Search Director

You Will

• Own the vision, strategic roadmap, and prioritized recommendations for Capital One SEO, GEO, and AEO across priority Retail Consumer Bank experiences
• Develop and continuously evolve an integrated SEO/GEO strategy informed by consumer search behavior, AI-search trends, competitive intelligence, business objectives, and the broader performance marketing plan
• Lead technical, content, and AI-search audits, translating findings into clear optimization recommendations, sequencing, dependencies, and expected business impact
• Guide ongoing optimization across priority Capital One content and digital experiences, partnering with client and agency teams to support implementation
• Serve as the senior Search lead within the Capital One account leadership team, bringing a search-first perspective to strategy, planning, innovation, and investment decisions
• Connect organic search and GEO/AEO insights with paid search - including emerging LLM-search opportunities - to improve coverage, learning, efficiency, and customer journey visibility
• Define the role of search across the integrated performance ecosystem, connecting search intelligence with media, audience, creative, content, measurement, and experience teams
• Build a performance measurement approach for organic and AI-search visibility, defining practical KPIs, baselines, benchmarks, health ranges, and reporting
• Monitor traditional search, AI Overviews, LLMs, answer engines, and emerging search behaviors to identify material shifts, risks, and opportunities
• Deliver executive-ready performance reporting and strategic updates that turn search and LLM data into clear recommendations
• Develop testing and learning roadmaps for search, including content, technical, experience, and AI-search hypotheses
• Partner with Capital One brand, product, technology, analytics, legal/compliance, and marketing stakeholders
• Collaborate with Critical Mass media, strategy, analytics, creative, PMO, and other agency/consulting partners
• Lead competitive and category analysis across both traditional SERPs and AI/LLM environments
• Define search-driven requirements for technical SEO, structured data, information architecture, internal linking, content quality, accessibility, indexability, page experience, entity signals, and AI-citation readiness
• Translate customer intent and search demand into content and experience opportunities
• Establish clear processes, quality standards, documentation, and governance for Search deliverables
• Lead, coach, and grow a high-performing Search team
• Represent Critical Mass as a senior search thought leader with Capital One

You Have

• 10+ years of SEO/search experience, including 3+ years leading high-performing teams and senior client relationships
• Deep, hands-on expertise across technical SEO, content strategy, organic search measurement, and enterprise-scale SEO programs
• Demonstrated experience developing and executing GEO/AEO and AI-search strategies across AI Overviews and LLM ecosystems such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Mode, or comparable platforms
• A track record of translating search and AI visibility data into measurable business outcomes, prioritized roadmaps, and investment recommendations
• Experience operating within a large, complex enterprise; financial services, banking, or another highly regulated category is strongly preferred
• Strong understanding of the factors that influence organic and AI-search visibility across technical, content, brand/entity authority, structured data, and digital experience considerations
• Experience conducting technical, content, competitive, and AI-search audits and turning findings into actionable recommendations
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with executive-level presentation, data storytelling, and facilitation skills
• Strong organizational and project leadership skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams, stakeholders, dependencies, and deadlines in a highly matrixed environment
• Experience defining and documenting operating processes, best practices, QA standards, and governance
• Proficiency with enterprise SEO and research tools such as BrightEdge, Ahrefs, Semrush, Screaming Frog, Botify, or comparable platforms
• Proficiency with analytics and visualization tools such as Adobe Analytics, Google Search Console, GA4, Tableau, Looker, Datorama, or comparable platforms
• Experience with GEO/AI-search measurement and monitoring tools such as Profound, BrightEdge AI Catalyst, Bluefish, or comparable platforms
• Strong analytical skills and comfort working with large datasets
• Working knowledge of paid search/SEM and the ability to develop integrated organic/paid search strategies
• Experience partnering with product, engineering, content, UX, brand, analytics, media, and compliance teams
• A proactive, consultative leadership style
• Experience testing and applying AI tools to research, analysis, content, optimization, and Search workflows
• Ability to work from either the Chicago or New York office and travel consistently to New York for client meetings