SEO Associate Director

Sparro hires Yango executive Eb Yusuf as GM of strategy & growth. Published on: 23rd July 2026 at 9:40 AM Sparro by Brainlabs has appointed former Yango executive Eb Yusuf to the newly created role of general manager of strategy and growth, as the agency continues to expand its full-service media and creative offering following its acquisition by Brainlabs. It comes just one week after long-serving executive Hannah Jones was promoted to chief executive officer to succeed founders Morris and Cameron Bryant, who have left the business. In her role, Yusuf will have a focus on growing Sparro's core offering by combining its digital-first expertise with the global data, technology and automation capabilities unlocked through Brainlabs' 2024 acquisition of the agency. She joins from independent media agency Yango, where she served as general manager of strategy, culture and insights. Yusuf brings more than 20 years of experience across agency, client and entertainment marketing, having previously held senior roles at OMD and Carat, as well as spending a decade in theatrical marketing with Twentieth Century Fox and Roadshow Films. At Yango, Yusuf established the agency's insights division and developed an SEO-powered creator marketing offering designed to integrate influencer partnerships into performance marketing strategies. She also led strategy on campaigns including Scape's student accommodation work targeting Gen Z audiences and played a key role in launching electric vehicle brand BYD in Australia. The appointment comes as Sparro by Brainlabs looks to strengthen its position as a full-funnel media and creative agency. Jones welcomed Yusuf to the leadership team, saying her experience and collaborative approach would help accelerate the agency's next phase of growth. "I could not be more thrilled to welcome Eb to the team. Her broad experience, proven results and collaborative approach make her the perfect person to further enhance our full-service offering," Jones said. "We're focused on strengthening what already makes Sparro exceptional - integrated media, creative and data, and a culture built on transparency - and Eb brings the capability and leadership to accelerate that." Yusuf said she had long admired the agency's reputation for innovation and workplace culture. "My work has always lived at the intersection of media, data and creativity, and that's precisely where Sparro thrives, backed by Jack Nimble's creative firepower and Brainlabs' global scale," she said. "That combination means we don't just think differently for our clients - we build solutions to match. The possibilities ahead are limitless." Sparro by Brainlabs and Jack Nimble now manage more than $250 million in annual advertising spend and employ more than 130 people across a client portfolio that includes Spotify, NRMA, Sixt, Petbarn, Temple & Webster, Ralph Lauren, American Express, eBay, ASICS, Liquorland, AMP and Destination NSW. Yusuf's appointment is effective immediately. Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.

Ad agencies are racing to hire AI SEO talent at $100K-$260K. Organic search just became one of the most contested hiring categories in marketing. Eight agencies, both indie shops and holding company networks, are currently advertising for director, assistant director, or manager-level roles in SEO and AI discoverability, according to Digiday. Salary ranges for these positions run from $100,000 to $150,000. Brainlabs posted a managing director role at $260,000 a year. Get Free Daily Insights to Stay Ahead in Your Entrepreneurial Journey. Table of Contents Who is hiring. The agencies actively recruiting include Kinesso, Digitas, Wpromote, Kepler, Tinuiti, Critical Mass, Mindgruve, and Brainlabs. Each is building out organic search capability to meet client demand for visibility in AI-driven search environments. Wpromote is hiring a senior director of SEO and content to lead a dedicated team for an unnamed airline client. The agency already runs a 70-person SEO and organic search team, added three staffers in the past year, and is interviewing for two additional junior SEO manager roles. Brainlabs hired at least 10 staffers into its existing 120-person SEO team. Tinuiti has been building a combined AI discoverability and SEO team since last summer, starting with a senior director of AI SEO innovation hire, and is now recruiting for a director of SEO plus two additional positions. Tinuiti's EVP of innovation Simon Poulton said the agency would "almost certainly" add further roles this year. Critical Mass is recruiting a VP of search with explicit attention to SEO and GEO (generative engine optimization). Kepler's Search Center of Excellence associate VP Grace Mante said hiring would continue beyond its current open associate director role. What they are actually screening for. These are not standard SEO coordinator searches. Agencies are looking for candidates who combine traditional search expertise with hands-on experience in AI search platforms. * Experience with AI search tools like Profound and Scrunch * Comfort working with LLM tools alongside technical skills like website schema * Active testing and experimentation in AI search platforms * Background in branded content production and PR considered a plus * Measurement, engineering, and problem-solving capabilities (Tinuiti's stated priority) * Leadership experience for senior roles The broader shift. The hiring push reflects a structural change in how clients think about search. Wpromote VP of organic growth Megan Shriver described it plainly: "This is the biggest thing that's happened to SEO, ever. If you're not doing AI search, you're not going where SEO is going." Brainlabs CPO Adam Edwards framed the client pressure this way: "Every brand wants to better understand how they get themselves mentioned and cited on ChatGPT and on Gemini." Combined search briefs, mixing paid, SEO, and answer engine optimization (AEO), are now standard. Critical Mass CSO Grant Owens said his agency is "getting many more briefs that are combining paid, SEO, and AEO together." Tinuiti's Poulton added that combined briefs are "the only way that we're really talking about search right now." For operators and indie marketers watching from the outside: the skills these agencies are paying $150K-$260K for are the same ones that will determine whether your own content surfaces in AI search results. The job listings are a useful proxy for what actually matters in organic discoverability right now. Cagri Sarigoz ( Founder) I'm founder of BizStack at Cagri Sarigoz LLC and a passionate advocate for entrepreneurs. With over 14 years in tech, marketing, and AI, including my role as Head of SEO at CitizenShipper and co-founder of TaleBot at Intale AI, I'm dedicated to sharing genuine, useful product insights and tips. At BizStack, I aim to cut through the digital noise to provide clear, actionable advice. And more than all else, I'm a father to a (always) little girl and a husband.