SEO Lead

As our next SEO Manager, you’ll play a key role in helping us build the UK’s go-to home improvement marketplace. Organic search is one of our most important growth channels, and this role sits right at the heart of it. Reporting into the Head of SEO, you’ll be a critical partner in shaping our SEO strategy - not just executing it - working across technical, content, and off-site authority while helping define how Checkatrade shows up in the next generation of AI-driven search. If you’re energised by a landscape that’s shifting fast, this is your chance to help shape what comes next.

FORGET LONG LISTS. HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL ACTUALLY SPEND YOUR TIME ON:

• Owning SEO roadmaps across technical, on-page content, and off-site authority - turning strategy into shipped improvements that move the needle on organic growth.

• Shaping how Checkatrade shows up in AI-driven search environments - from Google AI Overviews to ChatGPT and Perplexity - building new GEO/AEO capabilities alongside the existing ones.

• Running structured experiments: forming hypotheses, testing, documenting outcomes, and sharing learnings with the team rather than moving straight to the next thing.

• Working closely with product and engineering to identify, prioritise, and implement technical SEO improvements - from crawl budget and Core Web Vitals to schema and indexation.

• Building with AI - using agentic workflows to automate content briefs, bulk analysis, reporting, and technical triage, and raising the bar for how we use AI across SEO and Marketing.

• Communicating performance clearly to senior stakeholders and cross-functional partners - translating what’s working (and what isn’t) into decisions that drive the business forward.

IT’S NOT ABOUT TICKING EVERY BOX. YOU’LL DO WELL HERE IF YOU BRING:

• A solid background in SEO at scale (3 years exp) - hands-on technical experience with crawl budget, Core Web Vitals, internal linking, indexation, and schema, alongside a strong grasp of on-page content strategy and search intent.

• You want to work in an IC role with opportunity for growth

• Confidence with SEO tooling day-to-day - Screaming Frog, Ahrefs or SEMrush, and Google Search Console - plus strong writing skills grounded in EEAT, Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines, and modern search best practices.

• A working understanding of GEO/AEO and how content is surfaced in generative search environments, with curiosity (or eagerness to go deeper) in agentic AI workflows and automation.

• Clear, confident communication across technical and non-technical audiences - comfortable holding your own in product and engineering conversations and presenting to senior stakeholders.

We believe great work deserves great rewards. Here’s just a taste:

• Competitive salary + annual bonus or commission (role dependent)

• Employee Share Programme

• Health, well-being and learning support

• Gym membership, Smart Tech Scheme and Cycle Scheme

• Birthday/Special day leave

• Buy & sell holiday scheme

• 1 week’s paid charity leave and much more!

HOW WE’LL GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER:

• Screening call with one of our Talent Acquisition Partners

• 1st stage interview with our Head of SEO

• 2nd stage: 1-hour panel interview

• Final stage: case study

Need adjustments? Let your Talent Partner know, we’re happy to help.

At the moment, this role isn’t open to visa sponsorship applications.

Want to join our Talent Community and be one of the first to know about our vacancies? Register your interest on our Registration Form https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/checkatrade/form/register-interest

If this sounds like the place where you can do your best work, we’d love to hear from you, even if you don’t tick every box.

About us

We’re Checkatrade – the UK’s leading platform for finding a tradesperson. With more than 50,000 trades listed and over 6 million reviews, we help homeowners get jobs done right and help tradespeople grow their business.

We’re growing fast, with big plans to become the go-to brand for home improvements. If you care about great work, take pride in the details, and want to make an impact, you’ll fit right in.