Director, Media Planning & Buying

SEO And Search Leadership Role

We are seeking a strategic, experienced search marketing leader to oversee Nationwide's SEO function while also leading our Paid Search and in-house Programmatic teams. This role requires deep expertise in SEO, strong cross-channel fluency, and the leadership presence to guide internal teams, agency partners, and senior stakeholders.
The ideal candidate brings deep, hands-on SEO experience and a strong understanding of how organic search supports broader marketing and business objectives. They should be able to set strategy, identify growth opportunities, translate insights into action, and lead SEO as a high-impact discipline across the organization. They should also bring experience helping organizations adapt to the rapidly changing search and content landscape shaped by AI, including evolving consumer behavior, search experiences, and content strategy implications.
Additional experience in both B2C and B2B environments is highly preferred, as this role will benefit from a leader who understands how search strategies differ across audiences, buying cycles, and business models.
Exposure to, or direct expertise in, paid search and programmatic media buying is also strongly preferred. This role will lead with credibility across performance media channels and understand how SEO, paid search, and programmatic work together to drive results.
This is a high-visibility leadership role for a candidate who combines deep search expertise with strong team leadership, agency management, and executive-level communication skills. The ideal person will be equally effective setting vision, building relationships, and driving performance across SEO, paid search, and programmatic media.
This hybrid position is based in Columbus, OH. Candidates located near a Nationwide campus will collaborate in office 2 days per week. Current Nationwide Remote Associates may be considered.