SEO MANAGER

Summary:

The SEO Manager manages and executes KOA's organic search and discovery programs across traditional search engines, AI-powered discovery experiences, and local search. This role supports the development of KOA's national Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and multi-location/local SEO strategy and translates that strategy into measurable programs, recommendations, and improvements across KOA.com and KOA's campground network.

The SEO Manager serves as KOA's primary subject-matter expert for organic search and discovery, with broad working knowledge across technical SEO, content, on-page optimization, authority/off-page signals, site performance, structured data, Google Business Profiles, local citations and profiles, and emerging AI discovery. The SEO Manager identifies visibility gaps and opportunities, develops actionable recommendations, coordinates implementation with Product, Engineering, Content, Digital Experience, Media, Analytics, franchisees, and agency partners, and measures whether those actions improve qualified visibility and business outcomes.  SEO Manager also manages the day-to-day operation of KOA's local-search program, including vendor and tool relationships, profile standards, reporting, franchisee support, education, and issue escalation.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Manage and execute KOA's organic search and discovery programs across national SEO, local SEO, and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), aligning work to the broader digital, brand, consumer-growth, and discovery strategies established by Digital leadership.
• Identify organic-search and AI-discovery opportunities and translate them into recommendations and a prioritized work plan spanning technical SEO, content, authority, local search, and digital experience improvements; distinguish meaningful opportunities from isolated requests or ranking fluctuations.
• Manage day-to-day SEO/GEO vendor relationships and performance; coordinate scopes of work, deliverables, timelines, reporting, and performance expectations with Digital leadership, and escalate material scope, capability, or performance concerns.
• Administer and optimize KOA's multi-location SEO and local-listing management tools, coordinate vendor support and adoption, and maintain accurate and scalable management of campground profiles and location data within approved standards.
• Serve as KOA's subject-matter expert across the major SEO disciplines: technical SEO, on-page SEO, content optimization, off-page/authority signals, local SEO, structured data/schema, crawl/indexation, internal linking, information architecture, and search-result presentation.
• Partner with Product and Engineering to identify and prioritize technical SEO requirements and risks, including crawlability, indexability, rendering, canonicalization, redirects, structured data, internal linking, Core Web Vitals, page speed, mobile performance, and platform migrations.
• Partner with Content and Digital Experience teams to improve page usefulness, relevance, information architecture, templates, internal linking, metadata, content quality, and content coverage based on guest intent and search demand.
• Develop recommendations for KOA's evolving GEO and AI-discovery approach, including entity clarity, authoritative content, structured information, citation-worthiness, content accessibility, and emerging machine-readable discovery requirements; coordinate approved improvements with relevant teams.
• Manage implementation and ongoing operation of KOA's local-search program across the campground network, including Google Business Profile (GBP) and other local-profile governance, categories, attributes, photos, posts where appropriate, reviews/reputation signals, local landing pages, citations, directory profiles, duplicate/suppression issues, and location/entity consistency.
• Develop and maintain standards, guidance, and scalable operating procedures with Digital leadership so franchisees and staff understand what KOA manages centrally, what campgrounds manage locally, and how issues are escalated.
• Monitor organic and local visibility by market, location, query theme, device, and search surface; diagnose whether changes are driven by demand, ranking, competitive activity, technical issues, content gaps, local-profile signals, or changing search-result experiences.
• Work closely with paid media and advertising teams to identify and close search-visibility gaps, coordinate paid and organic coverage, share keyword and market intelligence, and avoid treating SEO and paid search as isolated channels.
• Partner with Analytics and Digital leadership to develop and maintain SEO/GEO/local-search reporting, dashboards, baselines, targets, and measurement methodology; connect visibility metrics to qualified traffic, reservations, revenue, engagement, and other business outcomes where attribution is supportable.
• Prepare recurring reporting and recommendations for Digital leadership and relevant teams that explain what changed, why it changed, what KOA can influence, recommended actions, and expected outcomes.
• Serve as the primary SEO/local-search escalation point for franchisees. Participate in franchisee calls when needed, diagnose visibility concerns using evidence, explain findings in practical language, and provide actionable recommendations.
• Serve as the SEO SME for KOA staff supporting local and franchise marketing; create guidance, playbooks, training, office hours, and decision frameworks that allow common issues to be resolved consistently without requiring one-off intervention.
• Monitor competitor visibility, SERP changes, AI-search developments, local-search platform changes, algorithm updates, and emerging search behaviors; communicate material implications and recommend practical adjustments to Digital leadership and relevant teams.
• Support major KOA.com releases, migrations, redesigns, and new product capabilities with SEO requirements, pre-launch validation, launch monitoring, and post-launch analysis to protect and grow organic visibility.
• Maintain a testing-and-learning approach: develop hypotheses, partner on SEO/CRO experiments where appropriate, document results, and use evidence to refine recommendations and program execution.
• In-person attendance will be required on a yearly cycle to attend departmental meetings and/or staff development meetings.

