We have a great opportunity for someone to play a role in contributing to and shaping the Digital PR team. We're looking for a Digital PR Lead to support the Head of SEO in developing processes, delivering BAU and campaigns whilst also training the team.

Overview of the role 

SEO is a collection of increasingly disparate disciplines and every year it gets more complex and more exciting.  Consequently, the Digital PR Lead has a broad remit that impacts on most of what we do as a business.  Major responsibilities include: defining processes and evolving our Digital PR proposition; business development; strategic lead for a wide cross section of clients; and thought leadership, training and development of the Digital PR team and the wider business (so you must not be fazed by having to influence people who don’t directly report to you).  

This role is responsible for the delivery of digital PR (DPR) for our clients, to encourage coverage of and backlinks to our content.

The candidate will have a solid understanding of the value of digital PR and will have either worked in a similar role at an agency or client side. They will also have a strong understanding of the distinct nuances of working with various audiences such as press and journalists. They will be able to demonstrate a range of approaches to engage with audiences effectively to maximise opportunities for coverage.

This is an opportunity to lead the team that drives the digital PR strategies and our overall approach to content marketing. We’re looking for an enthusiastic, energetic person with the desire to shape a dynamic environment and way of working for our clients.  They should be hungry to push the boundaries of what we can do with digital PR and keen to make their mark on the business. 

They should possess strong project management and organisational skills, understanding what it takes to run a successful digital PR campaign given budget and resources.  The ideal candidate will have unrivalled ability to prioritise workload and deliver multiple projects at any given time.

They will report to the Head of SEO, with the Head of Head of Content as a key stakeholder, and work alongside an outstanding team of specialists in SEO, content creation, content strategy and copywriting.

They will also directly line manage and mentor a team of 2-3 digital PR specialists. The team is responsible for the day to day running of digital PR campaigns. As line manager this role has responsibility of the team members’ workloads, job satisfaction, training, development, career aspirations and goals.

What are your responsibilities? 

Strategy

• Ambition to build an EMEA Digital PR offering and increase the number of clients we service digital PR for
• Work with senior management to decide the long-term direction and strategy for our digital PR approach, identifying threats and opportunities for the future, proposing ways we can counter or take advantage of them, and managing a roadmap of activity to make the strategy reality
• Work with SEO team to identify keywords and landing pages that would benefit from digital PR activity in search to ensure targeted DPR efforts
• Ability to work with keyword research and trend tools to identify critical periods for digital PR and media interest. 
• Participate in client or prospect strategy brainstorms and discussions, instilling an appreciation of what will and won’t be successful from a digital PR perspective to the wider team

Digital PR function

• Review and improve the approach for proactively engaging with experts, whether we are working with them or not
• Define reporting process for digital PR and other engagement metrics
• Work with your team to develop and continue strategies for growing the team’s professional relationships with key media/journalists and publications
• Putting together accurate time and cost estimates for client campaigns
• Coordinate the delivery of client campaigns from an digital PR perspective

Team Management

• Have regular 1:1 meetings with your team to discuss challenges, progress against goals and job satisfaction
• Set individual short- and long-term goals for your team that consider both the overall strategy for the business and the individual goals and aspirations of your team
• Run the annual review process for your team members
• Manage your department resourcing and work utilization 
• Use time reports and client utilisation stats to help you manage team workloads appropriately
• Run weekly team meetings
• Be aware of individual and team morale, welfare and concerns

Other responsibilities

• Meet with clients to discuss the strategy, execution, and results of their digital PR campaigns
• You will have the opportunity to contribute to the blog and other marketing material

What skills, experience and characteristics do you need?

Primary skills & experience

• Demonstrable experience activating outreach and/or Digital PR campaigns that receive coverage and backlinks
• Good understanding of the value of Digital PR
• Experience of securing online coverage
• Existing relationships with publications and/or journalists
• Experience of using PR and influencer tools such as Vuelio, Response Source, Gorkana, BuzzStream, Buzz Sumo or similar
• Demonstrable experience leading a team and mentoring junior team members
• Keen and able to make the role your own, having a vision, defining, and refining processes, and adjusting these within the current structure
• Able to run projects independently at a high standard
• Strong project management skills
• Good written and spoken English
• A confident and clear communicator, both in person, over email and on the phone, able to quickly build excellent working relationships with internal and external stakeholders
• A good understanding of how search engines work and off-site SEO strategies and techniques
• Experience of using SEO tools such as Majestic, ahrefs or similar
• Experience of working to SEO targets
• Experience of working on PR campaigns and/or from a PR agency background
• Event organisation and management experience

Secondary skills & experience

• Experience of project management tools such as Trello, Smartsheets or similar
• Additional languages, especially European
• Working closely with other departments specifically content and SEO teams 

Characteristics we want to see

• Energy and enthusiasm for promoting all things Digital PR
• Pro-actively staying educated on trends and changes within the Digital PR, SEO and Content landscape, with an emphasis on impact on link-earning and obtaining online coverage
• Complete ownership and being across what’s happening, when, where and what the impact is
• Curiosity – asking questions and finding opportunities, generating ideas, and encouraging others to think differently
• Great communication skills – engaging, articulate, passionate and tells a great story
• Constant networker – you’ll be talking about who you’ve met, how you’re connecting these people and what impact it will have, growing contacts and networks constantly
• Constantly talking up Brave Bison, our achievements and our people but always with integrity
• Creativity – clear briefing to the content and creative teams, engaging in brainstorms and providing constructive feedback on the content direction with digital PR in mind 
• Influencing and changing perceptions of colleagues and clients
• Sharing your knowledge about your expertise, as well as soaking up opportunities for you to learn new skill

What you’ll get

Our people make us who we are, so to make sure we attract and retain the best and brightest in the industry, we offer an attractive benefits package. Of course, we offer the usual perks you would expect from a leading agency (stylish office, tick! Friday beers, tick! Daily breakfast and fruit, tick!). 

But not only that. We are the UK’s first carbon neutral agency (a status we have held since 2018), with a serious commitment to monitoring and reducing the impact our work has on the planet across three core sustainability pillars of Greenhouse Gases, Waste & Recycling and Sustainable Consumption.

Then there’s a whole host of benefits – from discounted gym memberships and free eye tests to an employee pension scheme and enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption package. Here’s a snapshot of just some of the benefits we think you might also like:

• Dynamic working: To keep that work-life harmony in check, we're flexible on where and when you work
• Above-statutory employer’s pension contribution: It matters, so we make sure it’s done properly (4% contribution)
• Private medical insurance: To keep you fighting fit and give you and your family peace of mind
• Income protection: We know it feels good to be covered, just in case
• Calm Subscription: Now more than ever, it’s important to mind your mind!
• 25 days annual leave: This increases to 27 days after three years with us, and then increases every subsequent year up to a max. of 30 days
• Christmas closure & birthday off: No need to save holiday days for the Christmas closure period or taking some time for yourself on your birthday - it's on us!
• Summer hours: Between June and Aug we finish at 15:00 every Friday.
• Online coaching: Unlimited coaching via MoreHappi.
• Remote working: Work abroad for up to one month a year. 
• Bonus: Annual bonus paid on delivering above baseline target – 50% of all profit goes to bonus pot and is uncapped.
• Performance and Salary: Reviewed twice a year for everyone.