We're looking for a Head of SEO who is passionate about building teams as much as building strategies. You'll lead, inspire, and develop our SEO specialists while setting clear direction and standards that deliver outstanding results for our clients.

As the Head of SEO, you will oversee the entire SEO department. You will lead our four key pillars: Strategy, Content, Technical SEO, and Digital PR. Your primary goal is to deliver world-class search strategies that enhance client visibility and drive measurable results.

You will be responsible for the operational and commercial success of the department. You must ensure that our delivery structure functions effectively. In collaboration with the SLT Directors and other heads of department, you will create cohesive strategies that maximise client success. This role involves driving innovation, maintaining service excellence across all SEO disciplines, and representing the agency as a thought leader.

Duties & Responsibilities

Departmental Leadership

Lead the SEO department and mentor the Pillar Leads (Strategy, Tech, Content, PR) to deliver best-in-class services
Develop and refine processes to ensure consistent quality and efficiency across all client PODs and empower your Pillar Leads to contribute and create such processes
Build and implement training programmes to keep the team's expertise cutting-edge, encourage self-learning but also impart your own expertise regularly
Inspire your team and others using your knowledge, passion and leadership skills. Strive to empower collaboration, critical thinking and bring your team on the journey together

Strategic Vision & Collaboration

Work closely with other Digital Marketing HOD's to align SEO strategies with broader marketing objectivesAlso work closely with the Digital Marketing SLT to ensure the SEO service is strategically sound, commercially viable and deliverableChampion innovation. Ensure SEO strategies evolve with market trends (such as AI Search and E-E-A-T) and client needs

Bring new products, projects and services to life where necessary, but especially in response to market demand
Encourage cross-departmental collaboration to create integrated and impactful client campaigns. Tackle the challenges of inter-departmental alignment to bring to life truly multi-channel strategy

Service Excellence (The 4 Pillars)

Strategy & PR: Oversee the commercial direction of client campaigns and the growth of our Digital PR offering
- Create a culture of ownership for strategists and empower them as the portfolio owners, focusing on client performance, delivery and retention
- Integrate and expand the PR function, a historically undersold pillar for our service but one we know is critical going forward
Technical & Content: Ensure our Technical and Content output is scalable, accurate, and adheres to the highest quality guidelines while being efficient and tailored to client commercials
Integration: Ensure all four pillars work cohesively within the POD structure to prevent silos and encourage a close bond between all 4, acting as the ‘tiebreaker' voice when necessary

Client Engagement & Advocacy

Lead on SEO strategies for key client pitches, high-value renewals, and escalations while bringing senior team members with you on the journey. You will tailor solutions to unique client goals
Act as the senior point of contact for our most strategic accounts to ensure client confidence in our delivery, you don't do the day-to-day, but you represent the pinnacle of ownership to those clients for the SEO service

Market Leadership & Innovation

Represent the agency at industry events, vodcasts, panels, and through expert commentary
- Ensure our brand marketing team have what they need to effectively showcase and drive interest in our SEO services, coordinating your teams resources to help the brand team where necessary
Monitor competitors and market developments (e.g. Google Core Updates) to ensure our services remain market-leading
- Keep the rest of the business up to date on these developments

Accountability & Growth

Take responsibility for the growth of the SEO business area. You will drive measurable improvements in client performance and retention. You need to develop close working relationships with other key growth departments, such as sales, client success, brand and the Digital Marketing SLT to help you achieve growth
Attend Quarterly Business Reviews to report on departmental performance, innovation, and future plans

Department KPI's

Align departmental goals to overarching business objectives and ensure this filters down to your Pillar Leads and the rest of the team
Ensure documentation on commercial performance is kept up to date, including business systems, any department spreadsheets you may use and more
We encourage open transparency with your Pillar Leads and wider team, ensuring they understand how the department is performing and where improvements are needed to benefit clients and the team as a whole

