SEO Specialist

Howden Group Services Limited; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 52,000 - 68,000; Full time

Job summary

Howden Group Services Limited is seeking a skilled SEO Specialist for a 9–12 month maternity cover. The role sits in the Digital Customer Experience team in Central London, with hybrid working and an average attendance of two days per week in the office.

You will drive international SEO initiatives across markets, focusing on content localisation and technical optimisation. The ideal candidate has at least 4 years in SEO, experience with migrations, and strong data skills using Excel/Sheets,

Qualifications

• Minimum 4 years’ SEO experience.
• Hands-on experience with website migrations is desirable.
• Strong data mindset with ability to work with large datasets using spreadsheets and analytics tools.

Responsibilities

• Support the Digital Optimisation Manager with rollout and maintenance of the International SEO strategy across markets.
• Collaborate with content and marketing teams to ensure user‑first, SEO‑optimised content.
• Carry out technical and on-page updates in our CMS, including URL changes and metadata improvements.
• Conduct keyword and competitor research to inform content strategy and optimisation.
• Monitor SEO KPIs (traffic, rankings, clicks) and report findings to stakeholders.
• Create and share documentation to improve team processes and upskill colleagues.

Skills

SEO fundamentals

E-E-A-T & Helpful Content

Excel / Google Sheets

Google Search Console

SEMrush / similar tools

Google Analytics

Stakeholder communication

Data analysis

Python scripts

AI APIs

B2B/Financial services experience

Job description

Who are we?

Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 24,000 employees spanning over 56 countries. People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

What is the role?

This role will be offered on a temporary basis to cover a maternity leave for a period of between 9-12 months. We are looking for a skilled SEO Specialist to join our forward-thinking and dynamic team to help implement and maintain our international SEO strategy and improve our overall organic search visibility. Situated within the wider Digital Customer Experience team, this role reports to the Digital Optimisation Lead. As an integral part of the team, you will play a key role in enhancing and optimising our estate of website’s organic search performance, carrying out a number of on-page and technical activities, whilst collaborating with various stakeholders, including marketing professionals, developers, content teams, and product owners. We are looking for someone who is passionate about SEO, with a minimum of 4 years’ experience working within the field and ideally with hands on experience involved with website migrations. We look for team members who are confident in their role, passionate, curious, and often have varied and interesting backgrounds – both at work and personally. This role is based in our Central London office and supports hybrid working, with the expectation to attend the office 2 days per week on average and as needed.

What will you be doing?

Support the Digital Optimisation Manager with the rollout and maintenance of the International SEO strategy across markets, with a strong emphasis on regional content localisation and management. Collaborate with content and marketing teams to ensure user-first, SEO optimised content. Conduct comprehensive data-led site audits delivering actionable insights and optimisations to the business to bolster their organic visibility. Carry out necessary technical and on-page updates in our proprietary CMS, such as URL structure changes, internal link updates, fixing broken links, correcting heading hierarchy’s, adding missing metadata, and other SEO optimisations. Conduct topic, keyword, competitor and user intent research to inform content build and optimisation. Regularly run test and learn activity, detailing and communicating findings and rolling out successful tests across broader pages/sites. Stay on top of new and updated content and ensure necessary on-page and technical requirements are met. Carry out existing content performance analysis to identify opportunities for improvement. Monitor and analyse the impact of activities, reporting on key SEO KPIs such as organic traffic, rankings, query counts, brand vs non brand clicks, and leads, and present findings in a clear and engaging manner. Create and contribute towards the improvement of team processes and documentation, and where relevant, identify and utilise supporting tools to upskill and teach other colleagues across the business.

What are we looking for?

A thorough understanding of how search engines work, and modern practices. Good understanding of core updates as well as user-centric principles such as E-E-A-T, Helpful Content, YML etc. Good proficiency with Excel / Google Sheets to work with heavy datasets. Experience with Google Search Console, SEMrush or similar, and Google Analytics. Confident communicating professionally with people across the business, using a range of styles and techniques to adapt to different stakeholders and language and cultural barriers. Good numerical ability: you’ll need to be comfortable with numbers and able to spot trends and patterns. B2B &/or Financial Services Industry experience desirable. Experience with AI APIs, automation and running or building python scripts to support with research and analysis a plus.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us: Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond.

• Reasonable adjustments We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.

*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations.

Fixed Term Contract (Fixed Term)

Howden began in 1994, as just three people and a dog. Now there are 23,000 of us, and we're a leading global insurance group, managing $37bn of premiums for our clients. Our largest shareholder group is us – the people who work in the business – supported by three long-term, minority growth-equity partners who share our vision to build a business to last, one that will never be sold. The owner's mindset is something that's embedded in our culture; our people readily take ownership of their decisions, their actions, and their outputs. They’re invested in every sense. And we all know that by working together to drive the business forward, everyone will benefit from the extraordinary results we can achieve.