Lead, SEO and AEO

AmaWaterways, LLC•Calabasas, CA

About The Position

As the Lead, SEO and AEO, you will be responsible for advancing AmaWaterways’ organic visibility across both traditional and emerging search ecosystems, including large language models (LLMs) and AI-driven answer engines. This role will define and execute a comprehensive search strategy that strengthens AmaWaterways’ brand authority, drives high-quality traffic, and supports conversion across consumer and travel advisor audiences. Working closely with Digital Experience, Content, UX/UI, Analytics, and Brand teams, this individual will ensure that SEO and AEO practices are embedded into all aspects of the company’s digital ecosystem — including AmaWaterways.com, the Travel Advisor Portal, and international web properties. The ideal candidate possesses both strategic and hands-on expertise in technical SEO, content optimization, structured data, and semantic search, along with curiosity for how generative AI will redefine discoverability.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in communications, computer science, marketing, or a related field; Master’s degree a plus.
Three to five years of experience in SEO, with proven success driving measurable organic growth and engagement.
Computer skills required: Development Software; Microsoft Office Suite; Project Management Software, Database Software, Design Software, Internet Software, Spreadsheet Software, Word Processing Software, Electronic Mail Software, Presentation Software
Expertise with SEO tools including Google Search Console, SEMrush, Ahrefs, Screaming Frog, and GA4.
Familiarity with structured data, schema markup, Core Web Vitals, and website performance optimization.
Working knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and CMS optimization (Builder.io or equivalent headless CMS).
Experience with emerging AEO/LLM optimization techniques and entity-based search frameworks.
Strong analytical and communication skills; ability to translate rechnical findings into actionable insights.
Excellent cross-functional collaboration skills and comfort managing vendors or agency partners.
Passion for travel, luxury brand storytelling, and digital innovation.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree a plus.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a comprehensive SEO and AEO strategy aligned with AmaWaterways’ business objectives, guest acquisition goals, and digital transformation roadmap.
Implement entity-based and semantic optimization to strengthen topical authority for river cruise destinations, themes, and guest experiences.
Develop AEO strategies for visibility in AI-powered ecosystems (e.g., Google SGE, Bing Copilot, ChatGPT integrations).
Partner with Brand, Content, and UX/UI to align storytelling and page structure with search intent and user experience.
Conduct keyword and intent research to identify opportunities across the guest journey (awareness, consideration, conversion).
Collaborate with Content Managers and Copywriters to optimize metadata, headings, internal linking, and structured content.
Create an SEO style guide and scalable governance framework to ensure brand consistency across U.S., U.K., and EU sites.
Identify and fill content gaps to support itineraries, blogs, and promotional landing pages.
Oversee site architecture, crawlability, and indexation to ensure maximum visibility.
Manage XML sitemaps, redirects, canonical tags, and robots.txt configurations.
Implement and maintain schema markup (FAQ, Organization, Product, and Event) to enhance rich results and AI summarization eligibility.
Conduct regular technical audits using tools such as Screaming Frog, Botify, or Sitebulb; partner with developers to resolve issues.
Monitor Core Web Vitals and collaborate with the Front-End and CMS teams to improve site performance and accessibility.
Define KPIs including organic traffic growth, booking starts, keyword visibility, share of voice, and engagement metrics.
Integrate SEO performance into GA4, BigQuery, and Looker dashboards for holistic insight across the marketing funnel.
Provide monthly and quarterly insights to leadership, including competitor benchmarking and emerging trend analysis.
Partner with internal teams and agencies to embed SEO and AEO best practices across all digital projects, including the website redesign, Travel Advisor Portal, and mobile app.
Collaborate with Paid Media to maximize organic–paid synergies and keyword efficiency.
Lead cross-functional SEO workshops to train content, design, and development teams on evolving search and AI visibility trends.
Stay ahead of algorithm updates, AI search trends, and multimodal optimization opportunities.
Recommend and pilot new tools or methodologies (e.g., AI-driven content optimization, SERP feature tracking, conversational search readiness).
Act as the internal evangelist for emerging SEO/AEO practices, ensuring AmaWaterways remains a leader in digital discoverability within the luxury travel category.