Staff Development

Conduct effective and regular 1to1's with Pillar Leads, host team days to inspire and educate the wider team and conduct relevant appraisals ensuring your deliver effective feedback at all times
Ensure staff have time to develop and help guide their learning
Encourage an atmosphere of collaboration and openness, every opinion matters and every idea should be explored. Build a peer group between your Pillar Leads that encourages this teamwork and helps them achieve consensus on difficult and challenging topics

Requirements

Extensive experience in SEO with a deep understanding of all four pillars: Strategy, Content, Technical SEO, and Outreach/PR
Proven ability to deliver successful SEO strategies that align with client and/or agency goals
Senior leadership experience with a history of managing managers (Pillar Leads) and fostering collaboration in a matrix or POD structure
A track record of driving innovation and integrating emerging trends (such as AI or SGE) into strategies
Analytical expertise with a results-oriented mindset
Strong communication skills with experience in client-facing and external representation roles
Ability to listen, inspire and bring others together to achieve objectives

Core Competences, Skills And Personal Attributes

Strategic Vision and Leadership: Demonstrates the ability to shape and communicate a clear strategic vision for clients and internal teams. Aligns initiatives with market opportunities and client goals
Effective Line Management: Demonstrates strong leadership and mentoring skills. Fosters a culture of collaboration, innovation, and growth within the team. Provides clear direction, constructive feedback, and support to team members to enable them to excel in their roles
Collaboration and Influencing: Thrives in cross-functional environments. Fosters strong relationships across teams and drives alignment without direct authority
Industry Expertise and Insight: Deep understanding of eCommerce and SEO. Able to identify trends, challenges, and opportunities to inform innovative strategies
Commercial Acumen: Skilled at understanding the broader business landscape, including client pain points and industry challenges, to develop strategies that drive measurable success
Innovation and Creativity: Passionate about pioneering new approaches, tools, and technologies to elevate client solutions and agency offerings
Effective Communication: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills. Adept at translating complex concepts into clear, actionable insights for both technical and non-technical audiences
Presentation and Representation: Comfortable in public-facing roles. Showcases thought leadership at events, conferences, and media engagements. Always professional, approachable and leads by example

Benefits

Competitive basic salary with great progression options
Unlimited paid holidays - yes, that's not a typo!
Hybrid working
Medicash Cash Plan - covering everything from medical support, massages, optical, dental, a discounts platform, and extras like SkinVision and digital physiotherapy. Cash back up to £995 per year, completely paid for by us!
Employee Assistance Programme - access to Vivup for mental health support, financial guidance, and wellbeing resources
Great working environments; our Stockton on Tees and Manchester workspaces are also dog-friendly
A high-performance MacBook
VS Perks, have a monthly treat on us; from Amazon vouchers, PlayStation credits, ASOS, H&M to Just Eat, there's something for everyone!
Free daily breakfast, fruit, hot and cold drinks and protein shakes
Weekly free brunch and lunch
Friday afternoon drinks to wind down for the weekend
Pension scheme to help you save for the future
Cycle to work scheme
EV Car scheme
Discounts across our brands
Regular team social events
Training & development

Our Values

We champion our clients

We believe in every retailer's potential to succeed online and celebrate each milestone of their journey with them.

We are one team

We believe in the power of collaboration - within our teams and with our clients. Together, there's nothing we can't achieve.

We create change

The future of eCommerce is always evolving. Where others see uncertainty, we see an opportunity to lead.

We Care About What Matters

We are committed to making the world a little brighter and doing what's best for our people, our community, and our planet.

So if you think you've got what it takes to join one of the UK's leading eCommerce agencies, we'd love to hear from you.

A little formality... by applying, you implicitly consent to us processing your personal data for review for this vacancy only.

Talent Hunter Referral Bounty - £500

Help us find the right talent to join our team, and get a handsome reward in return. It couldn't be easier - if you know someone that could be an ideal candidate, either refer them directly to us or simply ask them to include your details as the referer when they apply. If they land the job with us as a direct result of your referral, you get the bounty!

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Visualsoft is an equal opportunities employer committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspective.

We believe passionately that a diverse workforce is central to our success so we welcome applications from all sections of the community.

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