About Milestone

Milestone Inc. is a leading Digital Experience Software and Services company dedicated to providing comprehensive solutions across all touchpoints that enhance customer engagement and drive business growth. Milestone's mission is to pioneer the distribution and visibility of content with an innovative platform that drives discovery, personalized experiences, and conversions powered by data and AI. We pride ourselves on our collaborative culture and commitment to excellence - and are a certified Great Place to Work.

About the Role

We are seeking a Director of Technical SEO who can architect and lead enterprise-scale technical search strategies that drive measurable organic growth, AI visibility, and platform performance for Milestone's diverse client portfolio.

This is not a traditional SEO role. This leader will operate at the intersection of engineering, data, and digital strategy - building scalable technical frameworks, driving automation, and transitioning the SEO function from reactive auditing to proactive, AI-native technical excellence.

The ideal candidate brings deep technical expertise, strong cross-functional influence, and a systems-thinking mindset to deliver outcomes that matter: rankings, AI presence, site performance, and revenue impact.

Core Responsibilities

1. Technical SEO Architecture & Strategy

- Design and own enterprise-scale technical SEO frameworks across Milestone's client base

- Build repeatable technical architecture models for crawlability, indexability, site speed, Core Web Vitals, and structured data

- Lead technical SEO roadmaps aligned to client business goals and search engine evolution

- Define and enforce technical SEO standards across CMS platforms, page templates, and site infrastructure

- Stay ahead of algorithm updates, AI search shifts (SGE/AIO), and Core Web Vitals changes

2. AI & Structured Data Leadership

- Build entity-based SEO frameworks integrating schema markup, knowledge graph optimization, and semantic SEO

- Drive AI presence optimization - ensuring client content surfaces in AI Overviews, SGE, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI-native engines

- Partner with the Content and GEO teams to build retrieval-aware page architecture

- Develop scalable schema deployment systems integrated into CMS and site infrastructure

- Own the technical layer of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) initiatives

3. Performance & Measurement

- Define North Star KPIs for technical SEO: crawl efficiency, Core Web Vitals scores, indexation rates, AI Presence Rate, organic traffic lift

- Redesign reporting from technical activity metrics to business value metrics

- Build dashboards integrating Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, Lighthouse, and internal data systems

- Conduct regular site health audits and translate findings into prioritized, business-impact-ranked roadmaps

4. Automation & Tooling

- Identify and implement automation across site auditing, log file analysis, rank tracking, and reporting

- Build AI-assisted workflows for technical SEO diagnostics, fix validation, and QA

- Develop reusable technical SEO playbooks, templates, and audit frameworks

- Integrate with company infrastructure - CMS, Entity Graph, Schema layer, and CDN configurations

5. Team Leadership & Capability Building

- Lead, mentor, and grow a team of technical SEO specialists in India

- Define competency frameworks and career paths for technical SEO team members

- Upskill the team from SEO specialists to Technical SEO Engineers - fluent in Python, data analysis, structured data, and AI search

- Run weekly operations meetings tied to team OKRs and client priorities

- Build a culture of continuous learning and engineering-first thinking

6. Cross-Functional Collaboration

- Partner with Content, Schema, GEO, Product, Engineering, UX, and Client Success teams

- Translate client technical challenges into structured, actionable SEO solutions

- Align technical SEO roadmaps with CMS product releases and platform capabilities

- Support Sales and CS teams with technical SEO scoping, pitches, and RFP responses

- Be a technical SEO SME for enterprise client engagements and executive presentations

7. Customer Communication

- Serve as the senior technical SEO authority in client engagements; translate complex technical findings into clear, executive-ready roadmaps and ROI narratives

- Present performance outcomes to client stakeholders; and partner with Client Success to ensure delivery alignment, reduce escalations, and strengthen retention.

