Search For Hire worked closely with Chirag across six distinct phases of the engagement, from role definition through to ongoing advisory support and additional searches.
1. Clarifying the Role and Team Structure
Through discovery calls, Search For Hire helped Chirag understand that AMs in SEO agencies can, and should, lead strategy, oversee execution, and jump into deliverables when required. His early assumption that an account manager simply needed to handle clients was refined into a much more powerful brief.
“Agency founders often think they need one type of person.
Once we start unpacking the real workload, it becomes clear what they actually need.
With TACO, the ideal hire was a hybrid, someone strategic, operational and execution-capable.“
— Josh Peacock, CEO and Founder of Search for Hire
2. Sourcing Hybrid SEO Account Managers
Search For Hire targeted candidates who had hands-on SEO experience, client-facing exposure, the ability to manage internal teams, strong organisational abilities, and the confidence to lead client direction. Within ten days, a strong group of specialists-turned-AMs was delivered.
3. The First Hire: Senior Account Manager → Operations Manager
The first candidate placed came from large US agencies and was burnt out by corporate red tape and micromanagement. TACO’s remote culture and flexibility immediately appealed to her. She joined as a Senior Account Manager, quickly earned trust, and within six to nine months was promoted to Operations Manager — leading the agency’s delivery and internal operations. Her promotion created a vacancy, and TACO came back for hire number two.
A clear three-stage interview process was built: a founder call, a case study, and a leadership panel with a senior leader and the founder. Six candidates were introduced over ten days. Two reached the final stage. When the founder struggled to choose, Search For Hire consulted directly — providing comparative insights and guiding the decision. The entire process took 18 days from first contact.
By this point, TACO’s trust was absolute. No discovery call was required, candidates were approved instantly, and Chirag relied fully on the process and judgment of the Search For Hire team.
“By the third hire, Chirag didn’t just trust the process, he trusted the outcome. He knew exactly what kind of talent we would deliver.“
— Daris Benallal, Head of Recruitment for Search for Hire
6. Hires Four and Five: SEO Account Managers
As TACO’s growth continued, Search For Hire placed two further SEO Account Managers into the same hybrid role.
The brief for both placements reflected TACO’s evolved, more demanding standards: full ownership of multiple client relationships across highly competitive markets, direct leadership of strategy discussions with senior client stakeholders, and the ability to act as a trusted commercial partner rather than a task manager.
Candidates for these roles were assessed against four additional dimensions that had emerged as non-negotiable as the agency matured: executive presence and communication sharpness, genuine AI fluency (both in workflow application and strategic thinking), vertical experience in eCommerce and SaaS, and enterprise-level account management capability. Both hires met this bar.
7. Active Search: SEO Strategist in Canada
Search For Hire is currently running an active search for an SEO Strategist for TACO in Canada. The engagement continues.
8. Ongoing Advisory Support
Between hires, Search For Hire advised TACO on structuring client pods, AM workload capacity, managing underperforming team members, defining responsibilities between specialists and AMs, realistic client load expectations (8–12 accounts), the strategic value of hybrid AMs, and scaling the agency beyond founder dependency.
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