Digital Growth Marketing Manager

Description NIC Academy is building a durable digital growth engine, with organic search as a foundational capability. We are looking for a growth-oriented marketer with deep SEO expertise—not a purely technical SEO specialist. This person will own organic growth for NIC Academy end to end and connect it to paid acquisition, content, measurement, attribution, and conversion. The right candidate understands how audience needs, search intent, content, website experience, digital marketing strategies, and multi-channel economics work together to drive qualified leads, enrollment, and revenue in a competitive digital-first business. This is a hands-on role for someone who can develop strategy, execute directly, and coordinate with internal and external partners. This role will produce and execute NIC Academy SEO implementation and digital demand-gen content production and will coordinate the digital deliverables responsible for growth marketing for online education. This role will also collaborate with internal staff responsible for general NIC digital marketing efforts. Experience in online education, professional learning, subscription, marketplace, fintech, healthcare consumer, or another high-consideration digital product is strongly preferred. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Organic Growth & SEO Strategy Develop organic growth strategies and execution for NIC Academy properties across SEO, on-page optimization, information architecture, internal linking, schema, and search experience. Build and maintain keyword, topic, and content strategies grounded in learner personas, search intent, competitive dynamics, and the Academy’s course portfolio—not rankings in isolation. Translate search behavior into audience and content insights that inform landing pages, product positioning, paid media, and broader marketing priorities. Monitor and improve crawlability, indexation, site speed, Core Web Vitals, mobile experience, and other technical factors, and establish practical SEO standards for internal teams and vendors. Stay current on AI search / answer-engine optimization and incorporate emerging search behavior where it materially improves discoverability and qualified demand. 2. Content & Website Growth Operations Create and maintain a scalable operating model for search-led content production, optimization, refreshes, and site hygiene. Develop content briefs and, when needed, draft or repurpose course pages, landing pages, resource content, email, and social copy optimized for both audience value and conversion. Develop and collaborate on email and social copies for NIC Academy and collaborate with general NIC marketing staff for execution and publishing. Over time, as the role matures, there is an opportunity for this person to take on ownership of that function directly, including working in Pardot. Turn NIC’s existing intellectual property—including research, recorded sessions, course material, and event content—into useful, search-visible assets. Partner with internal content resources and source/manage contractors or specialist vendors as needed to increase output without sacrificing quality. Maintain critical site hygiene, including redirects, broken links, duplicate/thin content, metadata, stale pages, and other issues that can degrade discoverability or conversion. Work with general NIC marketing staff on recommendations and updates for non-NIC Academy SEO optimization, per a defined governance model. 3. Paid + Organic Growth Integration Quarterback NIC Academy’s paid media work across internal and external partners, serving as the day-to-day contact for NIC Academy–specific content, assets, and review and planning with Marketing’s shared paid media partner—working with NIC’s CMO (overall agency POC and agency relationship owner). Collaborate with CMO on clear briefs, priorities, budget pacing, quality, and performance accountability. Run a deliberate feedback loop between paid and organic: use paid data to identify demand and messaging opportunities for SEO, and organic data to improve targeting, creative, landing pages, and spend efficiency. Bring an integrated acquisition perspective to weekly performance discussions, with clear recommendations on what to test, stop, scale, or fix. 4. Measurement, Attribution & Reporting Manage the marketing measurement framework for NIC Academy across organic and paid performance, site behavior, funnel conversion, enrollment, revenue, and channel efficiency. Confirm NIC Academy’s data points and outcomes are tracked correctly within NIC’s existing attribution engagement, coordinating with internal and any external relationships as needed. Ensure trustworthy analytics implementation, event and conversion tracking, UTM discipline, tag management, and data hygiene across the web, LMS storefront, analytics tools, and Salesforce. Develop recurring executive reporting that explains what is happening, why it matters, and what action should follow—not just what the metrics are. 5. SEO Integrity Across Platforms & Change Protect organic performance through site, LMS, and platform changes, including URL mapping, redirects, canonicals, metadata migration, indexation controls, and post-launch monitoring. Work across e-commerce, Salesforce, web, and LMS teams to ensure the digital customer journey functions correctly for search and passes clean data into analytics and CRM systems. Identify risks early, clarify ownership, and drive cross functional workstreams to resolution rather than assuming technical handoffs are complete. 