Open roleExternal
Head of SEO, AI & Content
- bourne end, england, United Kingdom
- £70 - £90 Per Hour
Job Description
Location:Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, SL8 5YS (Hybrid – min. 2 days in office)
Reporting to:CCO
About the role
We’re looking for a commercially driven, forward-thinking Head of SEO, AI & Content to lead our organic growth strategy at Virgin Experience Days.
This is a pivotal leadership role responsible for defining and delivering a best-in-class organic ecosystem spanning SEO performance, AI-readiness (including LLMs and emerging search behaviours), and high-impact content creation. You will own the strategic direction and take a hands‑on role in the execution of how customers discover, engage with, and choose our experiences.
You will work cross-functionally with Trading, Commercial, Product, Tech, and Marketing teams to maximise visibility, conversion, and revenue. This role combines high-level strategic leadership with the ability to"roll up the sleeves"and execute - with line management responsibility and full accountability for organic performance, reporting, and measurable commercial impact.
Why we want you
Organic search is a critical revenue driver for our business, and the landscape is evolving rapidly. We need a leader who can:
- Drive Commercial Outcomes:Lead a best-in-class SEO performance cycle with clear, measurable revenue targets.
- Be a Content Visionary:Elevate our copy and visual storytelling, ensuring content drives the full funnel from "inspiration" to "buying."
- Act as an AI Pioneer:Understand how LLMs are changing user intent and prepare us for the next generation of generative search.
- Zoom-In/Zoom-Out:Debate the nuances of Schema markup or edit a high-performing blog post hour, then pivot to present a long-term commercial roadmap to the C-suite the next.
- Foster Accountability:Create a performance-led culture underpinned by clear KPIs and actionable data storytelling.
What you'll do:
Strategy, Leadership & Commercial Ownership
- Define the Organic Roadmap:Own the strategy across SEO, AI, and content, ensuring it is aligned with business revenue targets and the Virgin brand voice.
- Stakeholder Influence:Act as the senior expert for organic performance, partnering with Trading and Commercial teams to embed SEO thinking into product launches and seasonal trading cycles.
- Team & Agency Development:Lead, develop, and grow a high-performing team of specialists, while managing external agencies to ensure they deliver maximum strategic value.
- Performance & Accountability:
- Organic revenue growth (YoY and vs forecast)
- Traffic growth and search visibility across priority categories
- Conversion performance from organic channels
- Content effectiveness (engagement, conversion, assisted revenue)
- Technical SEO health and site performance improvements
- Progress against AI and LLM readiness roadmap
- Conduct competitor and market analysis to identify growth opportunities and risks
- Drive a culture of continuous testing, learning, and optimisation to improve ROI
Technical SEO & Performance
- Technical Health:Partner with Product and Tech teams to lead the technical roadmap (crawlability, indexation, Core Web Vitals, and Schema).
- Data Storytelling:Own the organic reporting suite (GA4, Looker Studio), translating complex data into simple, decision-driving insights for senior stakeholders.
Content & Creative Excellence
- Editorial Vision:Oversee the creation of category, product, and editorial content, ensuring best-in-class copywriting and visual storytelling.
- Direct Execution:Take a hands‑on approach to content production where required, ensuring copy is inspirational, authoritative, and optimized for conversion.
- Visual Discovery:Lead a visual content strategy (imagery and video) that optimizes for "Discovery" search, Pinterest, and increasingly visual SERPs.
- Efficiency & Scalability:Improve "Time to Market" for content by implementing AI-assisted workflows and sophisticated production processes.
AI & Search Innovation
- Generative Engine Optimization:Define how we optimize for LLMs and AI Overviews, ensuring our brand is cited in conversational search.
- AI-Enhanced Workflows:Leverage AI tools to automate manual SEO tasks and scale content production without sacrificing quality.
- Future-Proofing:Proactively adapt site architecture to thrive in a world of Search Generative Experiences (SGE).
What you'll need:
Experience & Technical Skills
- Senior Leadership:Significant experience leading SEO/Content functions, ideally in high-SKU e-commerce or travel/leisure environments.
- Content Mastery:A "content-first" mindset with proven experience in digital storytelling and managing end-to-end content lifecycles.
- Technical Fluency:Deep expertise in technical SEO (Schema, Site Architecture) and a sophisticated understanding of AI/LLM search algorithms.
- Commercial Gravity:Comfortable owning a revenue target and articulating the ROI of organic investment to non-marketing stakeholders.
- Tool Kit:Expert knowledge of Search Console, Screaming Frog, SEMrush/Ahrefs, GA4, and Looker Studio.
Mindset
- Strategic & Tactical:Able to operate at a high strategic level while remaining happy to execute hands-on tasks to get the job done.
- Collaborative:Ability to break down silos and work seamlessly with Tech, Product, and Trading teams.
- Innovative:Passionate about staying ahead of industry change and driving a culture of continuous testing and learning.
Perks to make work feel less ordinary:
- Time for you:25 days holiday plus bank holidays, with the option to buy or sell up to 2 days each year
- Freedom to work your way:2 days in-office (Tuesdays a mandatory in-office day), Flexi-working hours around our core 10-4, so your day works for you (8.5 hours per day)
- Wellbeing that works:Access to an award-winning employee assistance programme; Health Plan cover (plus family add-ons) with cash back for a variety of health & wellbeing costs; Cycle to Work and Electric Vehicle schemes (post probation).
- Future proofing you (and your finances):Company pension (5% you, 3% us) after 3 months; Discretionary bonus and life assurance after probation.
- Giving back & all the anti-ordinary extras:2 volunteer days each year; Free breakfast when in the office; Personal re-loadable multi-choice gift card (topped up on your birthday, lifetime milestones and internal celebrations); Yearly £150 experience voucher; Discounts on experiences and across the Virgin Group; Refer a Friend bonus and generous team celebrations throughout the year.