Director of SEO & AI Search

*** Please note that this is a HYBRID role, requiring this person to work at our Cottonwood Heights office in SLC at least 3 days per week ***
We are a leading self‑storage company recognized for its customer‑first approach and strong growth.
The Director of SEO & AI Search is responsible for leading the company’s entire Local & Organic SEO ecosystem across 4,000+ self‑storage facilities and all core digital properties. This role helps set the strategic vision, roadmap, and executional strategy for enterprise‑level organic visibility, including Local SEO, Technical SEO, Content SEO, on‑site optimization, and AI‑driven search. The Director will oversee a high‑performing SEO team, maintain strong relationships with agency partners, and align cross‑functional initiatives.
Primary Responsibilities

Lead and elevate the company’s full Local & Organic SEO strategy with a focus on visibility growth, scalable execution, and long‑term competitive advantage.
Oversee Local SEO and Organic SEO, ensuring unified prioritization and seamless collaboration with Web Optimization, Social Media, Paid Search, Data‑Science, and IT.
Develop and manage a comprehensive roadmap that supports day‑to‑day performance and future‑focused initiatives tied to AI search experiences.
Measure and optimize organic performance, reporting regularly on KPIs, trends, testing outcomes, technical improvements, and growth opportunities.
Provide strategic direction for AI search visibility, including AI Overviews optimization, schema expansion, and semantic SEO frameworks.
Identify, test, and evaluate new SEO technologies, methodologies, and innovations that improve efficiency and strengthen the overall organic strategy.
Work closely with SEO managers to prioritize and guide development efforts with SEO developers to address technical SEO needs such as crawlability, indexation, internal linking, site architecture, Core Web Vitals, user experience, and content performance.
Ensure SEO strategies fully reflect core marketing principles, CRO best practices, and a deep understanding of user behavior across local search and traditional organic search journeys.
Report out regularly on SEO KPIs and be accountable for driving sustained improvements across these indicators.
Provide timely performance insights, trend analysis, testing outcomes, and visibility narratives to leadership with clear strategic recommendations and action plans.
Manage SEO budgets, resource planning, vendor partnerships, and agency relationships to support a scalable and efficient execution model.
Analyze performance data to uncover new opportunities and provide high‑level recommendations that support acquisition goals.
Mentor and develop SEO team members, providing clear guidance, feedback, growth plans, and ongoing support as they build expertise in Local Search, Technical SEO, Content SEO, and AI search innovation.
Ensure Extra Space remains a leader in organic search visibility and is well‑positioned for the future of AI‑driven discoverability.
Job Specifications

Manage team and inspire them with forward‑thinking vision.
Grow the company’s online presence with integrity and using only best practices.
Collaborate with other digital marketing teams to create a broad approach to new customer acquisition.
Communicate wins and losses to leadership and coworkers with authenticity and enthusiasm.
Be attentive to projects in other teams or departments that may unexpectedly impact SEO.
Problem‑solve using data to support direction and drive innovation.
Translate complex data into actionable plans for company leaders.
Education and Experience

Degree in Marketing, Advertising, IT or related field.
8+ years in SEO or related position either with an agency or brand.
Experience developing websites, HTML, and standard markup preferred.
Strong knowledge and experience with AI platforms.
Strong experience in SEO testing, including designing hypotheses, managing controlled experiments, interpreting results, and translating findings into scalable recommendations.
Proven ability to build tools and internal applications that improve workflow efficiency, automate repetitive tasks, streamline data analysis, or enhance cross‑team visibility into SEO performance.
Experience with video as a growth channel, including optimizing video content for search, understanding YouTube/Google discoverability, and leveraging video as part of a broader organic visibility strategy.
Benefits

Competitive compensation package.
Medical, dental, vision and company‑paid life insurance and AD&D.
11 paid holidays and generous PTO.
Generous 401(k) match.
HSA & FSA accounts.
Pet insurance.
Discounted cell phone plan provider.

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