What Success Looks Like

Success Indicators

- Technical SEO team operating with an engineering mindset

- Standardized, scalable technical audit playbooks across verticals and CMS platforms

- Clear reporting linking technical SEO to organic revenue and AI visibility

- Measurable AI Presence Rate improvement across AI-native search engines

- Zero technical SEO-related delivery escalations or go-live failures

30-60-90 Day Success Plan

First 30 Days: Assess & Stabilize

- Full audit of team capacity, active projects, and client technical health status

- Deep dive into current technical SEO workflows, tooling, and automation gaps

- Align 100% with CS and Product teams on client delivery timelines and expectations

- Run technical SEO team meetings independently and establish OKR rhythm

- Document top 5 immediate risks and present a written 90-day transformation plan

Demonstrate: Zero delivery escalations | No missed deadlines | Clear capacity and project dashboard

60 Days: Standardize & Automate

- Launch 2-3 standardized technical SEO audit packages (Starter / Growth / Enterprise)

- Implement QA checklists for technical SEO delivery across all active clients

- Pilot automation in 1-2 workflow areas: e.g., crawl monitoring or reporting dashboards

- Define technical SEO engineer competency framework for team

Demonstrate: Faster audit turnaround | Clear margin improvement trajectory | Fewer dependencies on custom scoping

90 Days: Scale & Prove Value

- 30%+ improvement in workflow efficiency through automation

- Full automation adoption across team reporting and audit workflows

- Reporting template tied to ROI, organic revenue, and AI visibility metrics

- Present 6-month technical SEO roadmap to leadership

Demonstrate: Higher gross margin | Fewer client escalations | Strong cross-functional trust | Scalable, repeatable delivery model

Ideal Candidate Profile

Required Experience & Qualifications

- 10-14 years of progressive Technical SEO experience, with 3+ years in a senior leadership or director-level role

- Experience defining, building, or managing SEO-focused products or platform features, ideally within a SaaS, Martech, or digital experience company; able to think in systems, write product requirements, and collaborate directly with engineering teams to ship SEO capabilities at scale.

- Deep expertise in: crawl optimization, indexation, Core Web Vitals, JavaScript SEO, site architecture, and international SEO

- Strong hands-on proficiency with tools: Screaming Frog, Google Search Console, Ahrefs, SEMrush, DeepCrawl, Lumar, Sitebulb, Lighthouse, PageSpeed Insights

- Proficiency in Python or JavaScript for SEO automation, data extraction, and analysis

- Solid understanding of schema markup, JSON-LD, Entity SEO, and Knowledge Graph optimization

- Demonstrated success with AI search readiness - SGE, AIO, GEO, or AI Presence optimization

- Proven ability to build, lead, and grow high-performing technical SEO teams

- Strong analytical mindset - comfortable translating complex data into executive-level narratives

- Excellent communication and presentation skills; able to engage C-level stakeholders and enterprise clients

- Experience in verticals such as hospitality, healthcare, retail, financial services, or SaaS is a plus

- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Marketing, or related field; advanced SEO certifications preferred

Core Competencies

- Technical Capabilities Leadership Capabilities

- Technical SEO Architecture Cross-Functional Leadership

- Entity & Structured Data Expertise Team Building & Mentorship

- Python / JS Automation Fluency Scalable Systems Thinking

- AI Search & GEO Readiness Client & Executive Communication

- Data & Analytics Mastery Product Thinking Mindset

This Role At a Glance

What This Role IS

- A technical systems architect

- An AI search pioneer

- A team transformer and capability builder

- A revenue enabler and margin protector

- A cross-functional technical SEO authority

What This Role Is NOT

- Not a keyword researcher or content manager

- Not a reactive auditor fixing one-off issues

- Not just an individual contributor

- Not a tool operator without strategic vision

What We Offer

- Competitive salary and performance-based incentives.

- Comprehensive benefits package.

- Opportunity to work in a collaborative and innovative environment.

- Career growth and professional development opportunities.

- A chance to be part of a global team that makes a significant impact in the industry.