Non-Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• This job description is not intended to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities. Other duties, responsibilities and activities may change or be assigned at any time with or without notice.

Required Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in marketing, business, communications, technology, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 3+ years of hands-on SEO experience.
• Strong generalist knowledge across technical SEO, on-page SEO, content strategy/optimization, off-page/authority development, local SEO, and structured data.
• Demonstrated experience with multi-location/local SEO, including Google Business Profile management, local listings/citations, location landing pages, review/reputation signals, and duplicate/profile issue resolution.
• Strong understanding of how site architecture, rendering, crawl/indexation, internal linking, Core Web Vitals, page speed, mobile experience, and platform changes affect organic performance.
• Strong understanding of how content quality, topical relevance, entity clarity, authority, and user intent influence visibility across traditional and emerging AI-powered search experiences.
• Working knowledge of GEO / AI-search optimization and a demonstrated ability to evaluate emerging search behaviors without relying on unproven tactics.
• Experience managing SEO agencies, technology vendors, and/or multi-location SEO platforms; able to hold partners accountable while integrating their work into an internal strategy.
• Strong analytical skills and experience using tools such as Google Search Console, GA4, Google Business Profile performance data, enterprise SEO platforms, local SEO/listing platforms, crawling tools, rank/visibility tracking, and BI/reporting environments.
• Ability to diagnose complex visibility changes by separating search demand, rankings, SERP composition, competitive activity, technical health, content performance, and local signals.
• Ability to communicate technical and analytical SEO concepts clearly to executives, marketers, engineers, franchisees, and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience partnering with Product, Engineering, Content, Analytics, and Paid Media teams and translating SEO findings into prioritized cross-functional action.
• Strong organizational and vendor-management skills, with the ability to manage enterprise priorities while responding effectively to location-level escalations.

Preferred Education and Experience:

• Hands-on SEO experience, preferably supporting a large consumer website, multi-location brand, marketplace, franchise system, travel/hospitality business, or similarly complex digital ecosystem.
• Experience with a headless CMS and modern web architecture.
• Experience with large-scale location or franchise websites and distributed content/profile governance.
• Working knowledge of HTML, JavaScript rendering, HTTP status behavior, schema.org structured data, robots directives, XML sitemaps, and web performance diagnostics.
• Experience with SEO experimentation, content testing, or conversion-rate optimization.
• Experience analyzing visibility across AI search/answer engines and traditional search-result features.

Physical Demands and Working Conditions:

• Work is performed in an office environment and requires the ability to operate standard office equipment and keyboard, including lifting and carrying a laptop and other small items up to 20 pounds.
• Prolonged exposure to computer screen and artificial lighting.
• Use of repetitive motion, standing, bending, sitting, lifting, and walking short distances.
• May be expected to drive a vehicle to KOA locations, other locations as directed, and conferences which requires close and distance vision, sitting, seeing and reading signs, traffic signals, other vehicles, etc. Travel occurs in all weather conditions, including extreme heat and cold.
• Frequent in person interaction with KOA employees in various settings, where noise level is typically low to moderate, including office spaces.
• Will experience occasional interruptions and shifting priorities.