Director of Organic Search
Job description
Original text imported from Reed
Director of Organic Search
- Salary to £80k + benefits
- Fully remote (UK-based, occasional travel for client meetings and team days)
Overview
This opportunity is with a multi-award-winning SEO and digital marketing agency with offices in London and Dubai. They work with high-growth brands across competitive industries including finance, iGaming, and eCommerce, delivering data-driven SEO campaigns that drive real commercial results.
The Opportunity
This is a senior leadership role owning the full organic search offer across SEO, content, link building, AI search and digital PR. This is not a management role disguised as a directorship. This is a genuine leadership position for someone who wants to shape the direction of an agency. They are a digital marketing agency specialising in regulated industries, including iGaming and financial services. They have been operating since 2008 and are in the middle of a significant transformation. They are investing significantly in growth across the UK, Middle East and Southeast Asia, aiming to double ARR over the next two-to-three years. The Director of Organic Search will be central to that growth. The role sits at the intersection of vision, strategy and delivery. You will own the organic search vertical: its performance, its people, its output and its reputation. You will work alongside the Managing Director to shape agency strategy, and alongside the sales team to help win and retain clients.
What They Are Looking For
Someone who is known in the industry. Someone who has built things, grown things, and has the credibility to walk into a boardroom or onto a stage and represent the agency with authority. If you are the kind of person who quietly does good work but avoids the spotlight, this probably is not the right fit. They need someone who combines technical depth with commercial instinct and personal brand.
What You Will Do
- Own the strategic direction of organic search; Define what services they offer, how they deliver them, and where they take them next. This includes SEO, content, outreach, link building, digital PR, and LLM/AI visibility.
- Lead and grow the team; You will inherit an existing team and have the scope to restructure, recruit and develop it. This means hiring senior talent, building career paths, and creating a culture where people do their best work.
- Drive client performance; Every client on an organic search retainer is your responsibility. Not the day-to-day delivery, but the strategy, the quality, and the results. When a client is underperforming, you are the person who fixes the approach.
- Win new business; Support pitches, lead strategy presentations, and help close deals. Your credibility and expertise will be a direct factor in whether prospects choose them over the competition.
- Elevate the agency’s reputation; Contribute to the agency’s thought leadership through LinkedIn, speaking engagements, podcasts, industry events and media. You will be a visible representative of the company in the search community.
- Shape commercial strategy; Work with the MD and CEO on pricing, packaging, service development and growth planning. This is not a siloed role. You will have a seat at the table where decisions about the future of the business are made.
- Build and refine processes; Improve how they onboard clients, how they report, how they deliver, and how they retain. You will own the search delivery within it.
- Stay ahead of the industry; AI search, LLM visibility, algorithm changes, new platforms. You will be the person the team and their clients look to for what is coming next and what to do about it.
Who You Are
- You have at least 8–10 years of search experience across SEO, content and digital PR, with a significant portion at senior or director level in an agency environment.
- You have worked with global or nationally recognised brands and can demonstrate measurable commercial impact from your work.
- You have deep experience across technical SEO, content strategy, link building, and digital PR. You do not need to be the best at each, but you need to understand every discipline well enough to lead it.
- You have a visible industry presence. You speak at events, contribute to publications, appear on podcasts, or maintain an active and respected LinkedIn profile. You are known in the organic search community.
- You have experience in regulated industries such as iGaming and financial services. This is not essential, but it would be a significant advantage given their specialism.
- You are commercially minded. You understand how agency economics work, how to price services, and how to connect organic search performance to client revenue.
- You are a natural leader. People want to work for you, not because of your title, but because you make them better at their jobs.
- You have the energy and the fire. This is a transformation role. They are not looking for someone who wants to maintain the status quo. They want someone who wakes up thinking about how to make things better.
What They Offer
- £70,000 to £80,000 base salary depending on experience
- Fully remote working
- A genuine leadership role with a seat at the senior table
- The opportunity to shape an agency during its most important growth phase
- Conference and event budget for speaking engagements and industry presence
Other Stuff
NB: for non-UK Citizens; we cannot accept applications from anyone requiring sponsorship (now or in the future) for UK permanent employment status. If you are utilising a work visa this must allow you to work in the UK unrestricted for at least the next 5 years.
Key skills
AI-extracted from the job advert
Application advice
5 AI-generated recommendations to maximise your chances.
⭐ Highlight your SEO leadership experience and industry recognition at the top of your CV as the advert specifically seeks someone 'known in the industry'
📊 Quantify your agency growth achievements: 'Led organic search team delivering 150% ARR growth over 24 months'
🌐 Emphasise your experience in regulated industries like iGaming and financial services as these are their core client sectors
🎯 Showcase your thought leadership activities - speaking engagements, LinkedIn presence, and industry recognition
🤝 Demonstrate your business development success with specific client wins and pitch conversion rates
Suggested CV bullets
3 bullets our AI drafted for this specific advert, mirroring its ATS keywords.
Add these 3 bullets under your most recent experience:
- •Restructured 12-person SEO team across 3 service verticals, increasing client retention from 78% to 94% within 18 months
- •Led organic search strategy for 15 iGaming clients, delivering average 240% increase in organic traffic and £2.8M in attributed revenue
- •Secured 8 new enterprise clients worth £450k ARR through strategic pitch presentations and thought leadership positioning
Free to copy — tailoring requires a 30-sec CV upload.
Your cover letter is ready
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Letter preview — tailored to Profile 29
Dear Hiring Manager,
Profile 29's ambitious growth strategy across regulated industries aligns perfectly with my expertise in scaling organic search operations for high-stakes clients. My background in leading SEO teams for iGaming and financial services clients, combined with proven business development success, positions me to drive your targeted ARR doubling over the next two years.
My background in building and restructuring agency SEO departments has consistently delivered measurable growth, from team development through to client retention and new business wins. I have established industry credibility through speaking engagements and thought leadership that directly supports pitch success rates.
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Interview questions
10 questions generated from this advert.
Technical
- ›How would you approach developing an AI search strategy for a financial services client?
- ›What's your methodology for scaling link building campaigns across multiple regulated industries?
- ›How do you measure and report on organic search ROI for high-growth eCommerce brands?
- ›What tools and processes would you implement to manage SEO campaigns across UK, Middle East and Southeast Asia?
- ›How would you integrate digital PR with traditional SEO to maximise organic visibility?
Behavioural
- ›Tell me about a time you had to restructure an underperforming SEO team
- ›Describe a situation where you had to present SEO strategy to a sceptical C-suite audience
- ›Give an example of how you've built your personal brand in the SEO industry
- ›Tell me about a challenging client retention situation you've managed
- ›Describe how you've contributed to winning a significant new business pitch
STAR answer examples
Model answers using the Situation-Task-Action-Result framework. Adapt to your own experience.
Tell me about a time you had to restructure an underperforming SEO team
Describe a situation where you had to present SEO strategy to a sceptical C-suite audience