SEO Associate Director

Who are we? A world where complexity is the only constant demands a new breed of company. Brave Bison is a different beast: a media, marketing and technology company purpose built for the digital era. Our universe is made up of award-winning business arms Brave Bison, Engage, SocialChain and MTM. We’re underpinned by leading marketing training practice, MiniMBA, as well as our very own social-first media who deliver monthly views in the billions for some of the biggest channels in sport and entertainment across YouTube, Snap, Meta and TikTok. We’re a global collective who live and breathe digital, working with some of the boldest brands in the world to capitalise on the complexity that defines the modern marketing landscape.

Our mission: New platforms, new behaviours, new audiences, new trends, new technologies, new regulations—our clients’ worlds get more complex daily. Their agency partnerships shouldn’t. It’s our job to cut through the chaos, make the complex simple and navigate a clear path to growth for them. That’s why we make it our mission to capitalise on complexity for our clients—across consultancy, capability and execution—by crafting dynamic digital solutions that outpace tomorrow’s challenges.

Our values: We’re a proudly diverse business comprised of deep specialists across media, marketing, training and technology. Although our skills, backgrounds and beliefs may differ, we are united by four core shared values:

• Run at change and challenge convention: We love to push the boundaries of what the world thinks is possible.
• Champion discovery: We go deep into our clients’ worlds and are always hungry to learn more about them, our specialisms and each other.
• Connected Clarity: We are focused in our collaboration — joining the right dots between our clients, our partners and our herd of experts to deliver agile solutions at speed and scale.
• Positive Encouragement: We want to make working with us the best part of someone’s day. We lift one another up, find the fun in the day to day and are committed to ensuring everyone belongs.

About Brave Bison Performance: With over 20 years experience growing our clients’ businesses through digital media, we help brands leverage the right data, right partners and right tech to capitalise on complexity and supercharge their online growth. By going deep into our clients’ world, investing their budget where it will work the hardest and ensuring that we only win when they win, we stand for braver digital in a world of opportunity.

Your role: The SEO Associate Director is responsible for bringing to life the vision, direction, and goals set by the Head of SEO. By establishing industry‑leading quality standards and innovative processes, as well as impactful training and coaching, you will elevate and empower our people to achieve excellence and drive our team’s success. You will lead and inspire junior members of the SEO team, ensuring they receive well‑being support and have meaningful, actionable SMART development goals that are reviewed monthly. Your insights will shape the Head of SEO’s team planning and drive business cases for further investment. You will be accountable for retaining and growing the client portfolio within your pod.

By implementing efficient processes, training, QA, analysis and sharing learnings, you will ensure our work maximises client performance, meets client needs and KPIs, and creates opportunities for account growth. You will set and uphold the standard for quality of work on the SEO team. Additionally, you will lead the roll out of operational processes within the SEO team and develop and manage a comprehensive and effective team training program. You are driven by achieving client retention and growth, seeing your line reports and wider team achieve their development goals and delivering department goals and outcomes to completion.

Connect the SEO department’s initiatives to the agency’s vision, targets and goals as well as those of the SEO team and drive them through to successful completion. Support with weekly department meetings and take leadership in absence of Head of Product. Regularly contribute to our marketing activities to encourage department growth. Ensure deliverables within your pod align with the strategy and KPIs of the client, are actionable, high quality and have strong implementation rates. Monitor client performance and facilitate action plans to address performance issues. Work with CS lead and other appropriate parties, such as growth squads, to design and deliver commercially‑led renewal and growth strategy for clients in your pod. Maintain and strengthen client relationships, proactively acting and escalating issues to protect relationships and encourage retention.

Training & process: Identify, design and deliver impactful training programmes which address skills gaps in the team. Execute and reinforce department process, designing and implementing new process where appropriate to assist with department goals and responsibilities.

Line management: Direct Line Management of more junior members of the team. Ensure line reports are clear on their responsibilities and have active SMART goals which, on completion, deliver strong individual development and support department and agency goals. Hold biweekly 121s to check in on well‑being, Career Architect competencies and goal progress. Provide feedback, coaching and direction to drive development. Ensure your line reports uphold team and office policies such as office attendance, team days and managing absence. Handle and elevate performance issues or promotion recommendations with supporting business case.

What you’ll get: Our people make us who we are, so to make sure we attract and retain the best and brightest in the industry, we offer an attractive benefits package. We are the UK’s first carbon neutral agency (a status we have held since 2018), with a serious commitment to monitoring and reducing the impact our work has on the planet across three core sustainability pillars of Greenhouse Gases, Waste & Recycling and Sustainable Consumption. Here’s a snapshot of just some of the benefits we think you might also like:

• Dynamic working: To keep that work‑life harmony in check, we’re flexible on where and when you work.
• Private medical insurance: To keep you fighting fit and give you and your family peace of mind.
• Income protection: We know it feels good to be covered, just in case.
• Calm Subscription: Now more than ever, it’s important to mind your mind!
• 25 days annual leave: This increases to 27 days after three years with us, and then increases every subsequent year up to a max. of 30 days.
• Christmas closure: No need to save holiday days for the Christmas closure period. It’s on us!
• Birthdays off: One extra day to celebrate your big day.
• Summer hours: Between June and Aug we finish at 15.00 every Friday.
• Online coaching and mental health support: Unlimited via OpenUp.
• Remote Working: Work abroad for up to one month a year.
• Performance & Salary: Reviewed twice a year for everyone.

Finally, we’re proud and committed to being an equal opportunity workplace, providing equal opportunities for all and treating all existing employees and all job applicants in the same way, regardless of their age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity status and marital & civil partnership status.