Senior SEO Lead — AI-Driven Growth & Campaigns in Bedford

About The Role

As SEO Manager you will lead day‑to‑day delivery across a portfolio of client accounts, operating as the Head of SEO's primary point of operational accountability. You will own campaign strategy and execution, contribute actively to new business, and play a central role in developing the team around them. This is a role for someone who wants to build — not just deliver. The right candidate will be commercially curious, technically strong, and genuinely excited about where search is heading: AI‑driven discovery, generative engine optimisation, and the automation of SEO at scale. They will be comfortable in client‑facing situations, willing to travel, and motivated to grow into senior leadership over time.

Job Requirements

• Strong, demonstrable SEO experience across technical, on‑page, and off‑page disciplines
• Solid understanding of GEO, AI Overviews, and how LLMs surface and cite content
• Genuine enthusiasm for AI tooling and automation — Claude, DataForSEO, or equivalent
• Comfortable in client‑facing environments — presenting, travelling, building relationships
• Commercially astute: able to identify growth opportunities and frame SEO in business terms
• Strong project management and organisational skills across concurrent accounts
• Excellent written and verbal communication — clear, jargon‑light, audience‑aware
• Experience with: Ahrefs or DataForSEO, Screaming Frog, GA4, GSC, and AI‑assisted workflows
• A self‑starter: motivated by ownership, not instruction

Job Responsibilities

Lead, Manage, Accountability

• Leading and developing the SEO team day‑to‑day, acting as the operational support to the Head of SEO
• Accountable for team performance, delivery standards, and client satisfaction across your portfolio
• Devising and owning SEO strategy for clients — from technical foundations through to content and authority
• Oversight of all SEO activity with an emphasis on continuous improvement and commercial impact
• Ensuring the team has the tools, processes, and skills to operate at the standard the agency expects
• Supporting team development through regular 1‑1s, constructive feedback, and hands‑on guidance
• Championing the use of AI and automation across workflows — Claude, DataForSEO, Ahrefs and emerging tooling — to improve output quality and team efficiency

Campaign Management

• Overseeing resource planning, utilisation, and workload management across the team
• Planning and executing SEO strategies that deliver demonstrable ROI for clients
• Ensuring campaigns are integrated with Receptional's wider service areas — Paid Media, Digital PR, CRO
• Owning reporting cadences: accurate, insightful, and commercially framed for client audiences
• Cross‑selling and upselling services proactively, not just reactively, in collaboration with client success
• Identifying and escalating growth opportunities systematically — not just when they surface in conversation

AI, GEO and Innovation

• Staying ahead of how search is evolving — AI Overviews, generative engine optimisation (GEO), and LLM citation behaviour
• Applying GEO and EEAT principles to client work as standard, not as an add‑on
• Building and contributing to Receptional's AI SEO proposition — frameworks, skills, and thought leadership
• Using Claude and other AI tooling to automate repeatable SEO processes and improve team output
• Identifying opportunities to apply automation to client deliverables and agency workflows

Marketing and Sales Support

• Contributing actively to new business pitches — presenting confidently, engaging prospects, and helping win work
• Willing and able to take a leading role in pitches where appropriate
• Developing thought leadership — insights, reports, and speaking opportunities at industry events
• Actively building a professional profile: conference talks, webinars, and industry presence
• Creating case studies and testimonials that showcase Receptional's work

Key Account Relationships

• Owning senior client relationships across your portfolio — trusted, credible, commercially thoughtful
• Comfortable presenting strategy and performance at C‑suite level
• Willing to travel to client sites semi‑regularly, including occasional travel to the USA for key accounts
• Overseeing client KAM Plans & Strategy Sessions from ideation through to implementation
• Proactively surfacing opportunities and flagging risks

Job Benefits

The Benefits You Actually Care About

• Transparent weekly all‑agency meetings to keep you in the loop
• Company‑wide quarterly business reviews
• A clear pay framework and role progression through our skills matrix
• Yearly appraisals and weekly 1‑2‑1s
• Profit‑related bonuses paid twice a year, split equally across the team

Forward‑Thinking

• Access to Mental Health first aiders
• 6 paid‑for counselling sessions per year
• Annual health checks and flu jabs
• Enhanced maternity & paternity pay
• Work abroad policy
• Strong employer pension contributions
• Generous employer pension contributions, with enhanced rates for senior staff

Dynamic

• Hybrid working (3 days in the office, 2 days from home)
• 25 days' holiday, plus an extra day each year of service (up to 30 days)
• A modern Bedford HQ with table tennis, darts, and space to think
• Your Birthday off
• Cycle‑to‑work scheme
• Monthly rewards recognising those going above and beyond

Collaborative

• Quarterly focus groups – your voice shapes how we work
• Whole‑team away days (think axe throwing, canoeing, falconry…)
• Team fundraising for our charity of the year
• Volunteering policy with 2 paid days off a year to support causes you care about
• Celebrations and cultural activities

Curious

• A dedicated Training Academy with 40+ hours of learning a year
• Access to Industry events
• Peer mentoring, knowledge‑sharing and personal development planning
• A culture that encourages “why?” and “what if?”