Search Strategist

Circulate Digital; Sheffield; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

3 days in office 2 days remote

28 days holiday

Private healthcare

Gym contribution

Early Friday finishes

Office barista and beer taps

Commission for new business

Growth incentives

Job summary

Circulate Digital is seeking a Search Strategist to own a portfolio of client accounts from strategy through to the client relationship. We are a specialist agency focused exclusively on SEO and AI Search, offering early ownership and influence over how we work.

You will lead the search strategy, run client calls, and oversee technical delivery while shaping AI-driven briefs and client strategies. The role is hybrid with 3 days in the Sheffield office and 2 days remote, with generous holiday and

Qualifications

• Around 3 years or more in SEO, mostly agency-side, with real client-facing experience.

Responsibilities

• Strategy: Own the search strategy for your accounts. Build roadmaps from client business goals, set quarterly priorities, and make the case for why the work matters.
• Client Ownership: Act as the senior point of contact for your portfolio. Run monthly calls and quarterly reviews, explain performance honestly, and hold client confidence when results are slow.
• Technical Delivery: Lead audits, migrations and technical diagnosis. You will be hands-on where the work needs a senior pair of hands.
• Delivery Oversight: Brief the Search Executive team on execution across your accounts and review output before it reaches a client.
• AI & Search: Use AI tools to sharpen research and briefs, and build client strategies that account for AI Overviews, LLM visibility and platforms like Reddit.
• Account Health: Spot drift, scope creep and growth opportunities early. Renewals for your accounts sit with you.

Skills

SEO strategy

Client communication

Agency experience

AI in SEO

Technical SEO

Tools

Google Search Console

GA4

Ahrefs

Semrush

Screaming Frog

Looker Studio

Job description

Location

Sheffield (Hybrid) - 3 days per week in the office

Reports to

SEO Lead

The Role

We are looking for a Search Strategist to take full ownership of a portfolio of client accounts, from strategy through to the client relationship. We are a specialist agency focused exclusively on SEO and AI Search, and we are growing quickly. That means real ownership early on, and a lot of say in how we do things.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategy: Own the search strategy for your accounts. Build roadmaps from client business goals, set quarterly priorities, and make the case for why the work matters.
• Client Ownership: Act as the senior point of contact for your portfolio. Run monthly calls and quarterly reviews, explain performance honestly, and hold client confidence when results are slow.
• Technical Delivery: Lead audits, migrations and technical diagnosis. You will be hands-on where the work needs a senior pair of hands.
• Delivery Oversight: Brief the Search Executive team on execution across your accounts and review output before it reaches a client.
• AI & Search: Use AI tools to sharpen research and briefs, and build client strategies that account for AI Overviews, LLM visibility and platforms like Reddit. We expect you to have a view on where search is going, not just follow ours.
• Account Health: Spot drift, scope creep and growth opportunities early. Renewals for your accounts sit with you.

Required Experience

• Around 3 years or more in SEO, mostly agency-side, with real client-facing experience. You have been running calls, not just sitting in on them.
• Strategy: A track record of building search strategy from a business objective rather than a checklist.
• Technical Skills: Confident with crawling, indexing, site architecture, site speed and migrations.
• Toolbox: Strong with Google Search Console, GA4, Ahrefs, Semrush, Screaming Frog and Looker Studio.
• Communication: You can explain technical SEO to a non-technical client clearly

Personal Attributes

• Autonomous: You'll run your accounts day to day without being chased. We have processes, and we want someone who'll improve them rather than just follow them.
• Credible: Clients trust you quickly, and senior people take your recommendations seriously.
• Commercially aware: Comfortable with the commercial side, including scope, renewals and pushing back when something is not the right call.
• Innovative: SEO changes constantly, and we are looking for someone genuinely excited about the whole search landscape, from LLMs to Reddit, and happy to try things that are not in the playbook yet.
• Broad: The role is deliberately wide, so it suits someone who enjoys variety across strategy, technical work and client relationships.
• Career Progression: Strong opportunities for promotion and increased responsibility due to rapid agency growth.
• Hybrid Work: 3 days in the office, 2 days remote.
• Time Off: 28 days holiday, plus your Birthday and Christmas Eve off.
• Wellness: Private healthcare, gym contribution, and early Friday finishes.
• Office Perks: Sheffield office with a barista and free beer taps.
• Bonuses: Commission for new business wins, and for growth on your own accounts.