SEO Lead

A leading global brand, marketing and communications agency is seeking an SEO Lead to lead the next chapter of its organic search capability. With an established presence across B2B sectors and a reputation for integrated, insight-led communications, the agency is investing in its digital proposition as search continues to be reshaped by artificial intelligence. This role sits at the intersection of technical SEO, strategic advisory, and emerging AI discovery, and will be central to defining how the agency's clients remain visible and authoritative as generative and answer engines become an increasingly significant part of the search landscape. The successful candidate will combine deep expertise with the credibility and commercial instincts to grow client accounts, support new business, and help position the agency at the forefront of modern search.

Role Lead the development and execution of organic search strategies across a portfolio of B2B clients, defining what success looks like in a rapidly evolving landscape that spans both traditional SEO and AI-driven discovery. Act as a senior strategic advisor to clients, translating complex search and AI trends into clear, actionable recommendations and identifying opportunities to grow accounts. Develop and implement strategies for visibility across AI-powered search environments, including generative platforms and emerging answer engines, applying principles of Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO). Advise clients on how large language models discover, interpret and surface content, and optimise site structures and content to improve entity recognition, semantic relevance, topical authority, and likelihood of citation in AI-generated responses. Monitor and evaluate brand presence within AI-generated outputs, identifying risks and opportunities for clients. Lead technical SEO programmes including site audits, website launches and migrations, CMS changes, and site restructuring, translating technical findings into clear recommendations for clients and development teams. Ensure websites are structured to perform across both search engines and AI systems, encompassing schema, internal linking, and content hierarchy. Evolve content strategies from keyword-led to topic, entity and authority-led approaches, working closely with content and PR teams to ensure outputs are optimised for both human audiences and machine understanding. Define and track performance across traditional and emerging metrics including organic traffic, share of search, AI visibility and citation frequency, and zero-click and SERP performance, building reporting frameworks that translate data into clear stakeholder insights. Stay at the forefront of search and AI developments, leading experimentation across new tools and platforms and contributing to the development of the agency's SEO and AI search proposition, methodologies and thought leadership. Support new business activity including pitches, proposals and account growth, and educate and upskill colleagues across the agency on SEO, AI search and organic discovery best practice.

Requirements Significant agency-side experience in a senior SEO role, with a strong track record of delivering measurable results for B2B clients. Deep expertise in technical SEO and organic search strategy, including site audits, migrations, crawl analysis, and performance diagnostics. A thorough understanding of how search is evolving in the context of AI and large language models, and confidence in translating that into practical client strategy. Experience in or strong working knowledge of GEO, AEO and AI-driven search optimisation approaches. Proven ability to analyse data, generate meaningful insights, and communicate them clearly to senior stakeholders. Proficiency with industry-standard tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, SEMrush, Ahrefs, or equivalent. Strong commercial awareness, with experience supporting business development, pitching, and growing client relationships. Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with the confidence to operate as an internal and external advocate for modern search best practice. Intellectual curiosity and adaptability, with a genuine interest in staying ahead of industry change.

Here at Sapio Consulting we are not only proud to be equal opportunity employers in our own right but are also committed to and in the privileged position of being able to support each and every one of our clients and partners in their Diversity & Inclusion objectives and initiatives.

Our clients are equal opportunity employers and on their behalf we welcome candidates, applicants or prospective applicants regardless Age, Disability, Neurodiversity, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender identity or expression, Marriage or Civil Partnership or Partnership status, Pregnancy and Maternity or Parental status, Race, Religion or Beliefs, and Political Opinion.