Free People Search Engine Marketing Senior Manager

Free People is hiring a Search Engine Marketing Senior Manager to lead our search marketing strategy across both paid search and SEO. This is a brand-side, in-house role focused on building and executing a unified search strategy that drives business performance, customer acquisition, and growth.

You will own the overarching search vision, including investment planning, testing roadmaps, audience strategies, and business inputs that guide the larger URBN Search Marketing Technology team. This strategic role will also lead innovation in the evolving landscape of AI-enhanced discovery, ensuring Free People shows up meaningfully at every point of customer intent. While the MarTech team will handle campaign execution and reporting, your responsibility will be to provide strategic direction, shape priorities, and ensure that our search efforts are aligned with business goals.

The Digital Marketing team is part of a larger integrated Digital group including Analytics, Brand, Content, Consumer Insights and UX.  We collaborate with senior leadership and cross-team partners to drive Free People’s digital business.

Strategy & Planning

• Own and evolve the Total Search strategy, integrating paid search and SEO to maximize visibility, efficiency, and ROI.
• Create a connected, customer-centric search presence.
• Translate business objectives (seasonality, promotions, product launches) into search-specific plans and clear tactical priorities.
• Define annual and quarterly roadmaps for testing, innovation, and performance improvement across both paid and organic search.
• Guide budget allocation and forecast performance scenarios across channels and initiatives.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Act as the key business stakeholder for Search MarTech, defining a clear business-driven prioritization framework and ensuring day-to-day execution ladders up to strategy.
• Collaborate with brand marketing, ecommerce, product, analytics, and creative to ensure messaging, product focuses, and landing page strategies are fully optimized across Paid and Organic Search.
• Partner with content, UX, and merchandising teams to unlock deeper SEO wins tied to product discovery, editorial storytelling, and seasonal intent.

Insights & Optimization

• Collaborate with Analytics and MarTech teams to monitor performance, ensure data integrity, and extract actionable insights.
• Own strategic reporting to leadership, presenting insights on channel performance, learnings, and roadmap impact.
• Lead budget planning and optimization recommendations across Paid Search investments.
• Analyze trends, competitive landscape, and platform performance data to inform strategic pivots and identify new growth opportunities.
• Create and maintain a business-driven prioritization framework for Search MarTech execution.

Innovation & Testing

• Lead a forward-thinking testing roadmap focused on driving incremental gains across Paid and Organic Search, with a lens on the emerging AI-driven search landscape, including:
  • Testing and optimizing for AI-powered SERPs (e.g. Google's Search Generative Experience).
  • Exploring strucutred data, content formats, and tools to maximize visibility in conversational or voice-led search.
  • Experimenting with generative ad copy and dynamic creative strategies in Paid Search.

• Evaluate new tools and platforms that integrate machine learning and AI to drive smarter audience targeting, bidding, and content delivery.

   

• Stay ahead of platform and algorithm updates, and apply innovative approaches to maintain competitive advantage.

• 7+ years of digital marketing experience with a deep focus on Paid Search, SEO, or both—retail or eCommerce experience strongly preferred.
• Proven success in an in-house, agency or brand-side strategic role, ideally in a complex or high-growth environment.
• Expertise in Paid Search platforms (Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, SA360) and SEO & Marketing Feed tools (Brightedge, Feedonomics, etc.).
• Strategic thinker with a strong analytical foundation—you’re fluent in KPIs like ROAS, CTR, share of voice, and can tell a clear story with data.
• Excellent business acumen—able to translate high-level objectives into tactical plans and priorities.
• Experience managing a team and/or cross-functional project leadership (ie. influencing without direct authority).
• Passion for staying ahead of digital trends, including AI's impact on marketing and search.

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URBN offers comprehensive Perks & Benefits to employees. Availability and eligibility to specific benefits may be subject to your location and employment status. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, PTO, generous employee discounts, retirement savings and much more! For additional information visit www.urbn.com/work-with-us/benefits

URBN celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We are proud to provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex (including gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression), religion, creed, age, physical or mental disability, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, citizenship, service in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic as established by law. We believe strongly in fostering a safe, fair and respectful work environment. To ensure compliance with our non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies, we offer anti-harassment training to managers and employees.