HEAD OF SEO

Mabo Media Ltd

Tees Valley

Hybrid

GBP 45,000 - 55,000

Full time

3 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

33 days paid holiday

Flexi-time and hybrid working

Employee reward scheme

Job summary

Mabo Media Ltd in Middlesbrough is recruiting a Head of SEO to lead our agency’s organic growth. This senior role sets the SEO strategy across the business, oversees client performance, and mentors a high-performing SEO team.

You’ll balance technical SEO, content strategy and digital PR, work with senior leadership on commercial opportunities, and drive testing, AI-enabled discovery, and measurement to demonstrate impact.

Qualifications

Significant SEO leadership experience in an agency or digital marketing environment.
Proven track record delivering organic growth across multiple clients.
Strong understanding of technical SEO, content strategy, and analytics.

Responsibilities

Own agency SEO strategy, methodology and best-practice framework.
Develop SEO strategies across technical SEO, content and digital PR/link acquisition.
Lead SEO strategy for key clients and provide senior guidance on accounts.
Align SEO activity with wider digital marketing, paid media and commercial objectives.
Analyse performance data and translate insights into commercial recommendations.
Stay ahead of Google, AI search, and evolving organic landscape.
Establish testing, experimentation and innovation within the SEO team.

Skills

SEO leadership

SEO strategy

Team leadership

Client relationships

Data-driven

Communication

Pitches and business development

Tools

Google Search Console

GA4

Screaming Frog

Sitebulb

Semrush

Looker Studio

Job description

CURRENT VACANCIES

HEAD OF SEO

MONDAY – FRIDAY | 37.5 HOURS PER WEEK
ANNUAL SALARY: £45,000-£55,000
LOCATION: MIDDLESBROUGH

Looking for a fast-paced exciting career in a growing award-winning digital marketing agency? Have a passion for building strategic partnerships? We are now on the hunt for a talented Head of SEO to join our team!

ABOUT MABO

Mabo’s passion for helping businesses grow online signalled the start of our digital marketing journey, a journey that has seen us deliver results and win multiple awards along the way.

You’ll find this passion and pride in every one of our 65+ (and counting) team, all driven to deliver results and help businesses succeed. Our culture and environment breed our energy for success — no fluff, no jargon, just good honest results.

With responsibility for £40m+ in annual advertising spend across Google, Microsoft, Facebook and other platforms we are passionate about getting great results in an ever-changing industry.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We arelooking for an ambitious, commercially minded Head of SEO to lead our SEO offering and help drive organic growth for both our clients and our agency. This is a senior leadership role with responsibility for setting the SEO strategy across the agency, overseeing client performance, developing our SEO offering, and leading and mentoring a high-performing SEO team. You’ll be equally comfortable discussing technical SEO with specialists, organic growth strategies with clients, and commercial opportunities with senior leadership. You’ll play a key role in evolving our approach to SEO as search continues to change through AI, SERP features, automation, and increasingly complex user journeys.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

SEO Strategy & Performance

Own the agency’s overall SEO strategy, methodology, and best-practice framework.
Develop sophisticated SEO strategies across technical SEO, content and digital PR/link acquisition.
Lead the development of SEO strategies that strengthen client visibility across AI search and LLM-led discovery, supported by credible testing and measurement.
Lead SEO strategy for key clients and provide senior-level guidance on other accounts.
Ensure SEO activity is closely aligned with wider digital marketing, content, paid media, PR, and commercial objectives.
Analyse performance data and translate insights into clear, commercially focused recommendations.
Stay ahead of developments in Google, search behaviour, AI search, generative search experiences, and the wider organic landscape.
Establish processes for testing, experimentation, and innovation within the SEO team.

Team Leadership

Lead, develop, and inspire the SEO team, creating a culture of high standards, collaboration, accountability, and continuous learning.
Drive and encourage a client-first attitude throughout the team.
Manage and mentor a team of SEO specialists and Digital PR specialists.
Set clear objectives and KPIs for the SEO department.
Identify skills gaps and create development plans to support career progression.
Review the quality of SEO strategies, deliverables, reporting, and client recommendations.
Support recruitment and help shape the future structure of the SEO department.

Client Leadership

Build trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders and act as a senior SEO advisor.
Support/lead marketing reviews, proposals and client presentations.
Communicate complex SEO concepts clearly to non-technical audiences.
Identify opportunities to grow existing client relationships and expand SEO services.
Help manage challenging situations and provide strategic direction when performance or delivery falls short of expectations.
Ensure clients understand not just what we’re doing, but why we’re doing it and how it contributes to their business goals.

Commercial and Agency Growth

Contribute to new business pitches, proposals, scopes of work, and pricing.
Identify opportunities to develop new SEO products, services, and revenue streams.
Work closely with other agency departments to create integrated digital strategies.
Support forecasting, resource planning, utilisation, and profitability across SEO accounts.
Help position the agency as a market leader in organic search.

Reporting and Operations

Define and maintain high standards for SEO reporting and measurement ensuring teams use meaningful KPIs that demonstrate business impact.
Improve internal processes, tools, documentation, and workflows to increase efficiency and quality.
Use data and automation intelligently to improve SEO delivery without compromising strategic thinking or quality.
Work with senior leadership to establish departmental priorities and contribute to wider agency strategy.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

An experienced SEO leader who combines deep technical and strategic expertise with strong commercial and people-management skills. You possess exceptional service standards and are deeply committed to fostering a client-first culture across the team

Essential Experience

Significant experience working in SEO, ideally within a digital marketing or SEO agency environment.
Proven experience leading SEO strategies for multiple clients, industries, or markets.
Strong understanding of technical SEO, content strategy, authority/link building, analytics, and search performance.
Experience managing, mentoring, and developing SEO professionals.
Strong client-facing and presentation skills, including experience working with senior stakeholders.
Experience contributing to pitches, proposals, and business development.
Strong analytical skills and the ability to turn data into actionable commercial insights.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
A strong understanding of how SEO fits into the wider digital marketing ecosystem.

Desirable Experience

Experience managing an SEO department.
Experience with enterprise or technically complex websites.
Specific ecommerce SEO experience.
Experience with digital PR and content-led SEO.
Familiarity with SEO automation, AI tools, and emerging approaches to search.
Experience with tools such as Google Search Console, GA4, Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, Semrush, Looker Studio, or equivalent platforms.

WHAT WE OFFER