Head of SEO
£50k - £60k+ Senior bonus
Expert
Leeds, UK
Hybrid
Growth & MarketingSEO Marketing
About the job
Requirements
- Strong, demonstrable experience in iGaming and regulated industries is essential.
- Significant experience leading an SEO or organic-growth service line within an agency, consultancy, or complex client-service environment.
- Deep strategic knowledge of SEO, authority development, and link-building, with breadth across technical SEO, content, international search, analytics, and reporting to challenge and guide senior specialists.
- Strong strategic understanding of Digital PR and its contribution to earned media, brand and topical authority, reputation, relevant links, search visibility, and AI visibility.
- Proven experience leading through senior specialists or functional Leads, setting direction while maintaining accountability for delivery and people management.
- Strong commercial leadership, including revenue, profitability, margin, pricing, packaging, budgeting, forecasting, and investment decisions.
- Experience developing propositions, leading senior client relationships, and contributing to significant new-business opportunities.
- Ability to own the direction and commercial performance of a digital proposition, product, or marketplace.
- Practical understanding of AI-led search and responsible AI adoption, with the judgement to translate developments into client, product, and operational priorities.
- Communication, analytical, and stakeholder-management skills, with the confidence to influence clients, specialists, and company leadership.
Responsibilities
- Define and communicate the SEO service-line strategy, proposition, roadmap, and standards, setting priorities across technical and on-page SEO, content, Digital PR, managed link-building, international search, and AI-led search.
- Set measurement and reporting expectations across organic performance, earned media, authority, link acquisition, brand visibility, AI citations, and commercial outcomes.
- Own the strategic direction and commercial development of the managed link-building and authority offering, including the marketplace vision, proposition, roadmap, and performance.
- Set marketplace standards for publisher quality, supply, pricing, customer experience, fulfilment, and governance, ensuring high-quality inventory across priority languages, markets, and sectors, particularly iGaming and other regulated industries.
- Work with the Head of Client Strategy as a senior authority for key and prospective clients, leading conversations requiring service-line, commercial, or complex cross-discipline expertise.
- Work with the Head of Client Strategy to lead or support strategically important pitches, audits, and proposals, ensuring solutions are differentiated, commercially viable, and appropriately resourced.
- Identify opportunities to grow client relationships through wider adoption of SEO, Digital PR, managed link-building, the marketplace, and emerging AI-led search services.
- Own the SEO service line’s revenue, profitability, gross margin, conversion, efficiency, and sustainable growth.
- Work with Finance and Business Performance to manage budgets, forecasts, pipeline performance, and decisions concerning team, product, publisher, and technology investment.
- Set and lead the service line’s research, SEO testing, and experimentation agenda, aligned with the company’s positioning and marketing strategy.
- Use research and testing results to improve client solutions and create case studies, whitepapers, roundtables, speaking opportunities, and thought leadership across iGaming, regulated markets, Digital PR, authority growth, link-building, and AI-led search.
About the company
ICS is a global agency that provides SEO, content, advertising, translation and digital PR services in more than 100 languages across 90 markets. Its team includes 100+ employees in the UK and a large network of writers and translators in local territories to support large, international campaigns. Services span search optimization, content creation, paid advertising, translation, and digital PR, especially for highly regulated or competitive industries. It differentiates itself through its broad international reach, deep industry expertise, and the ability to manage large-scale projects with a flexible, responsive approach. The company’s goal is to help clients grow internationally by delivering strong results on large, complex projects in finance, iGaming, law, health, eCommerce and travel.
Company Size
201-500
Company Stage
N/A
Total Funding
N/A
Headquarters
Leeds, United Kingdom
Founded
2008
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- ICS reported a Net Promoter Score of 28, signaling workable customer loyalty.
- The Worldline deal can reduce operating complexity and refocus ICS on product development.
- ABN AMRO still plans secure, reliable, innovative payment products through 2028 transition.
What critics are saying
- ABN AMRO outsources core operations to Worldline from Q2 2028, hollowing ICS out.
- About 450 of 850 FTE face prolonged uncertainty and no transfer to Worldline.
- Worldline's automation push and AI substitution threaten further headcount cuts after 2028.
What makes ICS unique
- ABN AMRO's ICS serves 2.6 million clients with integrated card issuing and processing.
- ICS combines credit card issuing, transaction processing, IT, and customer service under one roof.
- Its scale and bank backing create trusted distribution across Dutch payments and lending.
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Benefits
- Paid Vacation
- Remote Work Options
- Health Insurance
- Life Insurance
- Flexible Work Hours
- Hybrid Work Options
- Family Planning Benefits
- Professional Development Budget
- Company Social Events
- Meal Benefits