Sr. Director, Head of SEO

We help the world run better
At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed. 

The Content Marketing organization within Global Marketing is seeking a Sr. Director, Head of SEO to define and lead the next evolution of our global organic growth strategy. This leader will operate as a senior member of the leadership team, with a mandate to rebuild, scale, and modernize the SEO function in alignment with a rapidly shifting search landscape shaped by AI and LLM-driven experiences.

This role is designed for a strategic people leader who can scale both impact and organizational capability. As a Sr. Director-level manager, you will set the vision for the SEO function, align resources to the highest-value opportunities, and ensure your team delivers measurable business outcomes. You will operate with strong enterprise perspective and sound business judgment while empowering your team to execute with clarity and accountability. Success in this role requires building a high-performing organization, influencing senior stakeholders, and positioning SEO as a core, forward-looking growth engine, expanding beyond traditional search into AI-mediated discovery, Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).

You will directly manage and develop a team of SEO professionals at various career stages. Success in this role will require strong leadership presence, organizational transformation expertise, and a deep understanding of where search is headed—not just where it has been.

What You’ll Do

Set Vision and Strategy & Drive Business Impact

• Define and own the global organic growth strategy, spanning traditional SEO and emerging paradigms including AEO, GEO, and AI-mediated search ecosystems.
• Establish a forward-looking roadmap that positions the company to win across search engines, generative AI platforms, and answer-driven interfaces.
• Ensure the team is focused on the highest-impact opportunities and delivering measurable results.
• Anticipate industry shifts and ensure the organization is ahead of changes in search behavior.
• Act as an executive voice of SEO in leadership forums, influencing company-wide decisions and long-term investment

Lead, Build & Develop the Team

• Directly manage, coach, and grow a high-performing SEO team.
• Set clear goals, performance expectations, and development plans for team members.
• Hire, develop, and retain top-tier talent to scale the function as business needs evolve.
• Foster an inclusive, accountable, and high-ownership team culture, with clear expectations and consistent delivery.
• Operate as a hands-on, decisive leader who can step in where needed while empowering the team to execute independently. 

Drive Cross-Functional Alignment

• Serve as the senior SEO leader across content, digital, web, analytics, and agency partners.
• Influence senior stakeholders and drive alignment on priorities, trade-offs, and resourcing.
• Ensure SEO and AI-search considerations are embedded early in strategic marketing planning and decision-making processes.
• Navigate complex stakeholder environments with confidence, clarity, and strong business judgment
• Advocate for the evolution of the SEO function, security resources and organizational alignment at executive levels. 

Ensure Operational Excellence & Accountability

• Establish clear operating rhythms, governance models, and performance management systems across the function. 
• Hold teams, partners, and vendors accountable to high standards of execution and business outcomes. 
• Oversee agency and vendor performance to ensure strong ROI.
• Use data and insights to continuously refine strategy and team focus.
• Drive a culture of ownership, transparency, and continuous improvement.

What Success Looks Like

• SEO is established as a strategic, future-facing growth engine, inclusive of AI-driven search and discovery. 
• The team is high-performing, well-structured, and consistently delivering measurable business impact. 
• The company is competitively positioned in traditional search, generative AI platforms, and answer engines.
• Senior leadership views SEO as a critical, trusted driver of growth and innovation.
• The team demonstrates strong engagement, retention, and leadership bench strength.
• You are recognized as a key leader on the leadership team, shaping strategy beyond your function. 

What You Bring

• 10+ years of progressive SEO and digital marketing experience, including enterprise or global environments.
• 3–5+ years of direct people management experience leading high-performing SEO or digital teams.
• Demonstrated ability to build, develop, and retain strong teams.
• Deep expertise in SEO strategy, technical SEO, content SEO, and AI-influenced search trends.
• Proven track record of influencing stakeholders and representing a function at senior levels.
• Experience leading vendor relationships and managing high-impact RFP processes.
• Strong business acumen and ability to translate strategy into operational execution.
• Experience with workforce planning, capacity modeling, and budget management.
• Clear, confident communicator who closes the loop and adapts style to audience.
• Growth mindset and commitment to continuous learning.

Preferred location: Bellevue and Newtown Square.

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Bring out your best
SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.  

We win with inclusion
SAP’s culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone – regardless of background – feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better world.

SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAP and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an e-mail with your request to Recruiting Operations Team: Careers@sap.com.

For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, age, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability.

Compensation Range Transparency: SAP believes the value of pay transparency contributes towards an honest and supportive culture and is a significant step toward demonstrating SAP’s commitment to pay equity. SAP provides the annualized compensation range inclusive of base salary and variable incentive target for the career level applicable to the posted role. The targeted annual combined range for this position is 142500-327100USD. The actual amount to be offered to the successful candidate will be within that range, dependent upon the key aspects of each case which may include education, skills, experience, scope of the role, location, etc. as determined through the selection process. Any SAP variable incentive includes a targeted dollar amount and any actual payout amount is dependent on company and personal performance. Please reference this link for a summary of SAP benefits and eligibility requirements: SAP North America Benefits.

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Requisition ID: 452404  | Work Area: Marketing  | Expected Travel: 0 - 10%  | Career Status: Management  | Employment Type: Regular Full Time   | Additional Locations:  #LI-Hybrid