Growth Lead (SEO)

Growth Lead (SEO) at daydream

📌 Core Information

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📌 Essential Job Details

🚀 Job Overview

As the Growth Lead (SEO) at daydream, you'll be a pivotal player in a high-growth startup that automates programmatic SEO end-to-end. You'll work at the intersection of SEO, growth marketing, and product, developing strategies for customers like Notion and Product Hunt while serving as the bridge between customers and the product team. This fully in-person role in San Francisco offers the opportunity to shape a rapidly growing platform that's already generating significant ARR before its general availability launch.

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📋 Key Responsibilities

• ✅ Formulate programmatic SEO strategies for high-profile customers
• ✅ Monitor performance and deliver detailed reports to clients
• ✅ Create high-quality content at scale using daydream's platform
• ✅ Build 3-6 month strategy roadmaps for design partners
• ✅ Participate in sales calls and develop proposals for new customers
• ✅ Onboard and support new customers effectively
• ✅ Serve as a bridge between customer needs and product development
• ✅ Refine and improve the overall customer journey
• ✅ Support and onboard new team members as the company grows

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🎯 Required Qualifications

Education: Not specified

Experience: Experience with programmatic SEO, content creation, and client management

Skills:

• Expertise in SEO, particularly programmatic SEO approaches
• Content strategy and creation capabilities
• Prompt engineering skills for AI content generation
• Client management and communication abilities
• Strategic thinking and planning capabilities

ASSUMPTION: While specific qualifications are not explicitly listed, the responsibilities indicate a need for someone with SEO expertise, content creation experience, and client management skills. The role requires both technical SEO knowledge and customer-facing capabilities.

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💰 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $100,000-$130,000 per year

Benefits: "Generous equity" in daydream

Industry Comparison: This salary range is competitive for SEO leadership roles in the San Francisco tech market, though at the lower end of tech marketing leadership compensation in this high-cost area. The equity component may significantly enhance the total compensation package, especially given the company's growth trajectory and venture backing.

ASSUMPTION: The employment model appears to start with a contract period (full-time or part-time) before transitioning to a full-time W-2 position. This is not uncommon for startups evaluating new hires, especially in leadership roles.

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📌 Applicant Insights

🔍 Company Context

Industry Position: daydream is an emerging SaaS platform that automates programmatic SEO, disrupting a space where current solutions require multiple specialized roles or expensive agencies ($50K+ per month). They've raised $6.2M in funding and have notable customers including Descript, Clay, and Beacons.

Company Size: Early-stage startup with at least 3 identified team members (CEO, CTO, Chief of Staff)

Company Stage: Venture-backed startup that has raised a pre-seed ($2.5M) and seed ($3.8M) round, with a product that's generating revenue but not yet generally available

ASSUMPTION: Based on funding history and team size mentioned, this appears to be a seed-stage startup that's beginning to scale. They likely have fewer than 20 employees total at this stage.

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📊 Role Analysis

Career Level: Senior/Lead level position

Reporting Structure: Likely reporting directly to the CEO (Thenuka) based on the collaborative nature described

Team Size/Composition: Small team environment where you'll work closely with founders and early employees

Growth Opportunities: Potential to build and lead a team as the company expands, with mentoring responsibilities for future hires explicitly mentioned at the 6-9 month mark

ASSUMPTION: Given the startup's stage and the description of supporting future hires, this role likely has significant growth potential if the company continues its upward trajectory. You may be one of the first specialized hires in growth/SEO, establishing processes and systems that scale.

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🌍 Location & Work Environment

Office Type: Fully in-person with no remote work options (explicitly stated)

Geographic Context: San Francisco is a premier tech hub with a high concentration of venture-backed startups and tech talent, but also has one of the highest costs of living in the US

Work Schedule: Not specified, but tech startups typically require flexibility beyond standard 9-5 hours

Regional Considerations: Bay Area commuting can be challenging; working in San Francisco typically requires living in the city or planning for significant commute time from surrounding areas

ASSUMPTION: The emphasis on "fully in-person" with "no remote work" suggests a strong company preference for face-to-face collaboration and likely indicates a culture that values in-office interaction and spontaneous collaboration.

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💼 Interview & Application Insights

Typical Process: For a growth/SEO leadership role at a startup, expect multiple rounds including:

• Initial screening call with founder/CEO
• Technical assessment of SEO knowledge and strategy formulation
• Panel interview with other team members
• Case study or practical exercise related to programmatic SEO
• Final meeting to discuss compensation and role specifics

Key Assessment Areas:

• Deep SEO expertise, especially programmatic SEO
• Strategic thinking and planning abilities
• Client communication and management skills
• Cultural alignment with fast-paced startup environment
• Ability to work closely with product and engineering teams

Application Tips:

• Highlight specific programmatic SEO successes with metrics
• Showcase experience with client strategy and relationships
• Demonstrate understanding of AI/LLM applications in content
• Express alignment with their values of pace, quality, and customer service

ATS Keywords: programmatic SEO, growth strategy, content creation, client management, prompt engineering, performance reporting, SEO automation, LLM, AI content

ASSUMPTION: These insights are based on industry standards for similar roles and the specific focus areas mentioned in the job description.

