 – $135,000