Associate Director, Digital Discoverability & AI Optimization

General Summary: The Associate Director, Digital Discoverability & AI Optimization is responsible for leading Vertex’s enterprise strategy and standards for digital discoverability across traditional search engines and emerging AI-powered answer and retrieval platforms. This role will define and scale capabilities that improve how Vertex websites, content, and digital assets are discovered, retrieved, interpreted, cited, and recommended. The role serves as the enterprise lead for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), AI search optimization, AI-ready website architecture, and LLM ingestion readiness. This position partners across Digital Customer Engagement, Commercial, Medical, Content Automation & Lifecycle, Omnichannel Activation, Digital Experience & Data Foundations, Analytics, Legal, Privacy, agency partners, and external technology vendors.

Define and lead Vertex’s enterprise strategy for AEO, GEO, and AI-driven digital discoverability to ensure that Vertex brands, products, and scientific content are represented across search and AI answer environments, and identify opportunities to improve visibility and reduce misinformation risk. Establish standards, governance, and best practices to improve discoverability, authority, visibility, and citation performance across search and AI-powered platforms. Define enterprise standards for AI-ready websites and digital experiences, including metadata, schema, taxonomies, structured content, semantic architecture, and information design. Partner with platform and digital teams to optimize websites and digital assets for retrieval, indexing, interpretation, and citation by AI systems and establish reporting and measurement frameworks Translate search intelligence and AI visibility insights into actionable recommendations for business, content, and digital teams. Evaluate emerging capabilities in AI search, conversational interfaces, retrieval-augmented experiences, and intelligent engagement platforms. Drive cross-functional alignment across central ops team, Content Automation & Lifecycle, Omnichannel Activation, Commercial, Medical, Analytics, Legal, Privacy, and agency partners. Support adoption of AI optimization best practices and evolving discoverability capabilities across the organization.

Bachelor’s degree in marketing, digital strategy, communications, business, information systems, or related field; advanced degree preferred. 8+ years of experience in digital strategy, digital marketing, search optimization, customer experience, MarTech, digital innovation, or related disciplines. Demonstrated expertise in AEO, GEO, digital discoverability, website optimization, and AI-powered search technologies. Experience developing enterprise digital strategies and influencing cross-functional stakeholders. Strong understanding of metadata, schema, taxonomies, structured content, information architecture, and digital optimization principles. Experience with analytics, search intelligence, and performance measurement frameworks. Strong communication, influence, and stakeholder management skills. Ability to operate effectively in complex, matrixed, and highly regulated environments.

Experience in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, healthcare, or another highly regulated industry. Familiarity with Digital Experience Platforms such as Acquia, Customer Data Platforms, analytics platforms, and search intelligence tools. Experience with conversational AI, answer engines, retrieval-augmented experiences, or AI-enabled content ecosystems. Experience working with agencies and external technology vendors. Strong strategic planning, business case development, and change management capabilities. #LI-HYBRID Pay Range: $188,000 - $282,000 Disclosure Statement: The range provided is based on what we believe is a reasonable estimate for the base salary pay range for this job at