Head of SEO in Newcastle upon Tyne

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 HODs to align SEO strategies with broader marketing objectives. Also work closely with the Digital Marketing SLT to ensure the SEO service is strategically sound, commercially viable and deliverable. Champion 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): 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. Ensure our Technical and Content output is scalable, accurate, and adheres to the highest quality guidelines while being efficient and tailored to client commercials. 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.

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
• 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
• Monthly treats such as Amazon vouchers, PlayStation credits, ASOS, HM to Just Eat
• 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 are one team
• We create change
• We care about what matters

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.