Associate Director, SEO Job at Assembly in New York

About Us Much of what you need to know about minds + assembly is captured in the name itself : we think we create and (+) we put things together. It’s really that simple—and that shockingly different. Of course, the simplicity of our name belies the depth of what we deliver to our most honored (and often overjoyed) clients. Our work is consistently at a higher caliber than they are used to, simply because we push ourselves to think and build differently. Combine this with an obsessive attention to client service, and you arrive at a place where we stand alone among agencies. Arrogant? No. Confident? Of course, but only because we’ve put together a team of people who are good AF in every way.

At minds + assembly, the engine of our business is commercial invention. We approach every project—actually, every aspect of our work—as an opportunity to dip our toes into the revitalizing stream of the new. The original conception of our agency (which has since been realized) was that of a happy workshop, a place where the mind and hands are free to construct brilliant new things for our clients. Yet, we never forget that we are in fact a business. Everything we do is to further the commercial goals of our clients, whether that is to sell a product or an idea. To achieve this, we continue to add only the best people, those who have the right talent, temperament, and teamwork-orientation to further our collective goals. Then we ask that each person adhere to two simple and equally important principles : uncompromising standards and unconditional support. In other words, we push each other, hard, to produce the best work possible, yet always with the knowledge that we have each other’s backs.

About the Role As Associate Director, SEO, you will play a critical role in helping our healthcare clients maximize the discoverability, credibility, and authority of their digital ecosystems, including branded, unbranded, and disease awareness properties. Your strategic guidance will shape how HCPs, patients, and caregivers find and engage with compliant, medically accurate content across traditional search engines and emerging AI-powered search interfaces. You will serve as the bridge between digital strategy, SEO best practices, regulatory compliance, and content development, all while ensuring alignment with client-specific medical, legal, and regulatory (MLR) requirements. There is the potential for this role to elevate thought leadership and consulting services for clients at a time when brands are seeking guidance on how to stay relevant. We are seeking a senior level technical expert with excellent client facing skills and strong collaboration ability.

Key Responsibilities

SEO Strategy & Leadership

Own the development of comprehensive SEO strategies, tailored to healthcare clients, that support brand goals across multiple clients and digital properties.

Translate business objectives and audience behaviors into actionable SEO tactics.

Stay ahead of algorithm changes, search trends, pharma guidelines, and competitive landscapes to ensure clients maintain a strong organic and compliant presence.

Be a thought leader both internally and for clients to navigate the shift to AI generated search results, and implications for brand presence in clinical and patient search pathways.

Technical SEO Oversight

Conduct technical SEO audits and provide recommendations to improve site crawlability, indexing, site speed, schema markup, and overall site health.

Collaborate with web development and UX teams to implement SEO best practices during site builds, migrations, or redesigns.

Monitor and manage XML sitemaps, robots.txt files, canonical tags, redirects, and site architecture to ensure optimal performance.

Content Strategy & Optimization

Guide keyword research, content planning, and metadata optimization across brand and unbranded content for both HCP and patient facing sites.

Partner with content teams to ensure alignment with SEO strategy while adhering to brand voice and MLR-approved messaging (for pharma / health clients).

Identify and prioritize opportunities for new content development or optimization based on search intent, gaps, and user journeys.

Regulatory Collaboration

Collaborate with Regulatory, Medical, and Legal teams to define pre-approved keyword sets, acceptable claims language, and metadata frameworks.

Ensure content changes, SEO updates, and A / B testing plans are routed appropriately through MLR workflows.

Help educate internal teams and clients on how SEO can coexist with compliant storytelling in a highly regulated environment.

Experience

6+ years of SEO experience, including 2+ years in a management or leadership role.

Proven expertise in SEO for healthcare brands with strong knowledge of regulatory nuances and understanding of MLR processes.

In-depth understanding of technical SEO, on-page and off-page optimization, and search engine algorithms.

Deep knowledge of patient and HCP digital behaviors, especially how they search for clinical content, treatments, and support resources.

Strong analytical mindset with the ability to translate data into actionable insights.

Excellent communication and project management skills.

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