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SEO Manager

McLean, Virginia

Here at Appian, our values of Intensity and Excellence define who we are. We set high standards and live up to them, ensuring that everything we do is done with care and quality. We approach every challenge with ambition and commitment, holding ourselves and each other accountable to achieve the best results. When you join Appian, you’ll be part of a passionate team dedicated to accomplishing hard things, together.

Appian is looking for an SEO Manager to lead our organic visibility strategy beyond the traditional boundaries of Appian.com. As search continues to evolve toward Generative Engine Optimization, Answer Engine Optimization, and AI-driven discovery, this role will focus on strengthening Appian’s presence across high-impact third-party ecosystems, rich media platforms, earned media, partner channels, communities, and B2B review directories.

This role is pivotal to helping Appian expand how and where modern buyers discover our brand. You will define and execute strategies that ensure Appian is represented accurately, authoritatively, and consistently across the digital discovery landscape, including AI search engines, YouTube, Reddit, Appian Community, partner websites, analyst platforms, editorial content, and B2B directories.

This role is based at our headquarters in McLean, Virginia. Appian was built on a culture of in-person collaboration, which we believe is a key driver of our mission to be the best. Employees hired for this position are expected to be in the office 5 days a week to foster that culture and ensure we continue to thrive through shared ideas and teamwork. We believe being in the office provides more opportunities to come together and celebrate working with the exceptional people across Appian.

In this role, you will:

  • Develop and execute a comprehensive organic discovery strategy optimized for AI search engines, LLMs, answer engines, and traditional search engines.

  • Strengthen Appian’s off-site brand authority through contextual citations, high-quality mentions, backlinks, and strategic third-party visibility.

  • Monitor and optimize Appian’s brand presence across partner networks, B2B directories, community platforms, and other high-value third-party ecosystems.

  • Stay ahead of emerging search trends, algorithm changes, AI search behavior, and generative discovery developments to continuously evolve Appian’s organic visibility strategy.

  • Partner with Strategic Communications and Public Relations teams to maximize the search value of editorials, press releases, executive thought leadership, and earned media.

  • Support backlink acquisition, brand citation quality, and referral conversion opportunities across external publications and market reports.

  • Monitor external content to ensure Appian’s brand references are accurate, optimized, and discoverable by search engines and AI-driven platforms.

  • Identify high-authority third-party websites, digital publications, and executive profiling opportunities that support Appian’s organic discovery goals.

  • Lead the organic search strategy for YouTube, including video optimization, metadata, descriptions, playlists, and channel architecture.

  • Improve Appian’s visibility and authority across relevant communities and forums, including Appian Community, Reddit, Quora, and other buyer research environments.

  • Partner with creative, content, social media, and web teams to identify opportunities for rich media optimization and multi-channel organic growth.

  • Partner with Alliance and Partner Marketing teams to optimize Appian’s visibility across strategic partner websites, marketplaces, and digital ecosystems.

  • Collaborate with Paid Media, On-Site SEO, Email Marketing, Web, Content, PR, and Brand teams to ensure off-site discovery efforts support broader campaign initiatives.

  • Establish performance metrics to measure off-site brand authority, referral impact, search visibility, and third-party discovery performance.

  • Use SEO, analytics, and search visibility tools to track performance, identify opportunities, and provide actionable reporting to stakeholders.

Qualifications:

  • 5+ years of experience in SEO, Digital PR, organic growth, or digital marketing, preferably within a B2B technology or SaaS environment.

  • Proven experience developing organic strategies across both owned and third-party digital channels.

  • Strong understanding of modern SEO principles, semantic search, schema markup, contextual citations, and AI-driven search behavior.

  • Familiarity with Generative Engine Optimization and Answer Engine Optimization concepts, including how LLMs and AI search engines aggregate third-party data and citations.

  • Hands-on experience optimizing non-traditional search environments such as YouTube, Reddit, owned communities, Quora, B2B directories, analyst platforms, and digital publication networks.

  • Strong analytical skills with experience using SEO, visibility, analytics, and reporting tools to measure impact and guide strategy.

  • Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to build consensus across PR, brand, partner marketing, content, web, and demand generation teams.

  • Highly curious, proactive, and comfortable operating in a rapidly evolving search and digital discovery landscape.

  • Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Information Technology, or a related field.

Preferred experience:

  • Experience in enterprise software, SaaS, or B2B technology marketing.

  • Experience working with platforms such as G2, Gartner Peer Insights, YouTube, Reddit, Quora, Appian Community, and partner marketplaces.

  • Familiarity with backlink analysis, digital PR strategy, referral analytics, and brand authority measurement.

  • Experience partnering with communications, analyst relations, and executive thought leadership teams.

  • Experience building reporting frameworks that connect organic visibility, referral traffic, and off-site brand authority to broader marketing outcomes.

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Tools and Resources 

  • Training and Development: During onboarding, we focus on equipping new hires with the skills and knowledge for success through department-specific training. Continuous learning is a central focus at Appian, with dedicated mentorship and the First-Friend program being widely utilized resources for new hires. 
  • Growth Opportunities: Appian provides a diverse array of growth and development opportunities, including our leadership program tailored for new and aspiring managers, a comprehensive library of specialized department training through Appian University, skills based training, and tuition reimbursement for those aiming to advance their education. This commitment ensures that employees have access to a holistic range of development opportunities.
  • Community: We’ll immerse you into our community rooted in respect starting on day one. Appian fosters inclusivity through our 8 employee-led affinity groups. These groups help employees build stronger internal and external networks by planning social, educational, and outreach activities to connect with Appianites and larger initiatives throughout the company.

Benefits

Appian offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health, wellbeing, and financial future. Benefits may include health coverage, Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with free mental health support, life and disability insurance, an Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP), a retirement/pension plan, wellness dollars, tuition reimbursement, family-forming benefits and more. Benefits vary by country—please ask your Talent Acquisition contact for details specific to the location you are applying to.

About Appian

Appian provides process automation technology. We automate complex processes in large enterprises and governments. Our platform is known for its unique reliability and scale. We’ve been automating processes for 25 years and understand enterprise operations like no one else. For more information, visit appian.com. [Nasdaq: APPN]

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Appian is an equal opportunity employer that strives to attract and retain the best talent. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. 

Appian provides reasonable accommodations to applicants in accordance with all applicable laws. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email at ReasonableAccommodations@appian.com. Please note that only inquiries concerning a request for reasonable accommodation will be responded to from this email address.

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