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🛠️ Tools & Technologies

• daydream's proprietary platform for programmatic SEO
• SEO analytics and reporting tools
• LLMs (Large Language Models) for content creation
• Content management systems

ASSUMPTION: While specific tools aren't listed beyond daydream's own platform, SEO professionals typically work with tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, SEMrush, and various content creation and analytics platforms.

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👔 Cultural Fit Considerations

Company Values: The listing explicitly mentions three key values:

1. "Push the pace" - Accelerating timelines and avoiding "sandbagging"
2. "Build something you're proud of" - Balancing speed with quality deliverables
3. "Five star customer service only" - Exceeding (not just meeting) customer expectations

Work Style: Fast-paced, goal-oriented, customer-centric, with high expectations for quality and speed

Self-Assessment: Potential applicants should consider:

• Am I comfortable in a high-velocity startup environment?
• Do I thrive when working directly with founders and early employees?
• Can I balance speed with quality consistently?
• Am I willing to commit to a fully in-person role in San Francisco?
• Do I enjoy being customer-facing while also deeply involved in product strategy?

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⚠️ Potential Challenges

• Broad scope covering SEO strategy, client management, and product input
• High expectations for both speed and quality
• No remote work flexibility in a city with high living costs
• Startup environment may involve rapid pivots and evolving responsibilities
• Contract-to-hire structure creates initial employment uncertainty

ASSUMPTION: These challenges reflect common startup dynamics and specifics mentioned in the job description. The emphasis on pace and the broad responsibilities suggest a demanding but potentially rewarding role.

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📈 Similar Roles Comparison

The Growth Lead (SEO) at daydream differs from traditional SEO roles in several key ways:

• Broader scope: Combines SEO strategy, client management, and product development input
• Technology focus: Centers on programmatic SEO and AI/LLM applications vs. traditional SEO
• Client-facing: More customer interaction than internal SEO roles at larger companies
• Strategic level: Higher-level strategy work compared to tactical SEO specialist roles
• Startup impact: Direct influence on company trajectory vs. being one part of a large marketing org

ASSUMPTION: This comparison is based on typical SEO and growth marketing roles in the tech industry, highlighting the distinctive aspects of this particular position.

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📝 Sample Projects

• Creating a 6-month programmatic SEO roadmap for a SaaS customer targeting specific high-value keywords
• Developing content templates and prompt structures that enable scaling quality content production
• Building performance dashboards to track SEO results across multiple client campaigns
• Identifying pattern-based content opportunities for clients entering new market segments
• Collaborating with the product team on new features that improve content quality assessment

ASSUMPTION: These projects are illustrative examples based on the responsibilities listed and typical programmatic SEO initiatives.

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❓ Key Questions to Ask During Interview

1. "How do you measure success for this role in the first 3, 6, and 12 months?"
2. "What are the biggest challenges your customers face when implementing programmatic SEO?"
3. "How does the team currently balance the 'push the pace' value with ensuring high-quality deliverables?"
4. "Can you share more about how customer feedback influences your product roadmap?"
5. "What does the ideal collaboration between this role and the engineering/product teams look like?"
6. "How has the company's approach to programmatic SEO evolved since your experiences at Flixed?"

ASSUMPTION: These questions are suggested based on the role description and company context, and should be adapted based on the specific interview dynamics.

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📌 Next Steps for Applicants

1. Research thoroughly: Explore daydream's online presence, read their funding announcements, and understand programmatic SEO fundamentals
2. Prepare your SEO portfolio: Collect case studies and metrics from your most successful SEO campaigns, especially any programmatic or scalable approaches
3. Customize your resume: Highlight keywords like "programmatic SEO," "content strategy," "client management," and "performance reporting"
4. Connect if possible: Reach out to team members on LinkedIn to learn more about the company culture
5. Prepare for the contract structure: Be ready to discuss your availability for a contract period before transitioning to full-time
6. Location planning: Consider your San Francisco logistics as remote work is explicitly not an option

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📌 Disclaimer

⚠️ This enhanced job description was AI-generated based on the original job listing. Information has been organized and supplemented with industry-standard insights where details were not provided. All assumptions are explicitly labeled. Applicants should verify all details directly with the employer before making decisions based on this content.