6. Authority & SME Content Model Design a repeatable approach for bringing credible industry expertise into search-visible content, including SME review, contribution, attribution, and bylines. Recommend and operationalize lightweight processes and incentives that make it practical to engage recognized industry leaders and NIC’s network without creating unnecessary administrative burden. 7. Other Duties as assigned 8. Demonstrate NIC Values, including: Be A Spark Invest in Ourselves Partner with Others Take Pride in Our Work Requirements TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS Less than 30 days per year COMPETENCIES Exceptional organizational and time management skills Strong attention to detail Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously Effective written and verbal communication skills Resourceful and proactive problem-solving abilities Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with a team REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS Approximately 5–7 years of relevant digital or growth marketing experience, with meaningful ownership of SEO in a competitive digital-first environment. Deep working knowledge of SEO strategy and execution, including technical SEO, content strategy, search intent, site architecture, analytics, and performance measurement. A marketer’s mindset: able to connect search behavior to audience needs, messaging, conversion, acquisition economics, and business outcomes. Experience integrating organic and paid acquisition; direct paid media buying experience is useful but not required if you have successfully managed specialists or agencies and can evaluate performance. Strong analytical fluency with tools such as GA4, Google Search Console, Ahrefs/Semrush, tag management, dashboards, and CRM/funnel reporting. Experience managing agencies, contractors, or specialist vendors and holding them accountable for quality, pace, and results. Comfort operating as a hands-on individual contributor in a lean environment: able to move between strategy, diagnosis, briefs, analysis, content, and execution. Strong judgment, communication, and critical thinking. Able to simplify complex digital issues for executives and cross-functional partners. SUCCESS IN THE FIRST 12 MONTHS A clear, prioritized organic growth roadmap tied to qualified demand, enrollment, and revenue—not vanity traffic, including SEO strategy, infrastructure, optimization, and digital marketing content structure. Reliable weekly/monthly reporting and attribution across paid, organic, website behavior, and funnel outcomes. A functioning paid/organic feedback loop with documented tests, learning, and optimization decisions. A scalable content and SEO maintenance process that uses internal resources and external specialists effectively. Improved search visibility and qualified organic demand without compromising conversion quality. SEO and measurement requirements embedded into major website, LMS, e-commerce, and CRM workflows. WHY NIC? If you’ve reached this section of the job description and are unsure whether to apply, please do! At NIC, we welcome diversity of background and experience. We would encourage you to apply if this is a role you would be passionate about doing every day. When you join NIC, you’ll experience a collaborative and innovative culture working alongside talented team members who live our Make Grandma Proud values to support access and choice for older adults. Consistent with our belief that our employees are our most valuable resource, NIC offers generous compensation and performance-based incentives including participation in the discretionary bonus pool. NIC also invests in your professional and academic growth with internal training and tuition reimbursement. Our benefits package includes (but is not limited to): Comprehensive healthcare coverage: Medical / Vision / Dental / Prescription Drug insurance; dependents and domestic partners eligible Life and supplementary insurance Employee Assistance Plan, including virtual and in-person mental health counseling services for individuals and families 401(k) retirement plan with company contributions Vacation, sick, personal, and floating holidays, in addition to paid holidays Professional development opportunities Paid parental leave At NIC, we believe that to fulfill our mission to provide access and choice to America’s older adults we need team members who bring a diversity of perspectives to the table and are committed to fostering a workplace where each team member is valued, respected, and heard. As such, NIC is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we make employment decisions based on qualifications, merit, and business need. We don’t discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. NIC is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. In keeping with our commitment, NIC will take steps to ensure that people with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. Accordingly, if a reasonable accommodation is required to fully participate in the job application or interview process, to perform the essential functions of the position, and/or to receive all other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact [email protected]. WORK ENVIRONMENT/PHYSICAL DEMANDS Work is generally remote, but when working in the NIC office environment, there may be exposure to moderate noise levels. Work involves operation of personal computer equipment for six to eight hours daily or prolonged periods of time and includes physical demands associated with a traditional office setting, e.g., walking, standing, communicating, and other physical functions as necessary. Physical requirements of this position include the following: Lifting up to 25 lbs The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate