Senior SEO Specialist - 12 month contract (Ford)

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VML is seeking a Senior SEO Specialist for a 12 month Ford contract, onsite in Toronto, to join a data driven analytics team shaping acquisition, cross sell and retention strategies. You will own strategic SEO and AEO, lead technical audits, optimize for traditional and AI search, design entity SEO and knowledge graph initiatives, monitor Core Web Vitals and SERP performance, and collaborate with content, paid media and strategy teams to scale impact. Ideal candidates have a quantitative degree or equivalent, 3+ years SEO, strong analytics tool proficiency (GA, GA4, GSC, SEMrush, Ahrefs, Screaming Frog), basic HTML/JS, and excellent communication. CAD 45,000 to 95,000; hybrid with four in office days; include measurable case studies and tailor your application to Ford.

About VML

VML is a leading creative company that combines brand experience, customer experience, and commerce, creating connected brands to drive growth. VML is celebrated for its innovative and human first, award-winning work for blue chip client partners including AstraZeneca, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Ford, Microsoft, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, and Wendy's. The agency is recognized by the Forrester Wave™ Reports, as a Leader among Marketing Creative and Content Service Providers, Commerce Services, Global Digital Experience Services, Global Marketing Services and, most recently, Marketing Measurement & Optimization. In addition, VML’s specialist health network, VML Health, is one of the world’s largest and most awarded health agencies. VML’s global network is powered by 26,000 talented people across 55+ markets, with principal offices in Kansas City, New York, Detroit, London, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Sydney.

VML is a WPP agency (NYSE: WPP). For more information, please visit  www.vml.com, and follow along on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

Senior SEO Specialist - 12 month contract (Ford)

About the Role

We’re looking for a seasoned SEO Specialist who can step in to be responsible for building strong client/agency relationships and achieving the clients’ SEO marketing objectives. The successful candidate will be a key part of a dynamic, innovative team within Analytics which focuses on leading-edge digital and marketing analytics work. The team utilizes analytics and data mining techniques as well as segmentation methodologies to solve a wide range of our clients’ business problems, including how to drive acquisition, cross-sell, migration and retention strategies. Our ideal candidate will be the subject-matter expert responsible for evolving the analytics team’s capability around SEO to have a big impact to our clients’ businesses. 

You Will

Strategic SEO & AEO Development: Develop and execute comprehensive SEO and AEO strategies to maximize organic search performance across all relevant platforms, including traditional search engines and emerging AI-driven platforms.

Technical SEO Management: Conduct thorough website audits and manage all aspects of technical SEO, including crawl health, site architecture, schema markup, Hreflang, redirects, canonicalization, internal linking, and page speed optimization.

Keyword & Content Optimization: Perform in-depth keyword research for both Traditional and AI engines. Optimize existing and new content to improve rankings, traffic, and conversion rates, considering content structure for AI platforms.

AI Search & Generative Experience Optimization: Design and implement strategies for Google SERP, AI-powered search experiences, and LLM-driven discovery platforms (e.g., Gemini, ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, Perplexity). Lead entity SEO, knowledge graph optimization, and semantic search initiatives.

Performance Monitoring & Reporting: Monitor site health, crawlability, indexation, Core Web Vitals, and SERP feature performance. Translate raw data into meaningful insights through strategic reporting, defining KPIs, and measuring organic pipeline contribution, share of voice, and AI Overview wins.

Competitive Analysis: Conduct regular competitive analysis and search landscape analysis to identify new opportunities and inform strategic adjustments.

Cross-functional Collaboration: Partner closely with content, strategy, paid search, and media teams to ensure SEO best practices are integrated into all digital initiatives. Provide SEO guidance for proposed website changes and advise on opportunities to enhance overall digital marketing efforts. Interact with global teams to identify and replicate successful optimizations.

Client & Stakeholder Engagement: Understand client online needs and effectively communicate how digital analytics and SEO can help achieve their business objectives.

Innovation & Best Practices: Apply AI content quality frameworks, detection best practices, and leverage prompt engineering techniques to improve search visibility and maintain a leading edge in the evolving search landscape.

You Have:

• A degree in Statistics, Computer Programming, other quantitative discipline or equivalent work experience.  A business degree or equivalent business experience an asset
• At least 3 years of hands-on SEO experience
• High proficiency with Website analytics (Adobe Analytics – Site Catalyst – experience preferred, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google AdWords, Looker Studio)
• Demonstrated data-based problem-solving skills, with a solid working knowledge in SEO tools (SEMrush, Ahrefs, STAT, Screaming Frog, Google PageSpeed Insights Tool)
• A basic understanding of the following: META (Titles, Descriptions), HTML Structure and organization, Structured Data Mark-Up, H Tags, Image, Video & PDF optimization, Overall Site Structure, Logical Information Architecture, User and Search Engine Site maps, Robots.txt files, Search Engine Spider Accessibility, Excellent User Experience, Page Load Time, 301 Redirects, Canonical tags, HTTP versus HTTPS, External Link Structure, Mobile Friendliness, Local Search, Reputation Management, Google Search Quality Guidelines and Website Audits
• Basic understanding of JavaScript at least to be able to spot when content and/or menus are built in JS
• Ability to understand html structure and be familiar with basic web page rendered source code composition and rudimentary understanding of CSS (to be able to know when content is hidden)
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Proficiency in Microsoft (Word, Power Point, advanced Excel – some pivot table experience desired) and Excel VBA. Experience with PowerBI or other data visualization tool a plus
• Excellent detail orientation, time and project management skills (ability to meet deadlines)
• Strong collaboration/team skills
• An entrepreneurial spirit (self-starter, who is focused on results)

The base salary for this position at the time of this posting may range between the values at the bottom of this posting. Individual compensation varies based on job-related factors, including location, business needs, level of responsibility, experience, and qualifications.

We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office an average of four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

WPP (VML) is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers. 

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