Head of SEO

Tribal Recruitment - The UK's Leading Digital & R2R Recruiters; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Tribal Recruitment is seeking a Head of SEO in London to lead the agency's organic search function. You will own the SEO proposition, lead the team and shape strategy across major client accounts, including AI search and emerging channels.

This senior role requires strong commercial sense, stakeholder management and the ability to balance high-level strategy with hands-on delivery, ensuring the agency stays ahead of SEO changes.

Qualifications

• Significant SEO experience in an agency environment.
• Experience leading and developing an SEO team.
• Strong knowledge across technical, content and authority-led SEO.
• Experience managing SEO strategy for sizeable and/or complex client accounts.
• Excellent client-facing and stakeholder-management skills.
• Commercial mindset with experience contributing to pitches and growth.
• Clear understanding of analytics, measurement and SEO performance.
• Awareness of how AI and generative search are changing SEO.
• Ability to move between high-level strategy and hands-on problem solving.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the agency’s SEO team.
• Own the SEO proposition and overall strategic direction.
• Oversee SEO strategy and performance across major client accounts.
• Maintain high standards across technical SEO, content,authority and on-page optimisation.
• Develop the agency’s approach to AI search, LLM visibility and emerging channels.
• Act as a senior strategic partner to clients and senior stakeholders.
• Support pitches, proposals and new-business opportunities.
• Work closely with Paid Media, Content, Strategy and Client Services teams.
• Improve processes, tooling, reporting and ways of working across SEO.
• Identify opportunities to grow existing accounts and the wider SEO offering.
• Keep the agency ahead of changes across Google and the organic landscape.

Skills

SEO expertise

Agency leadership

Client management

Analytics

AI SEO

Strategic thinking

New business

Cross-functional

Job description

Sector: Digital / Performance Marketing Agency

Level: Head of / Senior Leadership

We’re looking for an experienced Head of SEO to lead the organic search function within a high-performing London agency.

This is a senior leadership role for someone who combines deep SEO expertise with strong commercial and people leadership skills. You’ll own the agency’s SEO proposition, lead and develop the team, oversee strategy across key client accounts, and play an important role in new business and agency growth.

The Role

You’ll be responsible for:

• Leading and developing the agency’s SEO team
• Owning the SEO proposition, product and overall strategic direction
• Overseeing SEO strategy and performance across major client accounts
• Maintaining high standards across technical SEO, content, digital PR/authority and on-page optimisation
• Developing the agency’s approach to AI search, LLM visibility and emerging organic discovery channels
• Acting as a senior strategic partner to clients and senior stakeholders
• Supporting pitches, proposals and new-business opportunities
• Working closely with Paid Media, Content, Strategy and Client Services teams
• Improving processes, tooling, reporting and ways of working across SEO
• Identifying opportunities to grow existing accounts and the wider SEO offering
• Keeping the agency ahead of changes across Google, search behaviour and the wider organic landscape

About You

You’ll ideally have:

• Significant SEO experience, including time within an agency environment
• Experience leading and developing an SEO team
• Strong knowledge across technical, content and authority-led SEO
• Experience managing SEO strategy for sizeable and/or complex client accounts
• Excellent client-facing and stakeholder-management skills
• A commercial mindset with experience contributing to pitches and account growth
• A strong understanding of analytics, measurement and SEO performance
• A clear point of view on how AI and generative search are changing SEO
• The ability to move comfortably between high-level strategy and hands-on problem solving

The Opportunity

This is an opportunity to take genuine ownership of an established SEO function while helping shape where it goes next.

You’ll have influence across people, product, clients, commercial growth and the agency’s approach to the future of search, with the autonomy expected from a true Head of SEO position.