E-commerce Organic Search & AI Optimization Manager (SEO / AEO / GEO)

We are seeking a technical E-commerce SEO Manager to lead organic search strategy across both jdsports.com and finishline.com. In this role, you will manage our core search foundation (technical SEO, on-page optimization, content, local presence) for traditional search engines, while driving our GEO and AEO strategies across emerging AI platforms. This individual should effectively exhibit JD Sports North America’s core values of Customer, People, Winning, Community, and Financial Responsibility in everything they do by performing the following main duties:

Key Responsibilities

Technical SEO & Engineering Alignment

• Maintain technical site health including faceted navigation, canonicalization at scale, indexation strategies and CWV across large, multi-brand product catalogs.
• Implement and manage advanced structured data.
• Audit and optimize rendering, out-of-stock logic, faceted URLs and site architecture.
• Partner directly with web dev and product teams to write technical tickets, define acceptance criteria, conduct QA and embed SEO into release cycles.

On-Page SEO & Category Optimization

• Perform keyword research and intent mapping for core categories and products.
• Audit and maintain programmatic metadata rules for product and category pages, while manually optimizing high-value category pages.
• Optimize category page copy to align with primary and secondary search intent.

AI Search Strategy

• Develop strategies to maximize brand visibility, citation share and product. recommendations across AI search platforms.
• Optimize content and site structure for RAG retrieval in AI shopping engines.

Content & Information Gain

• Fully own content hub strategy and execution, managing the editorial calendar from ideation to publication.
• Produce unique, data-backed content designed to capture high-intent queries and get cited in AI search.

Local SEO Strategy

• Oversee Google Business Profiles, local citations and store locator page performance across our retail footprint.
• Align local search signals with localized product availability and regional buyer intent.
• Partner with Store Operations to align local search performance with in-store execution.

Internal Advocacy & Leadership

• Translate technical SEO requirements into direct revenue impact to earn leadership buy-in, engineering resources and tools budget.
• Collaborate with product, merchandising and engineering teams to embed SEO best practices into broader business workflows.
• Educate internal stakeholders on the state of search, e-commerce trends and the business impact of AI search shifts.

Team Management & Mentorship

• Manage, mentor and support direct reports, setting clear quarterly KPIs, performance expectations and professional growth plans.
• Guide daily work, task prioritization and project accountability across both domains.
• Manage external vendor partnerships and resources.

Measurement & Business Intelligence

• Own organic performance reporting across jdsports.com and finishline.com, connecting SEO and GEO initiatives to revenue and traffic KPIs.
• Build and maintain executive dashboards that translate search performance into business impact for leadership.
• Report on technical health metrics as leading indicators of downstream performance.
• Present regular performance reviews with forward-looking recommendations.

Requirements & Qualifications

• 4 years of hands-on e-commerce SEO experience managing large-scale sites, faceted navigation and modern platforms.
• 2 years of experience managing direct reports
• Deep expertise in technical SEO paired with a solid understanding of how LLMs and AI platforms retrieve, parse and cite information.
• The “SEO Champion” Mindset: Influential, proactive and collaborative. Proven record of building revenue-driven business cases and securing priority in engineering sprints.

Tool Proficiency

• Google ecosystem: GA4, GSC, GMC, GBP
• Ahrefs / Semrush
• Enterprise search and crawling tools
• Exposure to emerging GEO tracking tools
• Experience with Conductor Intelligence & Web Monitoring (preferred, not required)
• Experience with RioSEO & Local Manager (preferred, not required)

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Sit for more than 6 hours per shift
• Use hands to finger, handle and feel
• Reach with hands and arms
• Talk and/or hear
• Walk or move from one location to another
• Periodically may need to climb, balance, stoop, kneel, or crouch
• Lift and/or move up to 10 pounds regularly and up to 50 pounds occasionally
• Punctuality and regular attendance consistent with the company’s policies are required for this position.
• The average work week is 40-45 hours, which can vary depending on business needs.
• The work environment for this position is a moderately noisy office setting.

The company reserves the right to modify this job description with or without notice. Employees may be asked to perform additional duties outside of normal job scope on a temporary basis per company policy. The pay range; $90,000 - $110,000. This role will have a 15% bonus target annually but may vary based on experience level. This role will be eligible for medical, dental, vision, 401k, sick leave, parental leave, and company paid time off plan.