Senior SEO Strategist in London

This is an exciting opportunity to make your mark by working with one of the largest and most successful independent SEO agencies in the UK, driving tangible commercial impact for leading brands while working alongside like-minded search specialists in our award-winning agency culture.

This pivotal role sits within our SEO department and is responsible for building solid client relationships and delivering outstanding organic search results across a portfolio of complex, high-value client accounts.

Please note, this role is a hybrid role, in line with our flexible working policy. We look to hire candidates who are no more than a 90 minute journey away from our office locations to ensure your personal time is protected and that you're able to travel into the office when necessary.

Who are you?

Given the senior strategic nature of this role, we are looking for candidates who can demonstrate established client leadership, senior stakeholder management, and a relentless focus on search performance and ROI. While we typically expect at least 5+ years of experience in an SEO-specific role, we will choose successful candidates based on their strategic vision, client relationship skills, and proven track record of results.

What we're looking for:

• Account & Strategy Ownership: Creating and managing successful, high-impact SEO strategies across national and international markets, particularly for complex or higher-value accounts, confidently owning long-term roadmaps and account retention.
• Client Relationship Building & Trust: Building strong, lasting, and trusted partnerships with senior client stakeholders, acting as a reliable strategic advisor who understands their commercial drivers and business models.
• Cross-Team Collaboration: Working seamlessly alongside internal account teams, including Client Performance, to align technical execution with overarching client performance and business goals.
• Results Delivery & ROI: A proven track record of delivering measurable organic growth, using clear performance, activity, and KPI reporting to demonstrate tangible ROI and value for clients.
• Team Mentoring & Quality Control: Demonstrating high standards of delegation and guidance, acting as a technical and strategic mentor for supporting team members (strategists, executives, analysts), providing rigorous QA, and ensuring exceptional deliverable quality.
• Adaptive Thinking & Agility: Applying adaptive thinking strategically across client challenges, keeping pace with changing search engine environments, emerging SERP features (including AI-driven search), and broader digital trends.
• Cross-Channel Strategy: A developed understanding of organic search within broader digital marketing, collaborating effectively with other channel owners (such as Digital PR, Influencer and Social) to maximise campaign performance and value.

What you will be doing:

The Senior SEO Strategist is a key strategic lead within the SEO department, focused primarily on managing high-tier client partnerships, delivering exceptional SEO performance, and elevating the quality of work produced across their accounts.

• Client Ownership & Performance Delivery: Assume full strategic accountability and channel ownership for high-value client partnerships, navigating stakeholder priorities to secure long-term client satisfaction and retention.
• Strategy & Roadmap Development: Create, maintain, and adapt multi-market SEO strategies and long-term roadmaps that respond to algorithmic updates, changing user behaviour, and evolving search technologies.
• Quality Assurance: Perform rigorous Quality Assurance (QA) on deliverables and strategies produced by supporting team members, ensuring all client-facing work meets Impression's high standards before delivery.
• New Business & Pitching: Lead the SEO component of the new business phase for new prospects, including reviewing briefs, crafting pitch decks, running forecasting, and presenting pitch strategies to win new client business.
• Performance & Risk Management: Partner closely with our existing Client Performance team to proactively identify risks or performance stagnation in client accounts, bringing pre-formulated solutions, strategic recommendations, and performance enhancements to maintain growth.
• Stakeholder Communication: Lead transparent, high-impact client communication through regular performance updates, strategy calls, and Strategy Planning Meetings (SPMs).

Mentoring & Department Support:

• Mentoring & Guidance: Act as a trusted mentor and subject matter expert for supporting team members (strategists, executives, analysts), assisting with complex troubleshooting and providing constructive feedback on deliverables.
• Technical & Strategic Advice: Serve as a go-to expert within the department for advice on client strategy execution, account ideation, and overcoming technical hurdles.
• Agency Marketing Activity: Actively engage in and support Impression's own marketing activity such as contributing to agency blog posts, case studies, white papers, and thought leadership content to showcase successful campaigns and industry insights.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: We're listening, and we're learning. We’re committed to embracing diversity and promoting equal opportunities, both within our teams and through the services we provide. But we know we still have work to do. Improving fairness – in our agency and our industry – is something we’re passionate about, and we’re committed to having the conversations, making the changes and helping other businesses to do the same.

Agencies: Strictly no recruitment agencies.

Impression was recently ranked fourth in the UK's Best Workplaces™ for Wellbeing (medium-sized companies), and we continuously strive to ensure the best possible work-life balance for our team. As a successful candidate, you will be given a clear progression path. We want rising talent to grow with us, and you'll have ample opportunity to progress to the next level. We are also very proud to have been listed on the “Flexa 100” Most Flexible Companies to work for and to be officially recognised as a Great Place to Work®. We offer many benefits, including a 4.5-day working week, flexible hybrid working options, and enhanced leave, to name a few.